House For Sale £675,000
The Cambria, Cambria Road, Menai Bridge LL59
previous price £750,000

***aerial video footage***
A Truly Unique & Rare Opportunity To Acquire The Oldest Property In The Town Of Menai Bridge. The Cambria Is A Rare Tudor Residence Located Very Close To The Shores Of The Menai Strait Dating Back To 1686, Some 300 Years Old & Is Included In The Statutory List Of Buildings As A Property Of Special Architectural Or Historical Interest. The Grade II * Listed Home Boasts A Rich Vein Of History & Was Formerly Used As A Public House/Inn & Hotel, Notably For Travellers Using The Ferry Across The Menai Strait Before The Telford Suspension Bridge Was Built In 1826.Over The Years The House Has Been Know Under A Variety Of Names The Three Tuns Inn, Porthaethwy Ferry House(Until 1839), The Packet Inn & Until More Recently It Has Become Know As The Cambria . The Property Is Almost Entirely Original & Is Featured In The Royal Commission Of Ancient Monuments On Anglesey(Addition 1937 Plate 113) . The Majority Of Its Construction Is Stone With Many Of The Outer Walls Upto Five Feet Thick With A Slated Roof. Originally A Welsh Long House In the 1600's & Extended Around The 18th Century To Form A Large T Plan Shaped House, The Cambria Has Been Under Ownership For Several Decades By The Same Family & Now Provides Very Generous Family Accommodation Along With Three Adjoining Flats With Two Being On The First Floor & The Third Being A Ground Floor Flat With All Having Individual Access. Currently All Three Flats Are Tenanted With A Monthly Income Of Some £1500 Being Achieved. There Is Tremendous Potential Here To Convert The Current Accommodation To Provide A Truly Bespoke Bed & Breakfast Facility Or Adapt The Cellar & Original Work & Store Rooms Into A Restaurant Whilst Still Retaining Living Accommodation Or Continue With The Current Arrangements. The Property Is Set On A Generous Plot With Off Road Parking To The Side & Lawned Gardens To The Front Reputed To Have Been The Forecourt For The Old Inn.
Steps From The Front Lead Up To The Two Flats With A Further Parking Area Accessed Via New Street & In Addition There Is A Lawned Garden Area With Potential For The Siting Of An Additional Dwelling (Subject To Planning Consent) At The Base Of The Garden Further Steps Lead Down To The Rear Of The Property With Access To The Work & Store Rooms Which Provide Plenty Of Potential Along With Access To The Kitchen & Side Parking Area. Viewing Is Strictly By Appointment Only.....
Accommodation


Main Residence

Front Door Into Hallway With Door Down To The Original Beer Cellar, Sitting Room, Dining Room & Breakfast Kitchen. A Wide Staircase Leads To The First Floor Accommodation Comprising 3 Bedrooms One With An En Suite Shower Room & Separate Family Bathroom With Storage Cupboards With Further Stairs To The Second Floor Landing With Two Further Bedrooms Along With Separate Wc With Access To Large Attic Space.
Flats


Flat 1 -1st Floor
Porch, Inner Hall/Study Area, Lounge, Kitchen, Double Bedroom, Bathroom & Separate Wc

Flat 2 First Floor
Entrance Hallway, Open Plan Living Area, Kitchen, Bathroom, and One Bedroom With Ensuite WC On First Floor.

Flat 3 Ground Floor
Vestibule, Inner Hallway/Study Area, Lounge, Kitchen/Diner, Loune/Bedroom & Bathroom

Council Tax Band :
The Cambria: G 2017/2018 £2,335.05
Flat 1: B 2017/2018 £1,137.43
Flat 2: B 2017/2018 £1,137.43
Flat3: A 2017/2018 £974.94

EPC :Grade II * Listed (Exempt)
Directions


From Our Office In The Town Proceed Along The High Street Toward The Square In The Centre Of The Town & Turn Left Into Water Street.. Continue Along Water Street Passing Both Dylan's Restaurant And Niche Shops Along With The Slip Way On Your Left & After Having Passed The Bowling Green Continue For A Hundred Yards Or So Before Bearing Right Onto Cambria Road. Continue Along This Road And The Cambria Can Be Found On Your Right Hand Side A Short Distance Later. Sat Nav LL59 5HF.
Location

