Isle of Anglesey (unitary authority)

Anglesey was traditionally the main grain-growing region, feeding much of Wales. Vegetables, especially potatoes, are now grown there, and the local dairy industry supplies Merseyside with milk. There is a nuclear power station at Wylfa Head on the north coast, and other industries on the island include aluminium smelting, food processing, timber, shipping lines, and some light manufacturing. Holyhead is an international container and ferry port, as well as a fishing port; it is the main ferry terminal for services to Dublin and Dún Laoghaire in the Republic of Ireland.

Holy Island has been settled since prehistoric times, and there are remains of both Celtic and Roman settlements; part of the walls of the original Roman fort can still be seen surrounding the 13th-century parish church of St Cybi in the town of Holyhead. The island of Anglesey was settled by the Celts by about 100 bc and became known as a centre of Druidism. The Romans conquered the island between ad 61 and 78; they called it Mona and suppressed the Druid religion. Anglesey was subsequently invaded by Vikings, Saxons, and Normans, and fell to Edward I, king of England, in the 13th century. He consolidated his control with the impressive castle at Beaumaris. The last and largest of Edward's Welsh castles, it was never completely finished. In the early 19th century the Roman road that ran from Holyhead to Llanfair P. G., near the south coast of Anglesey, became, with the building of the Menai Bridge, the main London-Holyhead road, and was extensively upgraded, leading to the modern development of Anglesey.