Croeso - Aberarth - Welcome
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Aberarth is a village of some 250 people,situated towards the southern end of Cardigan Bay between Aberystwyth and Cardigan. The only "amenity"is a small community hall where the sewing circle, womens guild, youth club, art class and various annual events are held. We had a part time post office but computerisation killed it off. The beach is stony and the sea can be wild.
The village has attracted retirees for the last two hundred years. Most of the bigger houses built in Victorian times were for retiring sea captains. One who did not retire here reminisces about old times here. Many of these houses face away from the sea; their owners had seen enough of the sea! Now it is holiday makers and those who went away as teenagers to earn their fortune elsewhere who decide to settle here.
Aberarth has existed since ancient times. When the Normans came they found a
castle a little way up the river valley and
took it over but it had existed for less than 100 violent years.
In the 12th century it was the seaport through which the Cistercian monks
imported "Bath Stone" from Bristol for the building of Strata Florida
Abbey on land granted to them by The Lord Rhys.
The Cistercians were great farmers and had a corn mill in Aberarth, the descendant of which has had
conservation work done.They also are reputed to have extended the
fish traps or goreddi, granted to them by Rhys ap
Gruffydd in 1184, which can still be seen at low tide.
Llanddewi Aberarth Church on the hill about
half a mile to the south is reputedly on the site of a 9th century church. It
has a Norman tower but the rest was rebuilt in 1860.
Aberarth was a great shipbuilding village before
1850, and here is fascinating description of the history of shipbuilding at
Aberarth written by Henry Jones of Glenview, Aberarth.
It had eight Pubs now it has none.But it has some interesting people including a woodcarver who makes miniature lovespoons,some artists, and a shoemaker who makes Shandals and the surf is great at times.
A mile or so up the Arth Valley was the home of a reputed witch - mentioned in Reader's Digest "Folklore Myths and Legends of Britain"as the witch of Pennant- a nearby village.
Less exciting but perhaps more useful - we have our own tax accountant specialising in small business' income tax problems - Rod Pritchard and Partners.
In September 2003 we had an exhibition of over 200 old photographs dated from about 1890 to recently. Now available on CD(about 150 MBytes of .jpg files) details by e-mail from roy.carpenter or Post from R Carpenter, 2 Water St, Aberarth. SA46 0LN. Price £5.00 post paid in aid of Village Hall funds
I have recently been taken to task over "uncalled for comments" at
the end of Capt. Lampshire-Jones reminiscenes.
In the sectionOld Times I include the remarks as given
to me and leave the reader to draw their own conclusions.
An aerial view of the lower village in summer.
A red Kite hovering over the village.
In the 1930s the only 5 breeding pairs of Red Kite in all Britain were here. Now there are about 200 pairs. Peregrine falcon, chough and stonechat are amongst other less common birds found here.
Visitors to this site
since 1st August 2002.
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For more details about these pages and their
content please E-Mail Roy Carpenter at maureenroy@btinternet.com
Last update 18th January 2008
