History of the Borough

The story of the Borough of Aberystwyth begins with King Edward I granting a Charter on December 28th, 1277 proclaiming the town a free borough.

This, of course, was not the beginning of the history of our neighbourhood. By 1277 it already had a long and interesting past reaching back many thousands of years.

It is believed that the first settlers were primitive hunters and collectors who lived on the shore at Penyrangor, possibly some 7,000 to 10,000 years ago. They used the flint pebbles on the beach and fashioned them into tiny knives, scrapers and boring tools which were their chief implements.

We know little of these far-off times, and we have to jump some thousands of years ahead to the next settlement which we know something about. This was on Pendinas, where refugees from European countries, conquered by the Romans, built a fortified hill-village around 2,000 years ago. It was in two parts, the upper containing rude huts, and the lower set aside for oxen, sheep and goats. At this time the valley below was marshy or wooded, where many wild animals roamed.

The next important settlement was associated with St. Padarn who founded the church or monastery of Llanbadarn Fawr about 1,400 years ago. It remained an outstanding religious centre for centuries.

Much of what we know of the next important period – the Norman conquest – has come down to us in the chronicles written by the monks of Llanbadarn Fawr and Strata Florida. The Normans first overran Ceredigion in 1073, but their attempts to hold on to the area received many set-backs and led to decades of warfare. To strengthen their hold on the north of the county, they built a temporary castle of earth and timber at Tanybwlch about the year 1110. At this time, the river Ystwyth flowed out to sea near Tanybwlch mansion, and so this castle was correctly called Aberystwyth Castle. The castle was destroyed and re-built several times in the troubled years that followed.

When King Edward I made a determined effort to subdue Wales in the second half of the thirteenth century, he directed three army thrusts at the native stronghold of Gwynedd in north-west Wales: one along the North Wales coast, one through Central Wales, and a third along the West coast. When the English examined the military potential of the Aberystwyth region, as a base for the West coast army, they disapproved of the site of the Tanybwlch castle, and selected instead a small hillock near the mouth of the Rheidol, and built thereon the massive stone castle whose ruins we see today. King Edward himself visited the castle while it was in the course of erection in 1277, and directed, as was the Norman custom, that a small walled-town be built under its shadow. This was the beginning of Aberystwyth. At first, the little town was known as Llanbadarn Caerog (the Fortified Llanbadarn), and it was to the town so called that the king on December 28th, 1277 granted a charter proclaiming it a free borough. In some way or other, the name of the old castle at Tanybwlch stuck to the new castle, and, as time went on, the name was transferred to the little walled town as well. So, by the Age of the Tudors, we hear of Aberystwyth town and Aberystwyth Castle, though, of course, it should really be Aber Rheidol, as it is situated at the mouth of the Rheidol. The story of the construction of the Norman castle and its design and subsequent history has been told in a booklet published in 1973 entitled The Castle and Borough of Aberystwyth by C. J. Spurgeon.

The First Charter

The first charter, which was written in Latin, directed that the town should not only be walled and ditched, but should also have a guild merchant, a weekly market and two annual fairs, and enjoy the liberties of the borough of Montgomery.

The wall ran from the castle around the base of the town hill and back to the castle, following the line of the modern South Road, Mill Street, Chalybeate Street, Baker Street, Alfred Place, Crynfryn Buildings and King Street, with gates at Bridge Street, Great Darkgate Street and Eastgate. The wall itself was between six and nine feet thick. Inside its perimeter, no Welshman was allowed to hold land or tenements; only Anglo-Norman soldiers, merchants and their families lived inside. In spite of this, however, Welshmen in due course did begin to settle in the borough−possibly this was more the case at Aberystwyth than in other places. By the early 1300s, Welshmen possessed 43 per cent of the holdings in Aberystwyth and were classed as burgesses the same as the English settlers.

Monday Market

To return to the charter of 1277: the guild merchant it established enjoyed, among other privileges, exclusive trading rights among the rural Welsh of the area – as far south as the Aeron and north to the Dyfi. This led to an abrupt change in the economic life of the Welsh. The weekly market on Mondays was established at the very beginning of the borough and has continued to the present day. Naturally, the constable of the castle had first choice of all the saleable articles brought to the market. Butter, eggs, beef and poultry were sent to the castle larder every Monday at a nominal price.

Edward I also established two annual fairs at Aberystwyth, one lasting four days at Whitsun, the other of eight days at Michaelmas. The present November fair is a link with the latter.

Although the town wall enclosed a considerable area, it took centuries to fill the space with houses. In the first decade of the 1300’s there were 112 burgesses, but the Black Death 40 years later appears to have halved their number. The burgesses were not the only occupants of the borough. There were also servants and bondsmen, and the garrison of the castle. It is not possible to estimate the population during these times. Aberystwyth had long been an important fishing centre and there must have been several fishermen’s cottages in the neighbourhood.

For the period that the castle retained its military and administrative importance, we cannot speak of Aberystwyth as a self-governing borough. The castle housed the various courts under which the law and government were administered by royal officials. Nevertheless, the burgesses’ rights were important. Apart from trading privileges they protected them from arrest for debts under certain circumstances and from conviction in other cases.

The burgesses prized their charter above all else and made a habit of getting new kings to confirm it, though this was not really necessary. The Aberystwyth charter was confirmed or extended by Edward III, Richard II, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV and Henry VIII. The 1380 charter of Richard II excluded Welshmen (in theory, anyway) from any part in civic jurisdiction, common pasture rights and timber and turf rights. It also established the use of a jury in Aberystwyth.

The Act of Union of 1536 and subsequent legislation in the next few years had important effects on Aberystwyth. For the first time, Justices of the Peace were appointed in Wales, and most were Welsh gentry. For the first time also, Wales was given the right to send representatives to Parliament. Ceredigion had two Members of Parliament, one for the county, and one for the boroughs. The names of the first two M.Ps. have been lost and the first record we have of an M.P. for the Cardigan Boroughs seat is that of Jenkyn ap Rhees, returned in 1542. At first, only the burgesses of Cardigan town had the right to vote, while Aberystwyth and the other boroughs had to join in paying the M.P’s wages. Later all the boroughs were allowed to take part in the voting. The Cardigan Boroughs’ seat was merged with the county seat in 1885.

After 1536 the castle, like other Welsh castles, was deprived of much of its purely administrative importance and soon ceased to be inhabited. It was occupied again in the Civil War but after holding out for the king, was destroyed by Cromwellian forces. In fact, the castle had only twice been lost to the crown – first in the Welsh uprising of 1282-3 and when Owain Glyndŵr held it, 1404-8.

From the date of the later charters down to the year 1835, the affairs of the town were governed by the Court Leet, which met twice a year, at Easter and Michaelmas. It is not clear how it evolved, for its records go back only to 1690. However, we know that Aberystwyth had a Mayor – the presiding officer of the Court Leet – as far back as 1584 in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. The government of the corporation was vested in these courts, which appointed the town officers and admitted burgesses. The Court Leet was summoned and held by the Mayor. The jury consisted of 12 or more burgesses, selected and sworn in by the Mayor. In 1833, the members of the corporation were the Mayor, coroner, chamberlain (treasurer), town clerk, two sergeants-at-arms, two scavengers and an indefinite number of burgesses. The Court Leet met in the Guild Hall, built by order of Cardiganshire Quarter Sessions about the year 1690 and rebuilt in 1770. The hall stood at the junction of Great Darkgate Street and Pier Street, the spot later occupied by the Town Clock. Sometimes the Court Leet adjourned its meeting across the road to the Lion Hotel (now Padarn Hall).

The Burgesses

The first charter of Aberystwyth in 1277 established the right to appoint burgesses. During the time of the Courts Leet, they possessed at least four privileges: a vote in the election of an M.P., a right of trading, exemption of market and corn tolls within the Borough, and a right to pasturage on the common or marsh. The original intent of the Courts Leet was to view the frankpledges of the burgesses who had given mutual promises for the good behaviour of each other. The only way a burgess could be admitted to the freedom of the borough was by presentment of the jury at the Court Leet. In 1833, the fee for admission was 10 shillings and sixpence.

It must not be supposed, however, that this was a democratic institution. For hundreds of years the control of town affairs lay in the hands of the Pryse family of Gogerddan, the chief landowner. Pryses were frequently appointed mayors. Two were M.Ps. for the borough’s constituency in the 18th century and the family held the seat continuously from 1818 to 1855. The town affairs were bound up with the fortunes of the Pryse family, especially in the closing years of the Court Leet.

