Former Prince’s Pier warehouse, Menai Bridge
Former Prince’s Pier warehouse, Menai Bridge
This building dates from the period when Menai Bridge was being transformed from a hamlet and common land into a bustling port. Most of the building was a warehouse. The southern end was a pier master house.
Before the Menai Suspension Bridge was built, there were only a few shoreline buildings, including a ferry house connected with the boats which had crossed the Strait here since medieval times. In 1828 the Marquess of Bute leased land near the shore to an enterprising shopkeeper from Llangefni called Richard Davies, who had a warehouse built for goods which he brought in by sea. The building still stands, near the Liverpool Arms.
His son John was equally ambitious and built the wharf which became known as Prince’s Pier, to accommodate larger ships than the earlier landing places. Along the wharf he built the warehouse and adjoining house for the pier master, probably in the late 1840s or early 1850s. The Davies family owned share in ships which brought timber and other goods from North America to Menai Bridge. Later they owned a dozen ships, which sailed as far afield as Peru and Australia. To discover more about them, visit our page about the family tomb on Church Island.
From the Second World War until 1959 the Royal Navy used the wharf and warehouse, initially as a base for wartime boat patrols along the Menai Strait.
The building was thoroughly refurbished after being bought by enterprise agency Menter Môn for development in conjunction with the Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust, which also runs the Thomas Telford Centre in the former National School. The first phase of restoration was finished in 2014. The pier master’s house was converted into offices.
With thanks to Bob Daimond, of Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust
Postcode: LL59 5DD View Location Map
Website of the Menai Bridge Community Heritage Trust