| Towards
the end of the 18th Century, that is about 1777, a man
called Richard Jones, of Aberffraw some 15 miles away,
enraged the churchmen of the village by listening to
the preaching of an itinerant evangelist preacher, and
by showing respect to the Word of God by doffing his
hat. For this he was sorely persecuted and virtually
driven from his home. It is said that he held his staff
vertical and let is fall to the ground, deciding to
travel away in whatever direction that his staff pointed.
The staff, it is said, pointed in the direction of Holyhead,
and thither he went, with is wife, family and chattles
on a cart. When he arrived at Holyhead at nightfall,
he did not get a very good reception, and could not
find a place "to lay down his head". But it
is said that "an old sinner" took pity on
him and offered him an old house to rent.
It
was there that the Methodist cause is said to have
begun at Holyhead, and the people gathered at his
home.
In
1808, the first chapel was built, being only 36 feet
by 27 feet! It was extended in 1815, rebuild in 1847,
and extended again in 1856. In 1886 the present chapel
was built at a cost of £3,511-15-9! It seats
nearly 1000 people. The chapel manse, now named "Yr
Hendre" was built in 1925.
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