The Royal Commission on Municipal Corporations in 1833 explained how the Pryse family would maintain complete control. A ruling few filled the office of Mayor in rotation. As the Mayor selected the jury, he made sure he selected men who would continue the system. “A majority of the jury has been commonly composed of non-resident burgesses, the tenants of Mr. Pryse, the sitting member, who is of the same political party with the ruling few,” said the commissioners’ report. “It was admitted that all persons entertaining opinions opposed to those of the ruling party in the corporation, are systematically excluded. The promotion of the political influence of this party seems to be the chief practical purpose for which the corporation has existed for a considerable number of years.” In fact, the jury had become just a rubber stamp. At the end of each Court Leet, the jury and officers dined together at the corporation’s expense. In the 1830’s this was costing the town at least £2 a year – quite a sum in those days.

Watchdogs

It would be wrong to assume, however, that the Court Leet neglected its duties in other respects. The records show that they were very much the watchdogs of the town in respect of trading rights, the appearance of the town, public order and any other encroachments which affected “the town, borough and liberty of Aberystwyth.” It was the duty of the jury to bring public attention to such matters and they did so by making “presentments.” A record of these was published by the Welsh Gazette in 1902 in a book entitled “Aberystwyth and Its Court Leet” by the Rev. George Eyre Evans. The officers were appointed annually, but some were re-elected annually for many years.

Mayors

The Mayor was always presented at the Michaelmas Court Leet. An almost – complete list of mayors dating back to 1659 is in existence, with the addition of the isolated names of Richard Phillips in 1584 and Richard Pryse in 1615. Many served as Mayor several times, the record apparently belongs to Job Sheldon, who was Mayor 12 or 14 times between 1804 and 1833. Alexander Gordon, inn keeper of the Lion Hotel, was Mayor four times between 1730 and 1745, 12 times a bailiff and 30 times the coroner. Apart from holding the Court Leet, selecting the jury and generally keeping an eye on other officers and the constables during the year, the Mayor was also deputy returning officer for the borough in parliamentary elections. The vote counting itself was always held at Cardigan, the shire town. The Mayor was not paid in any way.

Coroner

The Coroner for the borough was appointed in the same way as the Mayor. He also received no salary from the corporation but could claim the same fees as the county coroner for holding inquests.

Chamberlain

The Chamberlain was the treasurer of the corporation. His duty was to collect the rents and other dues. The Commissioners of 1833 reported dissatisfaction in the town that the accounts were never published, and did not appear to have ever been audited. Although the books were produced at the annual Michaelmas Court Leet the jury never inspected them.

Town Clerk

This officer was appointed annually like the other officials but in practice he was Town Clerk for life. He was the secretary to the Court Leet and received a two guineas fee for each attendance, plus legal fees. William Jones held the office from 1808 to 1832 and was succeeded by John Parry, who was later Town Clerk to the Borough Council until 1872.

Sergeants-at-Mace

Their duty was to summon the Court Leet and attend the Mayor. They were unpaid but received a suit of livery for the year. In the 18th century and early 19th century, one of them was always the Bellman or Town Crier, an office which continued until after World War One. The Bellman’s uniform is still in existence.

Scavengers

This was a very lucrative office and the persons usually selected were the churchwardens and overseers of the poor. The town was divided into three parts, based on Bridge Street, Great Darkgate Street and the rest of the town. The two scavengers paid a £10 fee to the corporation each year for the privilege of their office. Each householder was responsible for removing their own refuse and paid the scavenger to do the work. However, the scavengers employed the paupers to do the work for which they were paid themselves by the townspeople.

Trading and Markets

The burgesses were very concerned to protect their exclusive trading rights, both in the Monday markets and the fairs. Courts Leet frequently drew attention to unauthorised persons trading in the town. Anyone who was not a burgess was forbidden to trade without the consent of the burgesses. The Court Leet kept a close watch on the administration of the market stalls and on all weights and measures and tolls. The burgesses’ rights over the common and marsh were also jealously guarded. The records are full of warnings to unauthorised persons who allowed their animals to graze on the common or who took turf from it. The common included the Maesglas, where High Street, Prospect Street, Penmaesglas Road and Custom House Street now stand, plus other areas below the town wall. The marsh covered lowlying areas now occupied by Park Avenue, Alexandra Road, North Parade and Queen’s Road.

Leasehold Property

One of the most valuable assets of the town, right up to the present day, is the Corporate Estate, the land owned by the town and leased to householders and others. For more than 160 years the corporation has been receiving a good income from the ground rents and this had undoubtedly helped to keep down the rates. In the 1960’s there was an attempt in the Borough Council to sell the freeholds, but after long discussion the idea was rejected. However, the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 gave most householders the right to buy the freeholds. Some hundreds of householders have done this. The money from the sale was invested, and the interest, together with the ground rents, provides a continuing income, which amounted to £35,000 in the Borough Council’s last year.

Aberystwyth therefore, owes a tremendous debt to the Court Leet, which between 1813 and 1834 let much of the old common and allowed the town to expand greatly. Land for houses was let for 99 years and land for 40 years. At first the leases were granted on payment of “fines” and the ground rent was really only nominal. But as the Commissioners of 1833 found, some prominent burgesses came off very well as a result of this policy. Before 1808, the common was unenclosed land over which the burgesses enjoyed special rights. These rights were also claimed by the inhabitants, householders and landowners in the borough. The corporation disputed the claims of the latter, and after litigation which cost the town £3,729, the right of the corporation to the exclusive enjoyment of the lands was established. To raise this money, the Court Leet decided to let the land on long leases on payment of “fines.” The ruling few and the town clerk decided the fines and rents. Job Sheldon obtained two very valuable plots, one extending below Mill Street and including the area that is now the Corporation Yard. The 1833 Commissioners said, “The transactions were not conducted in such a way as to be altogether free from suspicion. In most instances, no valuation appears to have been made, nor any public competition invited.” Both the town clerk and Sheldon received the money from the fines and used it to pay off debts which the corporation owed to them.

The Town Wall

In the 18th Century, the Court Leet were concerned that the town walls, the castle and the town gates were often in disrepair. They also attempted to stop people taking stones from them to build their own houses. There are many cases of the jury pointing out “common nuisances” in relation to the walls, which finally disappeared at the beginning of the 1800’s. The dirty state of the streets was frequently a cause of complaint, and many times householders were accused, and even fined, for allowing dung hills or rubbish in the street. Before the Harbour was taken over by trustees in 1780, there were cases of the Court Leet complaining of nuisances such as old hulls left to rot. It is interesting to note that parking was a problem even in the 18th Century – when the problem concerned horses, left in the main street and interfering with the passage of carts. Roads and Trefechan Bridge were occasionally out of repair and the Court Leet ordered the inhabitants to repair them.

Punishments

The Court Leet had jurisdiction over certain minor offences, but generally the law was administered by magistrates through the Cardiganshire Quarter Sessions. The Court Leet was told on many occasions that the town stocks near the Guild Hall were out of repair. Troublesome women were sometimes branded common scolds by the Court Leet and the jury more than once demanded a ducking stool to be provided – but it never was. The Court Leet also had to deal with vagabonds and beggars and the constables appointed at the Court Leet were told to take a stern line with them. In 1833 the constables numbered six, but were said to be very inefficient. Most were unpaid, for this was a few years before a Borough Police Force was established.

With the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act, the Court Leet ceased to exist at the end of 1835.

In 1835, Parliament passed two Acts which completely changed the local government of Aberystwyth. The first Act was the Municipal Corporations Act, which set up borough councils elected by ratepayers in 178 towns and cities in England and Wales, of which Aberystwyth was one. The second Act was a local one which setup Town Improvement Commissioners to improve the town and supply it with water.

Originally it was intended that the new borough councils should take over the functions of all improvement commissioners, but in the haste of the day, and to ensure the controversial Act’s passage through Parliament, this provision was omitted. As a result, the councils were given little powers, and in Aberystwyth they were confined chiefly to the management of the corporate estate. Improvement commissioners could hand over their powers to the councils if they wished, but this was not done at Aberystwyth until 1873.

Aberystwyth in 1835 was flourishing. The town was already a popular resort for “the fashionable set” who could afford to travel by stagecoach. The harbour ranked third in Wales for at this time it was an important lead-exporting port. The town had grown considerably since 1800, with the population approaching 5,000 compared with 1,758 in 1801. New streets were built, including North Parade, Terrace Road and Marine Terrace.

The local improvements Act received the royal assent in July 1835 and contained powers for paving, lighting, removing obstructions, sea defence, and most important of all, providing a water supply.

