Distance: 3 kilometres / 1.8 miles

Difficulty: Easy

This is a gentle stroll around the historic seaside town of Beaumaris, which boasts over 200 Listed Buildings on the map provided. Starting at the Pier with its majestic views over the Menai Strait, the walk takes you to many of the town’s highlights via its quaint pastel-coloured cottages, quality shops, varied cafés, fine restaurants, and ancient inns.

Directions

The Pier to The Courthouse

Start at the entrance to the Pier, and walk to the end, passing the RNLI.

At the end of the Pier, admire the views: ahead of you are the mountains of Eryri, and to the right on the opposite shore, the town of Bangor.

To the left you can see Great Orme and Llandudno. Retrace your steps down the pier, admiring the seafront with its pastel buildings and Grade II Listed Chimney to the left, and the imposing Victoria Terrace to the right. On The Green you’ll also see a Stone Circle.

Carefully cross the road, and go straight ahead down the narrow, paved road aiming for the pedestrian archway under the Town Hall.

Emerge onto busy Castle Street where you will find all manner of shops and eateries. Opposite you’ll see the Tudor Rose.

Turn right past Bulkeley Hotel and, on the left, The Bulls Head. When you reach a square, aim for the gap to the right-hand side of the Courthouse.

The Courthouse to Bulkeley Gateway

Cross the road and walk to the pedestrian crossing. Cross here entering the gardens ahead of you, and take a tour of the perimeter path, marvelling at the east wall of the Castle as you do so.

Exit the park and retrace your steps back around the Courthouse.

From the square, carefully cross the road and walk past the Castle Gift Shop.

Follow the road around to the left. There is a regular Artisans Market held in front of the David Hughes Community Centre. Keep the Catholic Church on your right, and continue up Rating Row past all the pastel cottages.

At the junction turn right and follow the road to the end of more pastel cottages. Cross the road and go down Stanley Street where you’ll see the stone Bulkeley Gateway at the end.

Bulkeley Gateway to The Pier

Follow the road round to the right as far as Fford Meigan on Cae Bricks Estate, then turn and retrace your steps. Before the Gateway, turn right down Gaol Street.

At the crossroads, left down New Street, then right at the end down Steeple Lane. Take the archway through the wall into the grounds of St Mary’s & St Nicholas’ Church.

Walk a circuit of the church, noting the town’s War Memorial on the far side. Exit the churchyard back through the archway and turn left continuing down Steeple Lane.

On your right is the unmistakable, high perimeter wall of the town’s Historic Gaol.

Continue down Steeple Lane, turn right down narrow Chapel Lane, and left down Gadlys Lane. Turn left again, pass the Liverpool Arms on your left, and walk along bustling Castle Street back to the archway under the Town Hall.

Opposite the Town Hall is Church Street where you’ll find the George & Dragon, and the Market Square.

Walk back via the archway to the start of your walk at the Pier.

Further information on this walk

Selected sites

• The Pier was opened in 1846 and, following a storm, was rebuilt and extended to 170m in 1872. For many years it served steamers to and from Llandudno and Liverpool. In 2011 it underwent a major £2m refurbishment.
• Unfinished, the Castle was intended to be Wales’ largest and most advanced of its time. Built by Edward I between 1295 and 1330, it features four symmetrical concentric lines of fortification including a moat, towers, gatehouses, and a pier to serve supply ships. It is one of only five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales.
• Despite appearances the Stone Circle on The Green is not ancient but was built in 1995 to mark the Eisteddfod Gadeiriol Môn held there the following year.
• When completed in 1948 the award-winning Cae Bricks Estate comprising 30 houses was hailed as the benchmark in quality, post-war, affordable housing. Aneurin Bevan, then Minister of Health, visited the construction site three times.
• The first mu­nicipal building here was a 1563 Elizabethan Hall. The current Town Hall replaced it in 1785, and its large room on the first-floor was once said to be “the most splendid ballroom in North Wales”.
• St Mary’s & St Nicholas’ Church dates from 1330. The nave is original, but many parts have been remodelled over the years. The Porch houses a stone coffin purportedly be­longing to Joan, Lady of Wales (d. 1237), wife of Llewelyn the Great, Prince of Wales, effective ruler of Wales.
• Dating from the 1480s, the Tudor Rose is one of the oldest timber-framed buildings in Britain. It stands as a fine reminder of what most of Castle Street would have once looked like.
• The impressive Bulkeley Estate Gateway was once the entrance to the Baron Hill estate established in 1618.
• Now a museum, the Courthouse was built in 1614 and is both one of Anglesey’s most fascinating buildings, and also the oldest Courthouse in Wales.
• The Gaol is a disused prison that has been transformed into a museum and gives a fascinating insight into Victorian prison life. Built in 1829 and expanded in 1867, it closed in 1878 and was later used as the town’s police station.