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A brief history of Porth Amlwch - Amlwch Port

Tucked away in the north-eastern corner of the island, Amlwch is overshadowed by Mynydd Parys (Parys mountain) to the south, and in a way this is how it should be, for its history has been bound up with the mountain since the Bronze Age.

Amlwch was entirely dependent for its prosperity on the copper mines, for most of its inhabitants had some concern in them, either as miners or agents.As the town grew, so did the importance of its port. The harbour became a bustling place, where not only copper ore was shipped, but there was brisk trade from vessels known as 'flats', bringing in barm bought by the local brewery from Thomas Greenall, the famous Lancashire brewers. At the end of the 18th Century, Amlwch had over 60 ale houses.

It was copper from Mynydd Parys (Parys Mountain) which created the demand for building the Port of Amlwch, and although the site is narrow and very open to northerly winds, the standard of the original building work on the quays of the port at the end of the eighteenth century was very high, as anyone can see by looking closely at it today. Robert Roberts, "Y Sgolor Mawr" ("The Great Scholar"), gives an evocative description of the port in the Fifties of the last century :

"a busy port, full of ships, and the smell of sulphuric smoke from the smelting works; numerous public houses around the port, and seamen, shipwrights and hobblers drinking Amlwch Brewery beer (or Greenalls, the company from St.Helens which has been there since 1786), and chewing Amlwch shag tobacco and at least seven pugilistic encounters in the street between old Mrs. Roos' pub and Roberts' lodging house".

Ship building yards were developed on both sides of the port - "Iard Ochr Draw" ("Yard on the other side") and "Y Iard Newydd" ("The New Yard") to the people of Amlwch. It was here that the Treweek family, the Cox Paynter Company and Captain William Thomas built ships - wooden and iron sailing ships and a few small steamers. There were close links between Amlwch and the Millom Iron works in Cumbria, and a number of Captain Thomas' workers moved out there to build ships, and established a Welsh Chapel. The shape and design of those Amlwch built ships were more like those of North-West England than the ships of Porthmadog, although the last iron schooners from Amlwch were similar to the last wooden schooners of Porthmadog. Both deserved the high praise given to them by contemporary seamen, and maritime historians.

Today in a few ports on this coast, vast acres of docks crammed with shipping, bear witness to a long and profitable career for shipowners and merchants : "elsewhere only the ruins of a quay, an overgrown limekiln, rusting chains and rotting bollards bear witness to a once active commercial life, forgotten men and vanished ships" - Susan Campbell-Jones, 'Welsh Sail' 1976

In the above photograph, the copper ore hoppers and warehouses on the right are already in ruins, and so are many of the houses once occupied by the shipwrights, hobblers and porters.
Three schooners are alongside the quays, approached rather precariously by a couple of planks and a ladder, and securely moored at bow and stern by ropes stretching the whole width of the harbour.

"The Vessel in the centre is the schooner Alice & Eliza built at Lancaster."
Susan Campbell-Jones, 'Welsh Sail' 1976

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