Brynymor Reservoir

Aberystwyth was among the first towns in Britain to supply its own water. Formerly, water carriers brought in barrels at 6d. a time from the mill leet of which Plas Crug Brook was a part. The improvement commissioners immediately set about providing waterworks, and spent £5,000 in 1837 in building a reservoir at Brynymor Dingle and tapping springs at Brynymor. Cast-iron pipes were laid along Marine Terrace to the town. There was a drought in 1844 and the commissioners decided to obtain more water by tapping the springs near Plas Crug. A steam pump and engine house was erected at the town end of Plas Crug and water pumped to Brynymor. The system served Aberystwyth until the 1880’s.

Gas Lighting

Early action was also taken to light the streets. The commissioners gave permission to W. M. Stears of Stroud Gloucs., to erect gasworks and agreed to pay £3 a lamp for 80 public lamps. The gas company was formed in 1838 and the gasworks built on land now occupied by the Wales Gas showroom and adjoining buildings in Park Avenue. In 1851 the commissioners thought that the town should own its own gas works and four years later offered the company £1,622 for their works. However, nothing came of this and the gas company remained in private hands until the industry was nationalised in 1949. The borough council was urged in the 1870’s and during World War One to take the company over.

Drainage

During the 38 years that the commissioners were in existence, they spent £12,000 on drains and sewers to ensure that the town was as healthy as possible. Formerly, the drains were open, but in the 1860’s a sewerage scheme was undertaken,with the effiuent being piped out to sea. Much was done to keep the beach free from all drainage. At the end of the commissioners’ period, the town was said to be in “a very favourable sanitary condition” – at any rate by the standards of the time.

Street Paving

The Commissioners had a duty to pave the town and began to replace the cobbled pavements with flagstones. The cobble stone forecourt of the Old Black Lion in Bridge Street is the only remaining one of its type. Flagstones were brought to Aberystwyth by sea. From the first, the commissioners were concerned to keep the streets clear. In 1835, at one of their first meetings, they decided that stalls around the old market place centred on the Guild Hall should be removed to the new market in St. James’s Square. However, in the face of opposition from traders, they soon changed their minds. Later they established a fish market below the Guild Hall.

The Commissioners

Although the commissioners were elected, so few people were entitled to vote in the elections that they were virtually a self-perpetuating body. The Mayor and the Curate of St. Michael’s Church were ex-officio members (Aberystwyth did not have its own vicar until it was made a separate parish from Llanbadarn in 1860). Most commissioners were professional or business men in the town. They included Edward Locke, the Custom House officer, Dr. Rice Williams, a noted physician who lived at Bridge Street, Mathew Davies (father of Lord Ystwyth), Thomas Jones, a shipbuilder who lived at Sandmarsh Cottage and reputed to have died worth £250,000, John Roberts, the tanner, who as a boy saw men hanged in London for sheep stealing. The first clerk was William Henry Thomas. He was paid £10 a year.

Borough Council 1836-1873

Much ofthe above work was accomplished with the co-operation of the Borough Council, who first met in January, 1836 and elected its first Mayor, James Hughes, Glanrheidol, attorney-at-law. The original council consisted of 12 councillors and four aldermen, later increased to 18 councillors and six aldermen. The rate payers elected the councillors, who in turn appointed the aldermen. This was the first introduction of democratic local government into our area.

Town Hall

It was the magistrates at Quarter Sessions who decided in 1841 that the Guild Hall was unfit and should be replaced with a new County Hall. They offered the Borough Council £800 towards building the new hall. However, the borough council were not keen to build a hall mainly for use by the county. They wanted it to be partly a county hall, and partly a town hall and this is what happened. The foundation stone was laid in 1842 and in 1855 the Guild Hall was pulled down. The Town Hall was not completely finished until 1870. It was partly destroyed by fire in 1957, was rebuilt in grand style and re-opened on May 2nd 1962, later winning a Civic Trust Award.

Borough Police Force

The Borough Council was empowered to form a Watch Committee. In September, 1837, it set up the Aberystwyth Police Force with only two full-time officers, a head constable paid 22s. a week and a junior constable paid 14s. There were 33 petty or special constables paid 2s. a day when on duty. The House of Correction with two cells was in Great Darkgate Street, opposite the present Post Office. Cardiganshire Constabulary was formed in 1844 but the two forces were not amalgamated until 1857. The constables wore tall leather hats, long-tailed coats and white trousers in summer. By this time, the town had its own magistrates’ court, of which each Mayor was an ex-officio member during his term.

A Growing Town

Meanwhile the town continued to grow. Civic pride was reflected in the building of the Town Clock by public subscription on the site of the old Guildhall in 1856. This was a landmark until demolished for safety reasons exactly 100 years later. With the coming of the Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway in 1864, and the Manchester and Milford Railway (from Carmarthen) in 1867, every effort was made to make our town live up to its claim as the “Brighton of Wales,” a term used as early as 1797. More boarding houses were built on Marine Terrace, and in 1866 the Queen’s Hotel, with more than 100 bedrooms, was completed.

Another large hotel was begun near the Castle, around the old Castle House. However, funds ran out and the promoters of the University College of Wales bought it unfinished for £10,000. This ensured the presence of the U.C.W. in the town, which is its biggest asset and the largest employment unit it possesses today. Without the college and other units it attracted, Aberystwyth would be similar to other small resorts. After the Queen’s Hotel company built a sea wall in front of the hotel, the town authorities agreed to extend it to the foot of Constitution Hill, and later approved plans for building Victoria Terrace.

A Bathhouse on rocks near the Queen’s Hotel split the promenade in two, but after pressure by the authorities it was removed in 1892. With the granting of leases on the promenade and elsewhere, the council’s income from ground rents increased significantly. Although the railway brought in a new era of prosperity in general, it led to a decline in the Harbour.

In the 1850s, the council had difficulty in establishing the ownership of the Castle and only after protracted negotiations finally bought the ruins and grounds for £254 in 1881. To cater for the farming community, the cattle market was moved from the Queen’s Road area to Park Avenue when the railway arrived, and the council built a £2,000 slaughterhouse adjoining it.

Board School

Going to school is now taken for granted, but it was not until 1875 that school was made compulsory for children in Aberystwyth. The important Education Act of 1870 gave local councils the right to ask for a School Board to be set up to build schools. The borough council exercised this right almost at once, and Aberystwyth was the first town in Wales to elect such a board. A Board School (now Ysgol Gymraeg) was opened in Alexandra Road in August 1874 and shortly afterwards the board made school attendance compulsory for children aged five to 13. Before Board School opened the census showed that 943 children were attending the National and other schools but 229 were “running the streets.” In 1904 Board School and the National Schools were handed over to Cardiganshire Education Authority.

Free Library

Aberystwyth can also be reckoned the pioneers of the public library movement. The town adopted the Public Libraries Act in 1871, though the council did not open a library until 1874. The 1871 decision was made so that the council could receive a gift of paintings from George Powell, of Nanteos. After much wrangling the council decided to build a museum and library behind the Town Hall but the proposal fell through for various reasons. The first free library was in Pier Street, later being moved to the Old Assembly Rooms in Laura Place. The library in Corporation Street was opened in 1906, and in 1947 it became part of the new Cardiganshire Joint Library.

Secret Ballot

Ratepayers did not have a secret ballot until 1872. When the Aberystwyth School Board was elected in 1870, there were charges of bribery and even of gifts of tea and blankets and it was obvious the secret ballot was now essential. Parliament passed the necessary legislation and the first borough council secret ballot was held on November 1, 1872. But we have now come to the start of a new era in Aberystwyth’s story.

Almost precisely a hundred years before the reincorporation of the borough council as the present Aberystwyth Town Council in 1974, the former acquired added new responsibilities which resulted in the Aberystwyth we know today. The Aberystwyth Improvement and Water Act 1872 authorised the council to erect new waterworks, to purchase the gas-works, to establish markets, to extend the borough and to borrow money for these and other purposes. In November 1873 the Town Improvement Commissioners handed over their powers to the council and in the following year the Harbour Trustees transferred the Harbour to the council. In addition, national legislation, notably the Public Health Act of 1875, conferred additional powers on the council. This period saw the beginning of Aberystwyth’s peak as a holiday resort. The council made great efforts to cater for the holiday trade. At the same time, foundries, the Harbour and associated industries were declining, and the railway became the chief employer of labour. Over the next 100 years the University College of Wales became the dominant feature of the town, acting like a magnet to attract other institutions like the National Library of Wales, and offices for local and central government and hospital administration. Attempts to attract manufacturing industry were not spectacular, while throughout the period the agricultural population in the surrounding area declined. One notable feature was that while the population of the borough increased from 6,898 in 1871 to 10,688 in 1971, the population of the county fell by about 20,000. The increased responsibilities of the council included first and foremost the improvement of the sea front. In the 1870’s the tourist industry came first in the council’s mind.

