Gwynedd Archaeological Trust

Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Gwynedd

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The Menai Straits 2000 years of history

The Talyfoel ferry plied between the quay at Caernarfon and Talyfoel, almost directly opposite. It would seem logical that this ferry should become established but, in practice, there were difficulties which hampered the passage throughout most of its existence. The problems were with sand banks in the channel, some of which, notably Traeth Gwyllt, were quicksands. As late as the early nineteenth century, it was necessary for passengers to disembark on adjacent sandbanks rather than at the ferry house when the water was low. On other occasions passengers were put off further up the Straits if suitable channels could be found. Eventually, following attempts by other illegal operators to set up, in competition, the landing point on the Anglesey side was moved to Y Foel, 1.3km to the north-east, in 1850.

Although there are references to a ferry boat in Caernarfon during the late thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it would seem that there was no regular passenger service there at that time, and the boat was mostly used for carrying materials associated with royal building works. Attempts may have been made to establish a service out of Caernarfon but these remained unsuccessful until around 1426. The ferry became known as the passage of the Water of Seynt (Seiont) or otherwise Talyfoel.

Recent geophysical survey near the Anglesey shore, in the vicinity of Barras, has suggested the possibility of there being an extensive Roman settlement nearby. If so, and if there was an earlier crossing from the estuary of the Seiont, it is probable that the crossing in the Roman period most likely plied the Foel - Barras route rather than the medieval Talyfoel crossing.

Caernarfon

Y Foel

A house still stands at Talyfoel. A blocked door and part of an early wall has been incorporated into a field wall adjacent. The lower courses of piers or sea defences survive in front of the house on the shoreline. A short way along the shoreline stands the ruins of a structure, known as Ty Bach y Foel in the early nineteenth century, which provided some protection for ferry passengers who had been made to disembark at some distance from Tal y Foel itself because of the condition of the tide. At Y Foel, further north, the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century timber pier still stands, but derelict.