History

Early C19 coaching inn, built to serve travellers along the then newly constructed London to Holyhead road. The road between Shrewsbury and Holyhead had been surveyed by Thomas Telford in 1811, his scheme to build the new road accepted by Parliament in 1815, and work began on the Anglesey stretch in 1818. Mona Inn was built in connection with the construction of the road, and was the venue for the Anglesey Hunting Club meetings of 1822-3, but its success as an Inn was short-lived, possibly as an indirect result of the opening of the railway across the island in 1848 (the Britannia bridge opened in 1850); by 1851 Mona Inn had become Mona Farm. To the rear of the main house is a rectangular courtyard, leading through to a second courtyard beyond; neither range appears on the tithe map of the parish of 1842 (though this may have been an omission on the part of the surveyor), they are recorded on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map of Anglesey, 1887-8. The second courtyard is now derelict and some of the ranges converted into use as domestic dwellings. The main house and courtyard buildings were being renovated at the time of the survey (June 1998).

Exterior

To the rear of the main house, and abutting the NW wing, is a U-shaped planned range of outbuildings around a large courtyard. Built of local rubble masonry with dressed stone heads to the coachhouse bays, other openings with slate lintels; roofs of slates laid to diminishing courses, a single roughly-dressed stone ridge stack to the NE end of the SE range. The courtyard is dominated by a lofted 5-bay coachhouse, centrally placed along the linking (SW) range. The coachhouse is taller than, and advanced from the abutting buildings; the ground floor has 5-bays with shallow elliptical ashlar heads, some bays with double boarded doors, the central bay with opposing opening to the rear, originally leading to the courtyard beyond. Each bay has a centrally placed 1st floor opening; the central 3 are louvred, that to the left (SE) has a 6-pane light, that to the right (NW) now boarded. The abutting buildings are lofted stables, with 1st floor servants accommodation, the ranges have boarded doors and some of the original 6-pane lights remaining; other openings blocked, boarded or open. The roof at the NE end of the NW range has been re-roofed with corrugated iron.

Reasons for Listing

Listed as a good example of an early C19 courtyard range associated with the adjacent coaching Inn, Mona Isaf; of historical interest for its association with the building of the London to Holyhead road, designed by Thomas Telford.

External Links

• Cadwr Listing
• Wikidata Q29498422

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)