Editing Holyhead (section)

====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>