Editing Holyhead (section)

===Transport history===

====Port====
[[File:001 Holyhead Clock Tower 18.08.13 edited-2.jpg|thumb|Clock Tower commemorating the extension of the Holyhead Docks between 1875 and 1880]]

In the early nineteenth century, it was still undecided which port would be chosen as the primary sea link along the route from [[London]] to [[Dublin]]: [[Porthdinllaen]], on the [[Llŷn Peninsula]], or Holyhead in [[Anglesey]]. In May 1806, a parliamentary bill approved new buildings in Porthdinllaen when it seemed that the town would be chosen. Porthdinllaen was almost as far west as Holyhead, but Holyhead was more accessible because of [[Thomas Telford]]'s road developments. Porthdinllaen Harbour Company was formed in 1808 in preparation, but the bill before Parliament to constitute Porthdinllaen as a harbour for Irish trade was rejected in 1810.<ref name="ANWales">{{cite web |url=http://archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=2957&inst_id=37 |title=Porthdinllaen Harbour Company Records |date=1806–1911 |website=Archifau Cymru |publisher=National Library of Wales |access-date=15 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131902/http://archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=2957&inst_id=37 |archive-date=13 April 2014}}</ref>

Holyhead's maritime importance was at its height in the 19th century with a {{convert|1+3/4|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=mid|-long}} [[breakwater (structure)|sea breakwater]]. [[Holyhead Breakwater]], built to create a safe harbour for vessels caught in stormy waters on their way to [[Liverpool]] and the industrial ports of [[Lancashire]]; it is the longest breakwater in the UK.<ref>{{cite book|last=Denton|first=A., & Leach, N.|title= Lighthouses of Wales|publisher=Landmark Publishing Ltd|year= 2008| isbn= 978-1-84306-459-6}}</ref>

Throughout the later 18th century and the entire 19th century, Holyhead was a crucial transit point for [[landed gentry]] and British parliamentarians and military officials who were travelling from Ireland to London. It was also a transit point for British owners of multinational estates visiting their 'other lands' or London houses. The port of Holyhead saw significant development throughout the 19th century to accommodate the growing passenger traffic between Holyhead and Dublin, which reached approximately 14,000 passengers annually by 1814. Key improvements made after the [[Acts of Union 1800|1800 Act of Union]] with Ireland included the illumination of the South Stack Lighthouse in 1809, the construction of a built-up harbor in 1810, and the addition of a substantial breakwater between 1848 and 1873. Although mail service through Holyhead was temporarily suspended in 1838 in favour of rail transport through [[Liverpool]], the development of the north Wales coastal railway in 1850 led to its reinstatement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Coward |first=Adam N. |date=2023 |title=CONNECTIONS BETWEEN WELSH AND IRISH LANDED ESTATES, c.1650–c.1920: A PRELIMINARY OVERVIEW |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/uwp/whis/2023/00000031/00000004/art00003;jsessionid=2f2nxmg2xnj86.x-ic-live-01 |journal=Welsh History Review/Cylchgrawn Hanes Cymru |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=558–560 |doi=10.16922/whr.31.4.2 |via=Ingenta Connect}}</ref>

====Road====
The post road built by [[Thomas Telford]] from London strengthened Holyhead's position as the port from which the [[Royal Mail]] was dispatched to and from Dublin on the [[Mail coach]]. The [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]] terminates at [[Admiralty Arch, Holyhead|Admiralty Arch]] (1822–24), which was designed by [[Thomas Harrison (architect)|Thomas Harrison]] to commemorate a visit by King [[George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV]] in 1821 ''en route'' to Ireland and marked the zenith of Irish Mail coach operations. Holy Island and Anglesey are separated by the [[Cymyran Strait]] which used to be crossed on the [[Four Mile Bridge]]; so called, because the bridge was {{convert|4|mi|km|0|round=0.5|abbr=off}} from Holyhead on the old [[Toll road|turnpike]].<ref name=fourmile/>

====Railway====
With the opening of the railway from London to Liverpool, Holyhead lost the London-Dublin mail contract in 1839 to the [[Port of Liverpool]]. Only after the completion of the [[Chester & Holyhead Railway]] in 1850, and the building of [[Holyhead railway station]], did the ''[[Irish Mail]]'' return to Holyhead, operated from [[Euston railway station|London Euston]] by the [[London & North Western Railway]].<ref>Famous named trains abolished ''[[The Railway Magazine]]'' issue 1216 August 2002 page 14</ref>