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A short History
of New Quay.........
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In the early days New Quay was
a fishing and smuggling port. Later a burgeoning shipbuilding industry developed, reaching its peak in the middle of the nineteenth century. Towards the end of that century shipbuilding died out and tourism gradually filled the void. Today New Quay has little industry - just a
little fishing and a shellfish processing plant. By far the majority of residents now are associated with Tourism and its associated services.
New Quay is not a very old settlement in its present form although there has been a church dedicated to the obscure Sixth Century Saint Llwchaiarn (son of Caranfoel, and Grand son of Cyndrin, Prince of Powis) on the outskirts of New Quay from the sixteenth century.
W. J. Lewis notes in his little book 'New Quay and Llanarth' that:' There has probably been a church on the site for over 1,300 years. It was first dedicated to Non, the Mother of Saint David.'
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There is no mention of New Quay on Christopher Saxton's map of Cardiganshire dated
1610 (see left). However Llanllwchaiarn is shown, as are Llanarth and the church at Llanina - although it is not named. Similarly Seller's map of 1701 and Owen Bowen's map of 1753 has no mention of New Quay, although both show Llanllwchaiarn.
New Quay was not recognised as a separate settlement at this time, with whatever residents it might have had divided between the two parishes of Llanllwchaiarn and Llanina. These parishes still exist today. |
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The first reference to 'New Key' is said to be on the Lewis Morris'
survey of the coast of Wales - published privately and dated 1748.
Above it is shown on his son William's chart of 1801
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Initially New Quay was just a cluster of thatched houses on and above the beach at Tangeulan and Penguelan (Glanmor Terrace). Although there is no record of who lived there at that time, they were almost certainly fishermen using the relatively sheltered cove to bring in their boats and build their houses. The land upon which New Quay now stands was part of the three farms of Penwig, Neuadd and
Penrhiwpistiyll. There is mention in a Royal Commission appointed to suppress piracy of 1566, that most boats in Cardiganshire at the time were small fishing boats of 4 or 5 tons.
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In the eighteenth century, smuggling was a viable alternative to agriculture on this part of the coast. One unattributed source notes that:
'Salt smuggling was rife on this part of the coast, in particular at New Quay, the little bay of Cwmtydu, and at
Fishguard. Smugglers importing salt at Newquay clashed with customs officers from Aberdovey in 1704. The eight officers met with stout opposition
from 150-200 locals who were unloading salt from 3 barques on the beach. In self defense, they fired over the heads of the crowd, who then redoubled their attacks. The customs officers then fired into the crowd, severely injuring one of them. At daybreak, the 'Rabble' returned with the police, and had two of the customs men arrested and charged with injuring the local smugglers.'
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Shipbuilding started in New Quay in the eighteenth century although exactly when is unclear as registration had not always been a legal requirement. The first recorded vessel built at New Quay was the 24 ton sloop 'Thomas and Mary' which was launched in 1779. Between 1800 and 1820, 31 ships were built at
New Quay, most of which were sloops. |
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| New Quay was becoming more popular as a port at the start of the nineteenth century, there being an increase
in tonnage shipped from 500 to 3,500 tons between 1823 and 1833. It became evident that the harbour needed to be increased in size by the addition of a new pier. The old pier, called Penpolion
(see photo on right) was just a haphazard assembly of poles driven into the sand
with loose boulders. It protected a small area below the present
lifeboat station and the Sandy Slip . Today Penpolion is a concrete
pier. |
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The Rev. Alban Thomas Jones Gwynne of Aberaeron had obtained a Harbour Act for Aberaeron in 1806, and in 1820 he approached the engineer J. Rennie to draw up plans for a new pier for New Quay. However, the estimates of £72,000 for a pier with cut stone on the inside wall and the jetty, and £50,000 for a pier without cut stone were too high so nothing was done until 1833 when John Maslam was asked to draw up further plans. He suggested a pier some 520 feet long at a cost of £2,741 and 15 shillings. This plan too was discarded as the plan was judged to be inadequate, and so in 1834 Daniel Beynon was invited to submit a plan which was carried out after the formation of the New Quay Harbour Company.
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This
is the only remaining portion of the original track that carried the
quarried stone to the new pier (in background). It is preserved close
to the Tourist information
Centre |
Rock
Street is named after the track used to bring the rock to the new quay |
The
quarry at the end of Rock Street is now the site of the fish factory.
This is located on the level area to the right of this slope. |
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The pier was built with stone from a
quarry which can now be seen above 'New Quay Fresh and Frozen Foods'
at the end of Rock Street. A railway was built to carry the stones from the quarry to the end of the pier. The track of this railway is now reflected in the name given to Rock Street.
The small stone lighthouse, 30 feet high, was not
built until 1839 and was placed at the end of the pier. It was known
locally as the 'Pepper Pot' - an item that it
clearly resembled.
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The lighthouse had a window light
which showed a fixed bright light 40 feet above high water level
and visible for 6 to 10 miles. It had a small access door in the
base.
A severe storm in 1859 damaged the pier and
washed the lighthouse away. It was rebuilt but destroyed a
second time almost 80 years later during another severe storm on
28th February 1937. |
In 1833, Samuel Lewis published his 'Topographical Dictionary of Wales', in which referred to New Quay as follows:
'This place is advantageously situated on the shore of Cardigan bay, and affords good anchorage to vessels of small tonnage. The haven is securely sheltered from the westerly winds, and, if improved to the extent of which it is susceptible, might easily be made a safe retreat for ships of considerable burden. The pier might be enlarged, for which purpose a subscription has been opened with success ; but the attempt has been hitherto frustrated by the want of a sufficient title to the land, which would be requisite to carry that object into effect. There are at present from sixty to seventy vessels belonging to this port, averaging from forty to fifty tons' burden each, and employing from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men. Fish of very superior quality is found in abundance on this part of the coast, soles, turbots, and oysters, being taken in great numbers during the season ; a good herring fishery may also be established with advantage. The village is of considerable size, and is inhabited chiefly by persons connected with the business of the port'.