Seafront, Tourism, Sport

In the 1870s, the promenade stretched only from the University College of Wales to the Queen’s Hotel. It was extended towards Constitution Hill and in 1901-04 the great sea wall around Castle Point from the Pier to South Marine Terrace was built at a cost of £16,000. It was designed by the borough surveyor, Mr. Rees Jones. The stone came from Ystrad Meurig Quarry, bought by the council in 1881. The completion of this section made the promenade a mile-and-a-quarter long. The South Promenade extension was completed in 1931 at a cost of £12,000. However, in January and February, 1938, storms washed away much of Victoria Terrace causing £60,000 worth of damage which had to be attended to at once. Sea defence continued to be a major headache for the council and in the 1960s it was found necessary to deposit shale from Constitution Hill on to the beach to protect Victoria Terrace. Meanwhile the promenade was extended northwards a little. Plans to extend it along the slope to Clarach were made in the 1930s but the cost was prohibitive. At the turn of the century, a paddling pool was built at Castle Point but was wrecked by the sea. A new paddling pool was built in the 1960s near the old lifeboat slip.

The boatmen of Aberystwyth enjoyed their heyday before World War I. 70 rowing boats were kept on the beach for summer visitors to enjoy, plus six sailing yachts, three sailing boats, four motor boats and a steamer offering trips to Aberdyfi. Many of these boatmen were Naval Reservists and served in the war. Appropriately, a memorial to Aberystwyth’s war dead was built at Castle Point, overlooking the sea. Until World War II the promenade consisted largely of hotels and boarding houses, though many of the boarding houses were taken over by the University College of Wales – it was one of the late Principal J. H. Davies’s ideas for accommodating ex-servicemen for example at Plynlymon, Ceredigion, Nos. 10, 11 and 13 Marine Terrace. During the war the Government took over other hotels and boarding houses but few were later put back to their original purpose. The council tried in vain to prevent the loss of holiday accommodation on the promenade, particularly that of the Avondale after the Queen’s Hotel was bought for county offices in 1950.

Until about 1940, Aberystwyth’s chief popularity was as a resort where families spent a week or a fortnight, often returning in successive years. After World War II the emphasis as on day-trips and touring. In the early 20th century, the council’s chief holiday amenity was the Bandstand and minstrels and strolling players were engaged to play there and at the Castle Grounds and Pier. Concerts, and later cinema shows, were run privately. However in the 1920s the council built more shelters, notably the one linking Marine Terrace and Queen’s Road. It then spent on building the King’s Hall, completed in 1934, which proved a good entertainments centre and conference hall. A council putting green was laid in the 1930s on the Castle Grounds, and the Queen’s Road tennis courts were bought by the council, with a putting green being provided on the site of the burned-down College Hall. The bandstand was also enlarged. After the war, crazy golf was provided near the castle and recreational facilities improved generally. Playing fields were laid over the old Plascrug refuse tip. Playing fields were also provided at Penparcau and children’s playgrounds were opened there and at Caebach, Plascrug.

The crowning success of the council’s efforts in recreation came in 1973 with the completion of a £200,000 swimming pool at Plascrug, a joint project by the borough, rural and county councils. This was eventually extended to include other sporting amenities. Beach swimming was made safer by the creation of a lifeguard corps.

Water Supply

Another major problem that faced the council, as the town grew in size and became a modern resort, was the improvement of its water supply. By the 1870s it was obvious that the old Brynymor Reservoir could not provide enough water for the growing town. The council decided to “think big” and after difficult negotiations began laying a 16-mile pipeline from Llyn Llygad Rheidol on Plynlymon to Aberystwyth. Apart from chlorination, there was no treatment but eminent men testified to the pure qualities of the water. The original eight inch diameter pipes were in use until 1967. Over the years the soft water attacked the pipes to such an extent that their capacity by 1967 was less than half of the designed 500,000 gallons a day. Meanwhile, the Aberystwyth Rural District Council had developed Llyn Craig-y-Pistyll to supply much of their area. Treatment works were built at Bontgoch in 1939 and enabled the Rural Council to sell surplus water to the borough in times of need. By 1960, water shortages had become fairly frequent in Aberystwyth in summer months. The Borough and Rural Councils realised that joint action was needed and drew up a comprehensive plan to transport water from Llyn Llygad Rheidol to Llyn Craig-y-Pistyll and then to new treatment works at Bontgoch. When the Cardiganshire Water Board was formed in 1962, none of these works had begun. The board completed them in 1967 at a cost of £517,000. By then, water consumption in North Cardiganshire had risen to about a million gallons a day. The new scheme was designed to provide up to 1,600,000 gallons a day. The old mountain main was replaced by spun iron pipes and asbestos cement pipes and other old pipes were duplicated. The town’s main reservoirs were at Cefnllan, but a reservoir was built at Frongoch to supply the Penglais Campus and Waunfawr. Conversely it was not always a problem of seeking water, but of having too much. The low lying flood plain of the Rheidol was often flooded after heavy rains and sometimes the results were disastrous and certainly were inconvenient to the residents in the lower part of the town. Possibly the worst flood was that which swept away old Trefechan Bridge in 1886. In the 1920s boats had to be used to rescue flood victims in the Park Avenue area and North Parade was flooded to a depth of six feet. Susequently, flooding continued to trouble residents of Cambrian Street and other low-lying streets. Ironically, one flood happened at a time of water shortage. Various flood prevention measures were carried out but it was not until 1970 with the completion of the £200,000 surface water drain for Penglais and Brynymor that the major problem seemed to be over. In the same year, it was decided to proceed with a further million pound drainage scheme.

From the 1870s onwards the sewage disposal system was improved several times, with a treatment works being provided at the Harbour.

Health and Housing

Disease was far more prevalent in the 19th century than in the following century, and many children died in infancy, mostly from diphtheria, measles, diarrhoea or whooping cough. Diseases like scarlet fever – hardly heard of today – were also killers. In 1877 after the Public Health Act 1875, the borough council appointed its first Borough Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Morris Jones, followed in 1885 by Dr. D. Rees Davies. Both men were associated with the local hospital at North Road which replaced a small one in Eastgate in 1888. From 1892 until his death in 1940, the Medical Officer of Health was Dr. Abraham Thomas, an outstanding doctor who was very popular in the town. He was also associated with the hospital and was medical officer to the Cardiganshire Battery which he accompanied on active service to Egypt and else where in World War I. It was Dr. Thomas who initiated the building of the Isolation Hospital at Penyranchor in 1911 to isolate and treat fever patients. This hospital, though inadequate, served Aberystwyth until 1951. It was supervised by Dr. Thomas until 1940 and by the next Medical Officer of Health, Dr. D. I. Evans, until 1951, and was in the charge of Miss Ann Thomas. There was an outbreak of paratyphoid in 1924, but this cannot be compared in its seriousness to the typhoid outbreak of the summer of 1946, due to infected ice cream. There were 200 cases – many of them holidaymakers – and four deaths. The good work carried out by Dr. D. I. Evans and the county Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Ernest Jones, during this outbreak, is remembered with gratitude. From 1951 onwards the post of Medical Officer of Health was held by Dr. I. Morgan Watkin (1951-56), Dr. Dulyn Thomas (1956-1965), Dr. J. R. Jones (1965) and Dr. W. J. St. E-G. Rhys (1965-1974).

Other aspects of public health were under the watchful eyes of the public health inspectors and their predecessors. The Borough Surveyor, Mr. Rees Jones, was also Inspector of Nuisances from 1878 to1903. Mr. Jones continued as Survey or until the end of World War I, but from 1903 to 1923 the Inspector of Nuisances was Mr. James Evans. Mr. Osborne J. Evans (1925-1949) was designated Sanitary Inspector. He was followed by Mr. O. R. N. Hoskins, Public Health Inspector who died in 1968, to be succeeded by his deputy, Mr. D. M. Lewis. Inspectors had a wide range of duties, including those of housing officer, and dealt with conditions in shops, offices, railway premises and factories, sampling of foods like ice cream and milk, the mart and markets, meat inspection at the old abattoir, pest control, and public toilets.

Many of the Borough Surveyor’s duties were indirectly concerned with health, for example refuse disposal. The tip at Felin-y-Mor (now moved to Glan-yr-Afon industrial estate) was well-placed in that it was out of sight of the town. The previous tip was at Plascrug and subsequently helped create the present playing fields.

In the 19th century, the local Burial Board decided to close the old cemetery at St. Michael’s Churchyard and opened a new one at Llanbadarn Road in 1860. The council eventually absorbed the Burial Board.

