CLEIFIOG UCHAF   - BRIEF HISTORY

There is strong archaeological evidence that there have been human settlements at Cleifiog Uchaf for the past 4000 years. Archaeological surveys have shown the existence of Bronze Age and Iron Age dwellings and burial sites. This part of Anglesey was an important thoroughfare connecting mainland Anglesey to what is now known as Holy Island. What is possibly the best evidence for a Roman road on Anglesey runs directly through the land. The settlements seemed to have been strategically placed and important. The burial sites are well documented.

In the Middle Ages Cleifiog Uchaf would have been a privileged site. It was probably in need of defence from the invading gales and Vikings. Also, until the construction of modern highways the people of Anglesey were dependent upon the Roman road for land based transport. In order to visit the natural sea harbour at Holyhead along with its monastic settlement (the collegiate church of St Cybi) travellers would have had to pass through land of Cleifiog Uchaf.

The Cleifiog Manor in the early Middle Ages (the Age of the princes of Wales) formed part of the personal estate of the princes of Gwynedd, most famously Llewelyn the Great. Cleifiog transferred to the English crown with the conquest of Wales, 1282. King Edward II handed over the estate to a Welsh ally. For the latter half of the Middle Ages Cleifiog would have been a manor under the feudal system. It is probably during this time (if not before) that Cleifiog Uchaf became an independent farm. It is also during this time that Cleifiog Uchaf was transformed from an early settlement type dwelling into a more established farm/manor house type dwelling.

The 16th Century saw massive upheavals in Welsh society (together with the rest of Europe) with the sweeping social and religious changes of the reformation. On Anglesey the Bulkeleys of Beaumaris/ later Baron Hill profited greatly from their loyalty to the Crown. This powerful family acquired Cleifiog Uchaf at this time. It is probably during this period that Cleifiog Uchaf became a longhouse. It is also from this period onwards that Cleifiog Uchaf became a modern successful farm.

Over the centuries Cleifiog Uchaf has had a few owners of different hues - all of whom have left their individual mark. By the 19th Century when the lands surrounding Cleifiog Uchaf were now the focal point of a new road linking Anglesey to Holyhead and the village of Valley was being born, the Spencer family who occupied Cleifiog were responsible amongst other things for the smooth running of the London to Holyhead Royal Mail stagecoach. It is also during the 19th Century that the lands of Cleifiog Uchaf saw two of the finest Victorian civil engineers at work, namely Thomas Telford (constructing the Stanley Embankment/new A5 coach road) and Robert Stephenson (constructing the railway over Anglesey).

At this prosperous time Cleifiog Uchaf had a new owner who was a local hotelier and businessman. It was he who was responsible for Cleifiog Uchaf as it now stands in its exterior façade. It was at this time that he developed Cleifiog Uchaf into a superior hunting lodge for the benefit of Victorian hunters and aristocrats.

The 20th Century saw Cleifiog Uchaf continuing its age old youth as a substantial working farm along the lines of a Welsh model which had always been of great value to the people of Anglesey. It was as a farm that Cleifiog Uchaf would have contributed in a unique way to Anglesey's famous role of 'Mon Mam Cymru'.