The Harbour at Aberystwyth

Disgrifiad

The harbour at Aberystwyth, on the west coast of Wales in the county of Ceredigion, has a complex history. The sandbar that extended from the estuary was such that it was necessary to wait for winter storms and floods to wash away part of the bar. This meant that the port of Aberystwyth was not particularly prosperous and in 1561 Aberystwyth was described as 'a barred haven of no value'.
However, by the eighteenth century, Aberystwyth had a fleet of some sixty herring fishing boats and trade soon took off. During the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, trade at the harbour focussed around small sloops and smacks owned by local fisherman who made their trade catching herring, cod, whiting, pollack and ray during the summer and autumn, and coastal trading during the rest of the year. Trade at Aberystwyth harbour increased so much that in 1763 the Customs House was moved to Aberystwyth from Aberdyfi to control local trade.
Before the mid-nineteenth century, the sandbar that dominated Aberystwyth harbour made it impossible for larger vessels to make port. In 1836 measures were taken to remove the sandbar and improve the harbour, so that by the mid-1800s Aberystwyth harbour was home to much larger vessels, such as schooners, brigs and barques.
During the nineteenth century, Aberystwyth was exporting material such as lead, zinc ore and tanning bark and importing coal, limestone, slates, flagstones, timber and household goods. By the 1840s trading ships were taking passengers from Aberystwyth to North America returning with exports such as timber.
Aberystwyth also supported a small shipbuilding industry, providing trade for local rope and sail-makers. The harbour had timber yards and a large saw mill sited on ground to provide resources. Throughout its career as a ship-building harbour, the total number of ships built at Aberystwyth, 242, was the work of three generations of the Evans family; Faulk Evans, his son, John and his grandson, John Faulk Evans. The ship building industry in Aberystwyth finished with the smacker EDITH ELEANOR in 1881.
The importance of Aberystwyth harbour, like many ports across the country, diminished with the introduction of the railways in the 1860s. The railway provided an alternative route for imports and exports and as a result the sea trade decreased rapidly. Throughout much of the twentieth century, Aberystwyth harbour was home to just a small fleet of lobster fishing boats.
Sources:
Ports and Harbours of the UK, Aberystwyth Harbour, http://www.ports.org.uk/port.asp?id=252
W. Troughton, 'Ceredigion Shipwrecks', Ystwyth Press
J. Geraint Jenkins, 'Welsh Ships and Sailing Men', Gwasg Carreg Gwalch Press
Which rivers run into the harbour at Aberystwyth?
Aberystwyth had a ship building industry with several 'new builds' registered at the port each year. The Port of Aberystwyth Shipping Registers are part of the collections of Ceredigion Archives. How many vessels built at Aberystwyth were registered between 1860 and 1870. What were the names of the builders?
http://archifdy-ceredigion.org.uk/
Whereabouts did shipbuilding take place at Aberystwyth? Are there clues in the historic Ordnance Survey mapping provided on the People's Collection Wales www site?