Another important body, concerned with the health of the poor, was the Board of Guardians. It built the Bronglais Workhouse in 1840. Boards of Guardians were abolished in 1930, after which Bronglais became a public assistance institution and later a geriatric hospital. The building was demolished to provide a car park for the new hospital opened in 1966.

Council houses were originally seen as an aspect of public health, aimed at fighting the evils of overcrowding and bad sanitation. The Housing for the Working Classes Act was passed in 1890 giving councils powers to build houses and borrow money for them on the security of the rates. In the years leading up to 1914, Aberystwyth Borough Council built houses in Greenfield Street, Trefechan, Skinner Street, Poplar Row and Trinity Road. The old Barracks was converted to council dwellings after the War Office gave it up in 1911, and it was renamed Gogerddan Place. Until 1920 Aberystwyth was the only council in Cardiganshire to build council houses. In the early 1920s a few more houses were provided in Glanyrafon Terrace, Mill Street and Riverside Terrace. About 1924 the first 90 houses at Caeffynon, Penparcau were built, to be followed by a further 38 in 1930 and more at Maesheli. Also in the 1930s, houses were provided at Portland Road, Yr Odyn, Maesyrafon, with flats at Portland Road and Riverside Terrace. Some older private houses were converted to council dwellings. After World War II, the council bought more land in Penparcau, some of it by compulsory purchase and built about 200 “temporary” houses and flats very much with economy in mind. However, the council was anxious to avoid concentrating all housing in Penparcau which was now in danger of becoming the second largest “town” in Cardiganshire, with more people resident there than in Lampeter, Cardigan, New Quay or Aberaeron! In 1946 the council took steps compulsorily to purchase part of the northern side of Penglais Road to build 50 houses. After objections by the University College the idea was dropped. As a result, much of Penglais Park was presented to the town for use as a public park. Meanwhile building went on and Council flats were erected at St. John’s Buildings, Thespian Street, Harbour Crescent, Cambrian Square and Trinity Road, while after 1951 the old isolation hospital became Penyranchor Flats. A new phase began in the 1960s with the erection of 52 flats at Penybont East. In 1967-1968 the council built 103 high-standard houses at Penybont East, and earmarked 15 for sale. Unfortunately, the idea of selling the houses was a failure in so far as it was intended to provide relatively cheap homes for sale to young local people. Finally several were bought by the Police Authority. A further 32 houses at Tynyfron on the Penybont East Estate were completed subsequently. Another development was the erection of 18 old people’s flats – with a warden service – built at Rheidol Place for £52,000. A block of flats was planned for North Road Gardens. In all, the council spent about £1,500,000 on building or improving its dwellings which totalled 954 (735 houses, 219 flats) by 1974. Certain houses were earmarked for Civil Servants and key workers in the hospital service, industry and public undertakings.

Until 1972 the council had the power to fix its own rents. For 10 years to 1972 the rents remained basically unchanged thanks to a differential rents scheme tied to an income scale. Despite protests, the council was forced to implement the “Fair Rents” Act in 1972 and this resulted generally in increased rents thereafter.

The council also contributed to the general housing situation by providing local couples with mortgages and allowing grants to improve property. As ground landlord of hundreds of houses, it also ensured maintenance of standards in older properties.

During World War II, the council found accommodation for the No. 6 I.T.W. Wing of the R.A.F. – not only at Queen’s Hotel, but in other places in the town, and also for hundreds of evacuees. The people who stayed in the town had very happy memories of Aberystwyth and many of them and their families have continued to holiday here for many years.

Trade and Industry

In 1874, Aberystwyth was described as “a bustling, thriving town, with its foundry chimneys, its gasworks, its railway stations and its magnificent hotels. “There were also slate works, saw mills and shipbuilding yards. By 1974, however, most local jobs were in service industries, including education and public administration. The need to find new jobs to replace those in declining industry was recognised as early as World War I when efforts were made to attract a Government munitions factory. Many young workers had to leave the town in the 1920s and 1930s to find jobs, and the Council repeatedly tried to attract new industry. In 1939 it attempted to attract a Royal Navy shipbuilding yard. After World War II, it pleaded for light industries but the response was disappointing. From the 1950s onwards, the Mid-Wales Industrial Development Association attracted many new industries to Mid-Wales, but only about 100 new jobs in three firms were attracted to Aberystwyth (at Llanbadarn). In 1968 the Council made a personal appeal to Prime Minister Harold Wilson, to open more Government offices in Aberystwyth. In the following year the Council and Aberystwyth Rural Council set up an action committee to attract jobs. The most encouraging development, however, was the acquisition by the Cardiganshire County Council of 62 acres at Glanyrafon, where an industrial estate, providing around 1,000 jobs, was developed. Public offices like the Welsh Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Forestry Commission provided another source of employment.

The Harbour has been one of Aberystwyth’s chief assets. By an Act of 1780, Harbour Trustees were appointed and empowered to enlarge and preserve the Harbour. One of their achievements was to divert the Ystwyth to meet the Rheidol, thus helping to keep the Bar clear. In 1836 a further Act was obtained and the stone pier and the main quay were built. Aberystwyth was a leading Welsh port until the coming of the railways. In 1874 the borough council obtained an Act which transferred the Harbour from the Trustees to the Council. There were then about 300 ships registered at the port, employing 900 seamen, men and boys. By 1925 the Harbour trade had dwindled so much that the visit of a ship was quite rare. The Vale of Rheidol Harbour branch line was finally closed in 1930 when the lead trade had already stopped. The Council sought in vain in the 1950s to revive sea trade and the only hope seemed to lie with pleasure boating, the lobster trade and other fishing. Various plans were put forward and in 1972 the borough surveyor, Mr. W. Rees Davies, produced a scheme that included a new quay and a lagoon for sailing boats. The University College put resources into a study aimed at solving the silt problem. In 1964, the withdrawal of the traditional lifeboat was seen by the council as a blow to the seafaring tradition, but the inshore rescue boat filled the gap adequately in the following years.

Livestock was sold in Park Avenue for well over a century (now moved to Lovesgrove) and the old name for the area is Smithfield. The abattoir or slaughterhouse was built adjoining the sale area and also conveniently close to the railway. After World War II, local farming interests approached the Borough Council to improve facilities and in 1948 the Ministry of Agriculture approved the building of an attested mart on the the site of the old borough sale room. An auctioneer’s firm was granted permission in 1952 to hold weekly Monday marts and two years later the new mart was opened by the then Mayor, Mr. Ernest Roberts. In 1960 concern was expressed about the health dangers at the old abattoir and in 1964 the Council reluctantly closed the abattoir because it was felt that to bring it up to new Ministry standards would be too costly. The average annual kill at the abattoir was about 35,000 beasts and local farming interests were naturally dismayed at the closure. An attempt was made in 1966 to persuade the Council to re-open the mart, but this was not successful and the old building was demolished to make way for a car park. However, the mart continued to flourish thereafter.

Although Aberystwyth was designated a growth town in the 1960s development was only gradual. Following the 1968 roads plan, the County Council commissioned a “master plan” for Aberystwyth and District with the aim of increasing the population of the area under review from 17,000 to 24,000 in 20 years. The report, published in 1972, said 1,000 more jobs were needed in manufacturing industry in the next 20 years, and there should be a special development agency. It recommended new roads, but stressed that the character of the town centre should be retained and enhanced. Other ideas covered the development of tourism, the harbour, a park in the Rheidol Valley, renewal of certain shopping areas and provision of car parks. The most controversial proposal, a new village at Lovesgrove, met with much opposition and the idea was shelved. In 1963, a Walsall firm had proposed a £2m. redevelopment of the Eastgate area, but the council finally rejected this as “too grandiose” and because it would spoil the character of the town centre. Traders and residents showed overwhelming opposition to the plan. In 1964 the Council for British Archaeology said Aberystwyth had an historic quality which required careful treatment in planning and redevelopment proposals. Subsequently, much of the town centre was designated a Conservation Area. Meanwhile, the town was allowed to grow “naturally” side by side with the University College of Wales and other institutions also expanding. In 1914 the borough boundary was extended towards Llanbadarn and Waunfawr, but in 1937 a further attempt to extend it to include Llanbadarn failed when a town poll decided an extension was not needed.

Around the town there are still a few green electricity boxes bearing a plaque saying “Aberystwyth Electricity Department. “Electricity was first used in Aberystwyth in 1894. A washing board factory owned by the Aberystwyth Improvement Company began generating their own electricity in 1895 and also supplied a few customers. The Chiswick Electricity Supply Company bought the generating plant in 1910 and extended the supply until there were about 500 consumers by 1918. In 1934 the Borough Council decided to buy the undertaking, despite protests from the Chamber of Trade. The Council immediately altered the supply from D.C. to A.C By this time there were more than 2,000 consumers but this figure continued to increase. The town also switched from gas to electric street lighting. The former engineer to the private undertaking, Mr. E. P. Perkins, was retained by the Council as Electricity Manager.