The property is located to the centre of the renowned town of Menai Bridge that stands on the banks of the Menai Strait on Anglesey. The popular and busy town sits alongside the famous Thomas Telford Suspension Bridge and is within convenient travelling distance of the university city of Bangor. The town, which is well placed for the many coastal and rural attractions to be found on the island, boasts a wide range of amenities, including a primary and secondary school, a Waitrose supermarket, as well as several specialist shops and businesses and an assortment of restaurants and public houses. Easy access is enabled by the A55 Express way that is less than a mile away, allowing rapid commuting throughout Anglesey, to the mainland and beyond.

Historical Points Of Interest

The Ferry House is only 300 years old but the site has historic importance dating much further back. The first definite record of the ferry seems to be in an account for the year 1291-2 of Edward 1 's first Sheriff of Anglesey, Roger— de — Pulsedor. It says "For the farm of the passage ofPortaythew 1/6d and for the same passage together with the passage of the Lord Bishop of Bangor for the three days ofthe fair 14s 7 hd There does not appear to be much recorded about Porßnaethwy before the arrival of Edward 1 in these parts.
I believe that the names "Porth AethwY' and also "Din Daethwy" may be taken to mean the "creek" and the "stronghold* of the early tribes of the island. Also, that LLewelyn, after his victory at Aberconwy in 1194 "Won fresh triumphs at the passage ofthe Menai at Porthaethwy.
It is an accepted tradition that the Archbishop Baldwin, in 1188, preached the crusade among the rocks at Porthaethwy. At this juncture I should perhaps note what Geraldus Cambrensis has to say about the crossing of the straits on this occasion, though it does not appear to concern the Poråaethwy ferry. "From Bangor" he writes "we czossed over a small area ofthe sea to the Island of Mona distant thence about two miles". This would seem to suggest that the party crossed in the Bishops boat from Porthesgob; and as the Archbishop was the Bishops guest at the time this may well have been the case.
The first reference to the Porthaethwy ferry after Glyndwr's rebellion is found in an account covering the three years from Feb 1407, rendered by the Chamberlain, Thomas Farnsby. In 1409 we have the first
Rhingylls account, but the ferry was not being farmed and he writes "For nothing" in respect of it. On May 1410, Henry IV granted to his beloved William Hallay, in recoghition of good services, his ferries at Caernavon ad Porthaethwy, "For the term ofhis life, with fees and profits and commoditee to the aforesaid ferries due and accostemed to the value of 100s yearly". Hallaywas to answer to the Exchequer at Caernavon for any surplus. There were discrepancies over the accounts in the following years and in fact the two ferries were once again taken into the possession of the crown. In an excerpt from
transactions it states "Six ferries for the conveyance of passengers, livestock and goods across the narrow strait separating Anglesey from the mainland had existed from time immemorial. Five ofthese were owned by the Princes of Gwynedd. A prescriptive Episcopal right was attached to the other — the
Porthesgob ferry. This ferry operated between Gotad-y-get and the mouth of the Cadnant river in the parish Anglesey. After the conquest of 1282 the Menai ferries passed into the hands ofthe Crown, but Edward I restored tothe Bishop Ainian I all the possessions and privileges he held before that date. The nearest ferry to the Porthesgob ferry and the most important was at Porthaethwy, its terminus on the
Caernavon shore was at Borth (Presently called Bodlondeb) a short distance from the Bishops properly of Cae Glowr. In 1631 the Crown sold its interest in this feny to Thomas Williams, an Anglesey Gentleman, and in 1686 one of his descendants erected a "Ferry House" near the terminus on the Anglesey shore. This came to be known as the Cambria. There was a ferry house at Abermenai in 1502 which was crown property but no hint of a house at Porthaethwy at this time. It was in 1686 that Coningsby Williams petitioned for a licence to build a house "upon the wast called Porthaethwy common" and representing that "In regard frere are no houses for the habituation of the ferrymen, the passage is much incommoded". There was clearly no ferry house in Porthaethwy at that time and it seems to be implied that no houses of any kind were built there then.
In 1686 the Beaumaris ferry seemed to be the only ferry by which a coach could cross the staits, but, apart from Lord Clarendons letters, no other documents seem avai_lable to support this, although it is possible that Lord Bulkley made private arrangements for house guests to transport their coaches thus. During the early years of the 18th century the relative importance of the Porthaethwy ferry is placed beyond question. Beaumaris lost its position as a post town on the Holyhead road in 1718 and Bangor took its place. An act for the formation of a ampike road between the Porthaethwy ferry and Holyhead was passed in 1765, but the Great road between London and Holyhead passed that way as early as 1721. So we know that the Inn, originally built to accommodate ferrymen and travellers, mainly to and from Ireland, takes on a new importance about this time as a Posting Inn. Such evidence that is available appears to indicate that few fraveflers across North Wales prior to the middle of the 18th century. It could be possible that as yet coaches did not cross