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With the completion of the new pier, New Quay started to grow with the building of new streets including Rock Street, Mason Street and the upper part of Church Street.
The New Quay Harbour Company were now able to charge a fee for the
importation - and export of almost all supplies. The tariffs were
posted on enamel signs on view to all. These included five shillings
for every marble tombstone or monument, one shilling for every
hundredweight of gunpowder, one shilling and six pence for every ton
of salt, five shillings for a pianoforte, one shilling for a bath
chair, two pence for a ton of culm, and one shilling for a hundred
'cocoanuts'.
The
photo on the right shows the original enamel tariff boards
before they were removed and restored in recent years. They can now be
seen on the wall of the Sailing Club on the pier preserved in cases
under glass. My thanks to Toby Clempson for the original
image. |
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By 1851, New Quay had a population of 1236 which included 8 Blacksmiths, 6 Masons, 3 Weavers, 9 shoemakers, 1 painter and 1 doctor. There were very few family names in New Quay at this time with three names making up more than half the population. These were Davies (68 Heads of household), Evans (50), and Jones (46). Most of the others were Thomas, Williams and Phillips.
right: Wool spinning in New
Quay
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At
this time, the majority of houses in New Quay were built of clom with
thatched roofs. Often twisted ropes were used under the thatch
reflecting the maritime tradition of the area. Such a 'Bwthyn Clom'
had walls which may have been stone up to breast height, but which
were topped with clom (cob in England). Clom is a mixture of straw,
sand, clay and water which may have included cow manure, horse hair
and sheep's wool.
Although houses made
of stone and with slate roofs started to appear in New Quay after the
construction of the new pier, many thatched properties in the area
survived for at least the next fifty years. for A.G. Bradley wrote in
1903 in 'Highways and Byways of South Wales' that the cottages of
Ceredigion were "The quaintest and most picturesque in the
world - the roof is a thing of joy and a work of art which throws the
best of their kind known to me in England hopelessly in the
shade." Very few examples of these primitive cottages
survive today. Most of those surviving can be seen on local farms, the
thatch covered by corrugated iron. The cottage was the original
farmhouse - usually replaced as the residence by a stone and slate
house in the nineteenth century. A few also remain along the A487
between Llanarth and Aberystwyth
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There were a number of Blacksmiths, the
largest of which was on the site of the present New Quay hotel, Sail makers,
Rope makers and a foundry. There were three rope-walks, one behind
Water Street, another behind Park Street and one on Lewis Terrace.
There were also a number of schools in the area specialising in
navigation and trigonometry.
Right: A Schooner of the
period |
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Despite the success of the
shipbuilding industry in New Quay, new technology was advancing and
changing transportation needs would soon bring about the end of
both shipbuilding and lime making in
the area. In 1864 Aberystwyth linked to Shrewsbury by rail. In
1886 Cardigan was linked to Great Western Railways and the
Aberystwyth, Lampeter and Carmarthen line came in 1867.
Visitors had been coming to New Quay in
small numbers aboard steamers from Liverpool and Bristol. However, the
increased ease of transportation by land into the area, brought about
the next phase of New Quay's development. Lodging houses started to
appear in New Quay and visitors wrote glowingly of its benefits. One
visitor wrote in the 'Christian World' of 1885: ' ..a little town,
white in the bright sunshine, built along the steep sides of a
shimmering Bay.....this little town was the quaintest most picturesque
one could wish to see...
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The first printed Guide book to New
Quay was :'Being a short description of New Quay as a watering Place,' printed
in Lampeter by the Welsh Press in 1885.
left: New Quay in 1880 |
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| Horse drawn buses brought visitors from
the stations at Aberystwyth
and Llandysul in the 1890's. It is noted that by 1895 New Quay had
some 10,000 visitors in the year.
right:
New
Quay beach in the early 1900s |
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This is the GWR
bus that brought passengers from the station at Llandysul to New
Quay in 1907. |
A considerable change in recent years has
been the immense growth of the caravan industry in the areas around
New Quay, along the coast towards Gilfachreda and along the Llandysul Road at Cross Inn. The
greatest impact being on land at Hengell Farm behind Traethgwyn from
New Quay to Cnwc y Lili - known in the sixties as 'Hengell Park and
today as the Quay West Holiday Park.
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'The Two Bays' Traethgwyn about 1920
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Transformed by about 1960 into 'Hengell Park'
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Today New Quay is a thriving holiday
resort at Easter and in the summer months. Off season however,
it remains a haven of tranquility.
© 2003 Rod Attrill
References:
'New Quay and Llanarth' by W.J. Lewis. pub 1987 Aberystwyth.
'New Quay at the time of the 1851 census' by Susan Passmore. Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society Vol. X, No.3, 1986.
'Shipbuilding at New Quay' by Susan Campbell-Jones, Journal of the Cardiganshire Antiquarian Society Vol. V11, No.3/4, 1974 / 1975. Click
Here
for our page on the History of Llanarth
Click
here to visit the Ceredigion County Archives website
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