In April 1948 all electricity undertakings in Britain were nationalised.

Roads and Railways

In the 1870s, Aberystwyth was barely out of the stagecoach era. The railway from Shrewsbury had arrived in 1864 and that from Carmarthen three years later, but of course the motor-car did not come along until about 40 years later, and even then cars were seldom seen much before World War I. A motor-bus service to Aberaeron was begun in 1906. It appears that the car was not too welcome in Aberystwyth, for in 1909 the magazine Autocar advised motorists to steer dear of the town because the police were rather strict! Things did not change much afterwards: in 1972 the local traders were complaining that traffic wardens had “netted” £4,692 in instant fines in nine months – though they were only administering the law as laid down.

Those who witnessed the arrival of the motor-car could hardly have foreseen the numbers on the road today. One early attempt to curb its use was the Council decision in 1911 to ban cars from Plascrug. By the 1930s it was realised that wider roads were needed. Suggestions included using Plascrug Avenue as an alternative to Llanbadarn Road, and building a new road from Southgate, crossing Penparcau and the camping ground to link up with Park Avenue. A through road from Coopers’ Corner to Alexandra Road was also suggested. The war cut short these plans, though some of these ideas were revived in the Aberystwyth Transportation Plan prepared in 1968. This plan was produced by consultants after extensive research. It recommended two dual carriageways from the bottom of Park Avenue, one for Lovesgrove and eventually on to Bow Street, the other across the Rheidol, around the foot of Pendinas to Rhydyfelin and Figure Four. A through road from Coopers’ Corner to Alexandra Road was again suggested, along with fairly minor improvements in other parts of the town, and the provision of several car parks. After public consultation, much of the road plan was incorporated in the Aberystwyth Development Plan.

The main railway lines were joined by the Vale of Rheidol Railway in 1902, built to take lead from the Cwm Rheidol mines to the Harbour. Most of this trade disappeared soon after World War I and the railway became almost entirely a holiday attraction. By the 1960s, the Vale of Rheidol was the only steam-operated line run by British Railways and it was feared it would be closed because it did not pay. A strong local “save the line” committee was formed and succeeded in greatly increasing the annual passenger total. In 1967, British Railways offered to sell the line to the Borough Council and soon after it was reported that some London businessmen were interested in it. However, local people were determined to make British Railways recognise its potential and today the Vale of Rheidol trains (now privately owned) are among the most popular of “The Great Little Trains of Wales.”

Aberystwyth had less success with the line to Carmarthen, which in 1964 fell a victim to the Beeching “axe”. The Borough Council’s campaign to save the line was led with great determination by the Town Clerk, Mr. W. Philip Davies, but all appeals were in vain. In 1966, a total of 10,000 people petitioned Parliament to have the line reopened, but again their plan was turned down.

Fortunately, the Shrewsbury line and its link to Pwllheli remains, though heavily subsidised. In the 1970s, the Borough Council co-operated with other authorities in trying to ensure that there was no rundown of services.

Bus services were the subject of many Town Hall debates, particularly regarding fares on the Penparcau route. In 1969 and 1971 it was suggested that the council should run its own service. This was ruled out on grounds of cost and the likelihood that the Traffic Commissioners would not permit it. By 1970 the Council provided several more bus passenger shelters in the town.

Fire Brigade

Aberystwyth had its own part-time fire brigade until World War II. In early days from the 1890s to the beginning of World War I, it had a horse-drawn fire engine operated by a found-hand pump. Firemen had a smart uniform with brass helmets, and a silver one for the captain, who at various times was a councillor, the borough surveyor and the chief constable. Mr. Richard Arfon Jones, who joined the brigade in 1920, after a motor fire engine with solid tyres was introduced, recalls that it was kept in the Park Avenue Fire Station. The firemen rode outside, clinging to a brass handrail. The brigade strength was usually about 12 to 14, and they also had to tackle floods and cliff rescues. Mr. Jones remembers using boats to rescue people in Park Avenue in one flood. Big fires between the wars were the Waterloo Hotel (1919), the Farmers’ Co-operative (1922), the College Hall (1933) and the Palladium Cinema in Market Street (1935). On Mayor’s Sunday, the borough fire brigade were always the Mayor’s guard-of-honour and the Mayor in turn traditionally presented each fireman with white gloves. The brigade was absorbed by the National Fire Service in World War II, and fire-fighting is now the job of the Mid and West Wales Fire Brigade, with a new fire station at Trefechan built in 1962.

Campaigns and Opinions

Aberystwyth was never a Council to hide its opinions-and some of them seem a little surprising to people today. In 1899 an attempt in the Council to ban Sunday newspapers failed. About 10 years later, the council took exception to open-air meetings held by the Salvation Army and in the same year even refused to allow a Dr. Barnardo’s collection. The Council was apparently concerned to keep the promenade as free from obstruction as possible, and as quiet as possible on Sundays. Sunday boating was not permitted until 1935, when a plebiscite showed townspeople in favour of it. National issues were often debated. In 1913 the Council supported the Votes for Women campaign and four years later was calling for prohibition of liquor.

The Council has repeatedly called for a parliament or an elected Council for Wales, even as long ago as the 1920s. In 1951 it submitted a claim for the title of capital of Wales, but, of course, this went to Cardiff. In 1968 the Council again joined in the demand for an elected Welsh Council, suggesting it should sit in Aberystwyth. Campaigns in the 1960s were organised and sustained by the Council over a long period, notably the demand for better radio and television services, particularly the provision of BBC 2.

Aberystwyth received attention in the national Press in 1971 when it embarked on a bold experiment. The Students Union at Aberystwyth was invited to nominate three students to serve as co-opted members on three standing committees. Naturally, the local trade unions and shopkeepers also sought similar representation but were refused. In the event, the student experiment proved a failure, largely because the students seldom turned up, and the idea was abandoned.

Ceremonials

The late Dr. Thomas Jones, C.H., in his famous book “Leeks and Daffodils” wrote of the town in the 1890s: “Aberystwyth had a corporation with chained mayor and bewigged town clerk, with aldermen and councillors, gowned and furred to distinguish them from the common citizens. Their proceedings afforded the inhabitants much-needed entertainment and were fully reported in the local Press.”

The Mayor’s insignia of office comprises a scarlet cloth gown edged with sable, a gold-laced cap, and a gold chain made originally for £70 but now worth many times that amount. An enamel badge bearing a view of the Castle Gate-tower and dated 1896 was replaced with a badge bearing the new coat of arms adopted in 1962. The links in the chain bear the names of some past Mayors. The deputy Mayor and all the aldermen wear scarlet gowns, while the deputy mayor has a silver-laced cap. The councillors wear blue gowns, and like the aldermen wear black cocked hats. Lady members wear tricorn hats. The gowns and caps are worn on ceremonial occasions like Mayor’s Sunday and since the Town Hall was re-opened in 1962, at each monthly council meeting. Most councillors regard the wearing of robes as part of the tradition of the borough and an attempt in 1968 to persuade them to give up the robes at ordinary Council meetings met with overwhelming disapproval.

The new coat of arms was approved by the College of Arms in 1962 and is used on Council stationery and the Corporation Seal. Before that date the seal was the lion of the Pryse family of Gogerddan. A seal portraying the Castle Gate-tower was used for a time in the 1870s. The present area is surmounted by a crest which is the same Gate-tower. The shield shows an open book (denoting a university) with the date of the first charter, 1277. Above are two ships commemorating ship-building at Aberystwyth. The shield is supported by the lion of Gogerddan and the Welsh Dragon, bearing emblems of a wheatsheaf (agriculture) and a winged wheel (tourism). The motto is Gorau Moes Gwasanaeth (the best conduct is service).