the strait, the Royal Mail and its deliverers would continue the journey to Ireland by coach via a pick up point at Porthaethwy Ferry Inn and stables. The Porthaethwy Ferry House during later years would appear to have catered for the cattle drovers and pig dealers and for the farmers who frequented the fairs (the site for the fair at that time was directly behind the Inn). Also at the time it was possible to ferry coaches; the coachmen and grooms of those whose carriages could not immediately be ferried over would be accommodated at the Inn, while they would themselves cross to the George until such time as it was possible to continue their journey. It appears that the house was known during the days of the ferry as "The Three Tuns Inn". In Patersons roads 12th edition 1799 it states Bangor Ferry — George, cross the Menai strait to — The Three Tuns Inn. Allthough the house has been called The Cambria from as far back as 1890 (as far back as the deeds to the property relate) we Imow from the tythe map of 1810 that the property was then Imown as the Packet Hotel. Indeed, a road named Packet Street and adjoining Cambria Road exists today.
Of the countless people to have passed through the house over the years not many of fame have been proved to have stayed here ( the writer is cun•ently frying to prove a report that the I Duke of Wellington had cause to stay overnight presumably through bad weather, for many years apparently, a brass plaque stating the event and the date was screwed to a wall in the house, but sadly was taken while the house was empty. Also reputed to have stayed overnight once was Daniel Defoe. He is said to have deemed the house as one of ''Ill repute", but one traveller of 1727, then Dean of Dublin, Jonathan Swift wrote " I came to Bangor and crossed the ferry a mile from it which, if it be well kept, will break Bangor. There I lay, it was
22 miles from Holyhead. I was on horseback at four in the morning resolving to be in church in Holyhead.
It goes on that the Dean tired and took a long rest at LLangefi1i and did not, in fact, reach church that Sunday. (at first I thought that a man such as the Dean would stay at the George, it being more affluent, however he says he crossed before he "lay" and being that he was on horseback so early and ffe distance to Holyhead from Porthaethwy being correct, I conclude that the Inn has had at least one well known person rest here.)
By 1814 it appears to have lost some importance to the George, a report in the Cambrian Travellers Guide ofthat date states that "on the Anglesey side of the ferry there are some buildings and stables used mainly to accommodate the poor fraVeller from Ireland". Since this time information regarding the Inn is scattered but interesting. It has been recorded that one of the many uses over the years has had religious connections (Strange when you consider that, by this time, the popularity of the Inn had a lot to do with the ale that was brewed nearby and stored in barrels in the cellar where it was stood on cobbles and cooled by a natural stream which made its way through the cellar and out to the straits via a brick built culvert. The cobbles and the culverts are still in evidence today but ffe stream has been diverted and is only apparent in the cellar during and after excessive rainfall).
Up until 1838, the Calvinistic Methodists used the stable lofts and parlour of the Cambria for meetings and prayer. It was the Innkeeper offfis time, David Hughes, who "Gave up of the lease held under Lord Anglesey for building a Chapel at Menai Bridge". Also a Methodist at this time was Richard Davies whose father was a man of authority in The Calvinistic movement on Anglesey. Richard Davies at that time had a small fleet of frading ships which sailed the world, indeed Menai Bridge was at that time an important port for world trade and it stands to reason that, being close to the wharf, the Cambria would have been host to seamen of many nationalities. While continuing to be a public house, the years leading up to and for at least twenty years after the turn ofthe century, the house was once more connected with the church. This time it is with St. Mary's church. At this time it was the upstairs rooms at the north of the property and they were used as an extension of the church in as much as the children's Sunday school met here and ladies whist drives fund raising activities such as jumble sales etc. In connection with the church were also carried out here. Indeed, there are still one or two older members of the community that have fond memories of this connection.
Running parallel with these activities at this time were political activities, when the late Mr William Davies lived here. Mr Davies was a well known public figure in Anglesey at that time, being a councillor and an active member of the Labour party. Infonnal meetings of the Menai Bridge branch were held here. When Mr Davies was coming to the end of his career, a young member of the ParLy visited Mr Davies for advice and discussion. That same young man was adopted Parlimentary Candidate in 1944 and is The Hon. Lord Cledwyn of Anglesey. In a letter to the writer he say's " The Cambria was a politically house in Anglesey, especially pre war, and Mr Davies was a highly respected figure.
This concludes a very brief history of The Cambria and its interest's except to say that, in some small way, the writer herself has contributed to the history by producing triplets here, the first in Menai Bridge at the time of writing, and only the second on Anglesey (the first set in LLangefni nearly 25 years ago)

