The Priory
Penmon Priory — Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Penmon Priory stands on one of the oldest Christian sites in Wales — a Celtic monastery associated with St Seiriol in the 6th century, reorganised as an Augustinian priory in the 13th century, when the surviving monastic buildings took shape: the dining hall at first-floor level with cellar below and dormitory above, with kitchen and warming house added in the 16th century. The priory church remains in use, its Romanesque nave and crosses linking directly back to the early monastery. Nearby, St Seiriol’s Well marks the saint’s cell.
The Dovecote
Across the lane stands the site’s most surprising building: a vast domed dovecote of around 1600, built by the Bulkeley family with nesting for nearly a thousand birds — step inside and look up. The whole grouping sits a couple of miles short of Penmon Point, making priory, well, dovecote, lighthouse and café one continuous outing from Beaumaris by car or coastal path.
Visiting
The priory ruins and dovecote are open-access Cadw-cared sites; the church keeps parish opening. It is quiet, uncommercial and atmospheric — best in early light or late afternoon when the stone glows. Pair with a swim at Lleiniog Beach on the walk back, and dinner in Beaumaris to finish the day properly.
St Seiriol & the Island
The priory’s story extends offshore: Puffin Island’s Welsh name, Ynys Seiriol, remembers the same saint, whose monks maintained a settlement there — the ruined tower visible from the boat trips marks it still. Legend pairs Seiriol with his friend St Cybi of Holyhead: meeting weekly mid-island, Cybi walked facing the morning and evening sun and tanned dark, Seiriol with the sun behind him stayed pale — hence ‘Cybi the Dark and Seiriol the Fair.’ Fifteen centuries later, pilgrimage here still feels apt: come quietly, and the place does the rest.
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