Members and Officers

A remarkable feature of the Council is the number of men who served for more than 40 years on this and other authorities. Undoubtedly the “Big Three” were Peter Jones, D. C. Roberts and C. M. Williams, who dominated local affairs from the 1880s to the 1920s. Peter Jones was a coal merchant who was elected to Aberystwyth School Board in 1870. Fifty years later he was serving his third term as chairman of Cardiganshire County Council. He was also a Town Improvement Commissioner until this body was superseded in 1873. A few years later he was Mayor for a double term and served on the Council a total of 45 years. When the County Council was formed in 1889, Mr. Jones was its first chairman and held office for a double term. He was again chairman in 1919-20 and therefore the only person ever to occupy the chair for three terms. C. M. Williams opened a draper’s shop in Aberystwyth in 1870 when he was 20. He was elected Mayor four times, a record equalled only by Thomas Jones earlier in the century. Mr. Williams’s first mayoralty was in 1888-89 and his fourth in 1916-17, and he also served the council more than 40 years. Like Peter Jones, he was elected to the first County Council and was twice its chairman. D. C. Roberts was seven years his junior. His father, Mr. Richard Roberts, had been Mayor in 1866-68 and D. C. Roberts was first elected to the Council just after his 21st birthday – the youngest ever councillor in Aberystwyth. Mr. Roberts was three times Mayor, twice chairman of the County Council (a member for 51 years) and first chairman of Cardiganshire Education Committee. He was also treasurer to the University College of Wales and in 1936 after more than so years’ public service received three honours: a knighthood from King Edward VIII, the Freedom of the Borough and an honorary degree from the University of Wales. The “Big Three” were all leading Nonconformists and Liberals. Another prominent man of this period was a leading Conservative and Churchman, namely Sir George Fossett Roberts, managing director of David Roberts & Sons, brewers. His father, David Roberts, had been three times Mayor and a member from 1864 to his death in 1908, aged 88. His grandfather, John Roberts, tanner, was also Mayor and the family’s service to the Borough therefore spanned 100 years. Sir George was twice Mayor. After leaving the Borough Council in 1936 he devoted much of the rest of his life in serving the local hospital and was president of the National Library of Wales 1944-50. A contemporary of Sir George was Joseph Barclay Jenkins, a bookseller who was born in Cwmystwyth. He too, was Mayor twice and served terms as chairman of both the County Council and County Education Committee.

Until 1887 it was traditional to appoint Mayors for double terms but after that the Mayors were usually appointed for one term only, on a seniority basis. Apart from those mentioned already, several served for a sufficient time to qualify twice for the mayoralty: Dr. T. D. Harries, surgeon, Robert Doughton, ironmonger, E. P. Wynne, chemist (three times mayor), Thomas Doughton, nephew of Robert Doughton, Llewellyn Samuel (also a chairman of the County Council and Education Committee, and John John (railwayman and also County Council chairman), Alderman R. J. Ellis, who was twice Mayor, was still at 85, chairman of the County Planning Committee, Water Board and of Penglais Comprehensive School Governors. Ernest Roberts, a former station-master, was Mayor twice as was Alderman Ifor Owen, a retired electricity worker who is still a member of both county and borough councils. A family record was set by R. G. Pickford, who was Mayor 10 years after his father held the office, and again 11 years after that.

In earlier days, most of the leading businessmen were Council members. Some are already mentioned but others were Philip Williams, printer, John James, merchant, George Green, ironfounder, William Henry Palmer, proprietor of the Queen’s Hotel, Daniel Thomas, draper, Edwin Morris, of the Waterloo Hotel and Edward Llewellin, of the Central Hotel. In 1913, the first Labour member was elected and after World War I there was generally a wider cross-section of townspeople on the council. Noted members were Professor Edward Edwards (uncle of Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards), P. B. Loveday, plumber, John Lewis Evans, furnisher, T. L. Old, ironmonger, Fred Foulkes, railwayman, Griffith Davies, headmaster, George Rowlands, teacher (Mayor during the 1955 royal visit) and W. G. Kitchin, Mayor when the new Town Hall was opened. One councillor, John Hugh Edwards, was elected M.P. for Mid-Glamorgan in 1910 and later represented Accrington. A surprising feature, perhaps, is that although there were several women councillors in this period, there was no a woman mayor prior to the reorganisation in 1974.

The early officials worked only part-time for the council. A local solicitor, John Parry, was Town Clerk for the remarkable period of 40 years, first under the Court Leet and then under the Council from its inception in 1836 to 1872. He was followed by William Henry Thomas, a former clerk to the Improvement Commissioners, and who married an ex-Mayor’s widow. From 1880 until just after World War I, the Town Clerk was Arthur J. Hughes, a member of a noted family of solicitors. After 40 years, he was succeeded by his deputy, John Evans, a leading Old Student of the University College of Wales. The next Town Clerk was Thomas John Samuel, M.B.E., an ex-Councillor who was Mayor during the royal visit of 1911. Mr. Samuel was also a solicitor and his brother was David Samuel, headmaster of Ardwyn Grammar School. The first full-time clerk was Llanidloes-born Eric Lloyd Horsfall Turner (1934-37) who later became Town Clerk of Scarborough, Yorks. By coincidence, his successor John F. Guile, was a Yorkshireman. Mr. Guile had been Town Clerk of Hayes, Middlesex, and left Aberystwyth in 1943 to become Town Clerk of Grantham, Lincs. He remained there for 25 years until his retirement in Grantham. A popular appointment in 1943 was that of Mr. H. D. P. Bott to be Town Clerk of his native town at the age of 40. Mr. Bott had been deputy to Mr. Guile before becoming Town Clerk of Dartmouth in June 1941. His term until 1952 was a difficult period for the Council when many changes were taking place. Mr. Bott eventually decided to go into private practice in Aberystwyth and for some years thereafter was Registrar of the County Court. He was succeeded in 1952 by Mr. J, Henwood Jones, who resigned after four years in office. In June 1956, Mr. W. Philip Davies, Town Clerk of Caernarvon, was appointed to the similar post in Aberystwyth. Like Mr. Bott, Mr. Davies was an Old Student of the University College of Wales and was also a well-known speaker and lay-preacher in Wales. He was also a man of great determination and over the next 13 years was to lead several campaigns on behalf of the Council. His period of office was broken when he resigned in 1958 to become general secretary and legal adviser to the newly-formed Farmers’ Union of Wales. His place was taken by Mr. John Mason, who left for a post in Zambia after 18 months. Mr. Philip Davies then returned to the Town Hall and remained Town Clerk until he retired on health grounds in 1969. His term also covered a difficult period which included the rebuilding of the Town Hall, the leasehold debate and the formation of the Cardiganshire Water Board. Mr. Davies’s successor was Mr. J. Kendal Harris, a miner’s son from Aberdare, who had risen from a junior office boy to be a deputy clerk to Aberdare Urban Council. Although Mr. Harris’s period was short compared to some of his predecessors, he also faced a time of great changes, the chief of which was reorganisation of local government. Mr. Harris was appointed Chief Executive to Ceredigion District Council, so he continued to occupy his old room in Aberystwyth Town Hall.

For many years, the post of Treasurer to the Council was held by the manager of the bank where the Council had its accounts, and it was he who had the custody of the Council funds. Day-to-day running of financial affairs was in the hands of the Borough Accountant, the first of whom, David Jones, was appointed in 1876. One of the Borough Accountants, Norman Greenwood, later became County Treasurer. Mr. Greenwood was a Yorkshireman, and was succeeded in the 1930s by a Lancastrian, Mr. F. Sharp. After Mr. Sharp’s death in 1951, another Lancastrian, Mr. William Lee, was appointed Borough Treasurer, and held the post until 1974, seeing the council’s year-by-year expenditure grow to the huge sum of more than £300,000.

An outstanding Borough Surveyor was Mr. Rees Jones who held the post for more than 40 years. He was succeeded after World War I by Mr. William P. Puddicombe and later by Mr. Llewellyn Jones, who was surveyor at the time of the 1938 storm disasters. Mr. Lawrence Whittaker, surveyor from 1959, was tragically killed while on Council business in October 1962 in a road accident in which the Deputy Mayor, Alderman Ivor Evans, also died. Mr. W. Rees Davies, who had been involved with the giant Rheidol hydro-electric scheme, was Borough Surveyor from 1963 to 1974.

Many of the council’s staff over the years gave long service, and some spent their entire working lives as council employees. Others continued their career and attained important office in other authorities.

Honorary Freeman

The first honorary freemen, admitted in 1912, were Sir John Williams, the royal physician; David Davies, M.P. (the first Lord Davies), and Lord Rendel, who acquired much of the Penglais Land for the University College of Wales. In 1922, Prime Minister David Lloyd George was admitted, and in 1923 a joint ceremony admitted Lt.-Col. Lewis Pugh Evans, v.c., Lord Ystwyth, the former M.P. for Cardiganshire, and Sir Herbert Lewis, one-time M.P. for the University of Wales and a founder of the National Library. In 1928, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin was admitted and in 1936 Sir David Charles Roberts and the Earl of Lisburne were made freemen. Sir Winston Churchill (pictured with award) was unable to come to Aberystwyth to receive the freedom of the Borough in 1951. Instead a deputation led by the Mayor, Alderman R. J. Bills, went to London to present him with the freedom scroll and casket. The Regiment of the Welsh Guards were made freemen in 1955 and finally in 1965 the philanthropist Sir David James, Pantyfedwen, was made a freeman.