Reception Hallway

Orignal Quarry Tiled Flooring, Double Doors Down To The Old Beer Cellar, Staircase To First & Second Floor Accommodation

Lounge (4.88m (16'0") x 4.72m (15'6"))

Formerly The Tap Room Of The Inn With The Original Raised & Fielded Wall Panelling & Ceiling Beam With Original Window Shutters. Five Sash Windows Of Varying Sizes With Southerley & Easterly Aspect Overlooking Garden Terrace & Menai Strait, Brick Fireplace With Gas Fire.

Breakfast Kitchen (5.33m (17'6") x 4.88m (16'0"))

Original Quarry Tiled Flooring, Beamed Ceiling, Sash Windows To Front & Rear Aspect, Door To Rear Gardens And Outised Buildings, Range Of Kitchen Units, rayburn Gas Fired Cooker Providing Cooking Facilities & Hot Water.

Dining/Sitting Room (4.42m (14'6") x 4.27m (14'0"))

Inglennok Style Fireplace With Brock Surround, Sash Windows To Front Aspect Overlooking Garden Terrace.Door Through into Ground Floor Flat (Currently Locked)

Staircase

Mostly Origianl Staircase With Alcoves & Exposed Beams With Sash & Velux Windows Boasting Wonderful Vioews Of The Menai Strait & Telford Suspension Bridge.

Master Bedroom En Suite (5.41m (17'9") x 4.57m (15'0"))

Exposed Beamed Ceiling, Four Sash Windows Enjoying Fine Views Of The Menai Strait, Bangor Pier & Llandudno To The Easterly Aspect With The Menai Strait & Telford Suspension Bridge To The West

En Suite Shower Room

Shower Cubicle With Vanity Sink Unbit & Low Flush Wc

Bathroom

Family Bathroom With Panelled Bath, Vanity Sink Base Unit & Low Flush Wc, Built In Storage Cupboards.

2nd Floor Landing

Doords Off To 2 Further Bedrooms & Door Into Wc With Eaves Access To Very Spacious Loft Area...

Bedroom (4.50m (14'9") x 3.51m (11'6"))

Stripped & Sanded Floor Boards, Large Sash Window Enjoying Fine Views Of The Menai Strait, Bangor Pier & Llandudno To The Easterly Aspect .

Bedroom (5.71m (18'9") x 3.35m (11'0"))