Introduction
County town of Anglesey, Wales
Human settlement in WalesLlangefniFrom the top: Llangefni Town Hall, St Cyngar's Church and The DingleLlangefniLocation within AngleseyPopulation5,116 2011 CensusOS grid referenceSH4675Principal areaAngleseyPreserved countyGwyneddCountryWalesSovereign stateUnited KingdomAreas of the town
List
PencraigPenralltRhosmeirch (village)Rhostrehwfa (village)
Post townLlangefniPostcode districtLL77Dialling code01248PoliceNorth WalesFireNorth WalesAmbulanceWelsh
UK ParliamentYnys MônSenedd Cymru – Welsh ParliamentBangor Conwy Môn
List of places
UK
Wales
Anglesey
53°15′22″N 4°18′50″W / 53.256°N 4.314°W / 53.256; -4.314
Map of the community
Llangefni (Welsh for 'church on the river Cefni'; Welsh pronunciation: [ɬaŋˈɡɛvni]) is the county town of Anglesey in Wales. At the 2011 census, Llangefni's population was 5,116, making it the second-largest town in the county and the largest on the island. The population of the town at the 2021 Census for the built up area was 5,561 residents. While the surrounding community was 5,795 residents.
Location
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The town is near the centre of Anglesey, and is on the River Cefni, after which it is named. Its attractions include the Oriel Ynys Môn museum, which details the history of Anglesey and houses collections of the painters Kyffin Williams and Charles Tunnicliffe. In the west of the town is a large secondary school, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni (Llangefni Comprehensive School), and in the north a Victorian parish church, St Cyngar's, set in a wooded riverside location called the Dingle. The town was formerly named Llangyngar, Welsh for "St Cyngar's church".
Commerce, transport and education
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Bridge street, Llangefni circa 1875
Llangefni is a commercial and farming town in Anglesey and once hosted the largest cattle market on the island. There is a relatively large industrial estate, which included a large chicken processing plant, the largest single industrial operation in the town, until March 2023, when it closed with the loss of 700 jobs. Several other smaller businesses remain.
The town had a station on the Anglesey Central Railway line, which opened in 1864. It closed in 1964, although goods trains continued to pass through the town until 1993. Since then, there have been proposals to convert the line into a multi-purpose path at a cost estimated at £10 million pounds. Although no longer usable, the railway tracks have not been removed. The route remains under the control of Network Rail, leased to Anglesey Central Railway (2006) Ltd, which hopes to raise some £150 million to reinstate a working railway. Hybrid plans also exist for a cycle route along 16 miles (26 km) of the line (the majority of its length), which would also allow the route to be used for a heritage railway. The nearest station is now at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, 5 miles (8 km) away as the crow flies. There are frequent buses to the larger settlements of Bangor and Holyhead as well as to the smaller towns of Amlwch and Beaumaris. By road the town is just 2 kilometres from the major A55 and A5 roads, via the short A5114. Water for the town comes from Llyn Cefni, a reservoir 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the northwest.
Llangefni hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1957 and 1983, and in 1999 gave its name to the Eisteddfod held at the nearby village of Llanbedrgoch. It also hosted the Urdd Eisteddfod (youth Eisteddfod) in 2004. The town also has a college, Coleg Menai (Llangefni site).
Llangefni is home to the headquarters of a large builders' merchant chain Huws Gray. The company currently has over 100 branches across the UK.