Other names were also suggested as possible freemen, notably Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in 1952. In 1969, the Prince of Wales declined the Council’s offer of the Freedom of the Borough because he was here as a student and wished to be treated as such – the Council would not normally give the Freedom to a student.

Reorganisation

Aberystwyth played a leading part in formulating reorganisation of Welsh local government. In 1959 it suggested the formation of a Mid-Wales county including North Cardiganshire, with Aberystwyth becoming the “capital” of Mid-Wales. This found some favour in Whitehall, but eventually it was decided to place all Cardiganshire in Dyfed, with the old county forming a single district called Ceredigion. On April 1st, 1974, the Borough Council ceased to exist. Most of its powers were transferred to Ceredigion District Council, though some were retained locally in the Aberystwyth Town Council, which holds the Borough Charter in trust for the town.

The Borough Council was abolished in 1974 and the town’s considerable assets were transferred to Ceredigion District Council, part of the new super county of Dyfed until this was in turn abolished in 1996, creating Ceredigion County Council. However, the borough charter was retained, to be held in trust by Aberystwyth Town Council. In 2014, discussions began in the Welsh Assembly to merge councils once again, creating the prospect of a return to Dyfed, although the issue remained undecided in 2015. Separate discussions have been held at the same time about merging town and community councils, again without a final decision being reached.

Many changes occurred in the town in the years after 1974 but the main change has been the considerable growth of the University College of Wales (founded 1872), later the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (1996) and now Aberystwyth University (2007) on which a large part of the economy of the town now depends.

Demolitions, Closures and New Uses

Demolition of the Victorian Police Station (now the site of the Halifax Building Society) at the Bank Square end of Great Darkgate Street occurred in 1977, where a plaque notes that the medieval Great Darkgate once stood in the middle of the street.

In 1982, the Ceredigion Museum opened in the former Coliseum building. The 1904-5 building was originally an entertainments hall and arcade, becoming a cinema in 1931, which closed in 1977.

A new camera obscura was opened on Constitution Hill in 1985 to replace the former Victorian camera obscura.

In 1988, a new jetty was built on North Beach, a short distance south of the bandstand. The King’s Hall, a famous ballroom dancing and concert hall, was demolished in the spring of 1989. It was deemed unsafe and yet proved difficult to demolish because of its robust construction, so welders with specialist cutting equipment were called in and the demolition took far longer than expected.

In 1996, the Rheidol Retail Park and a new bus station were opened on the site of Western Parade and the former railway goods yard. Western Parade and its houses were erased from Aberystwyth. Also in 1998, the North Road Hospital on Infirmary Road was closed, demolished and replaced by flats.

Park Avenue livestock market and slaughterhouse were closed down in 2004 and replaced with shops. The Ystwyth Retail Park opened in 2007 with four new retail chains shops. The livestock market moved to a new site in Lovesgrove which opened in 2007, of which the freehold was acquired in 2013.

A new town clock was built in 2006 to replace the one that was demolished in 1956. It was claimed at the time that it impeded traffic despite being set well back from the corner of Bridge Street and Great Darkgate Street on the site of a former town hall that predated the Victorian town hall in Queen’s Road. Like the rebuilt town hall (now the library), it lacks the Victorian stone facings and has a bare white rendered finish. No bell was fitted because of expense, and it now has only a recorded chime played through a loudspeaker.

The Tabernacle was destroyed by fire late on the night of 4th July 2008. It was the site of one of the oldest Calvinistic Methodist chapels (Presbyterian Church of Wales) in Wales, although it had been rebuilt several times in its history as congregations increased. The fourth chapel was derelict and in the hands of developers with plans to turn it into flats. Flats are being completed on the site during 2015. The building was immense and its loss has permanently changed the Aberystwyth skyline as seen from above on Penglais.

The houses in Glyndŵr Road, the Aberystwyth Day Centre for the elderly and vulnerable adults and the Drill Hall (1904) were demolished in 2014, including some compulsory purchase orders of private houses. The historic Drill Hall was used by troops being sent to the First World War and yet was demolished in the much commemorated centenary year of the beginning of the conflict and the sacrifice of the servicemen who died at the front. Tesco and Marks and Spencer are scheduled to replace these, despite the proximity of Co-Operative Stores Ltd and Morrison’s supermarkets and concerns that smaller local shops will also be unable to compete.

Learning and Culture

The university residence Alexandra Hall, built as a women’s hall in 1896, was closed in 1985 and remained largely empty, often threatened by vandalism and fire, until it finally re-opened in 2004/5 through a private partnership with the university. In 1988, the university closed the Chemistry Department in the Edward Davies Chemical Laboratory, which was the first purpose-built chemical laboratory in a British university, opened in 1907 by Lord Asquith. It became the School of Art in the same year. Padarn Hall, the university’s student hall of residence at the top of Great Darkgate Street, was turned into shops and offices in 1990. It had been built around 1727 as the Gogerddan Arms but had also been known as the New Black Lion by 1835 (not to be confused with the Old Black Lion just round the corner in Bridge Street) and the Lion Royal Hotel. Penglais Farm halls of residence were completed in 2014 behind Pentre Jane Morgan, itself built in 1993.

The College of Librarianship Wales merged with the University in 1989, followed by the Welsh Agricultural College in 1995 and the Institute for Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) at Gogerddan near Penrhyncoch in 2008. The latter had been founded in 1919 as part of the university and separated from it in 1953 as the Welsh Plant Breeding Station.

The National Eisteddford was held in Aberystwyth for the fourth time in 1992, having previously been held in the town in 1865, 1916 and 1952.

A major extension to the National Library of Wales was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1996 but her visit was cut short due to protests by Welsh nationalists throwing eggs on Penglais Hill. The original building was opened in 1911 by King George V and Queen Mary and was extended in 1937.

A fire started in the Seabank Hotel in 1998, a one-time famous music venue on Victoria Terrace. The Seabank Hotel, Clarendon Hotel and Plynlimon and Caerleon student halls were all destroyed, requiring dozens of students to be rehoused. Firefighters came from Bangor and Swansea to help fight the blaze. These have since been completely rebuilt and extended at the rear, and Clarendon Hall replaced the former hotel.

The Parry-Williams building was opened on Penglais Campus for the Theatre, Film and Television Department in 2000, while the Arts Centre was considerably extended at the cost of £4.3 million, adding a cinema, a bar, art and ceramics galleries, shop, theatre and dance studios. A further café was later added downstairs beneath the original café. In 2003, the Carwyn James Building was opened on Penglais Campus for the Sports Science Department, and in 2006, the new International Politics Building on Penglais campus was opened below the Arts Centre. In 2007, a new £10.4 million Visualisation Centre was opened. In September 2007, the renamed Aberystwyth University seceded from the collegiate University of Wales to become an independent university, having been one of the founding colleges in 1893. It initially chose to continue to issue degrees under the charter of the University of Wales but began to award its own degrees instead in 2008, requiring some minor changes to the university’s formal academic dress.

Ysgol Penweddig, the town’s Welsh-language secondary school was relocated in 2000 to a modern school building in Llanbadarn. It had previously been Ardwyn County School until 1973, founded in 1896 for boys and admitting girls in 1898.

The United Theological college was closed in 2002, which had opened in 1906 on the site of the former Customs House. It returned to its previous name, the Cambria. The collections were donated to Lampeter University, now part of the serially merged University of Wales Trinity St David’s, which continues to operate the University of Wales Dictionary and the Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies near the National Library of Wales on Penglais. These mergers have, at least technically, brought a second university to Aberystwyth.

In 2012, the former town hall was re-opened as a new public library and county archives. The former Carnegie library in Corporation Street was sold by Ceredigion County Council in 2015 along with the former County Offices in the Queen’s Hotel building on the corner of Victoria Terrace and Albert Place, which have variously also housed the former police station and magistrates’ courts. The registry office was also moved from its picturesque location beside the seafront to the bland modern offices in Park Avenue.

In 2013, a fire was started during building work in the roof of the National Library of Wales. Some irreplaceable items were lost, many due to flooding by the sprinkler systems, but the main collections were unharmed.

Pride on the Prom was held in 2012 and 2013 to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) people’s contribution to the town, noting Aberystwyth’s unofficial status as the “gay capital of Wales”. Aberystwyth Town Council provided financial support in keeping with its statutory duty to promote equality.

The detective drama Y Gwyll – Hinterland was filmed in the Aberystwyth area in 2013. It is notable for being filmed in parallel in both languages and was screened in Welsh in the autumn as y Gwyll before going on air subsequently in English under the name Hinterland. Further filming occurred in 2014-15.

New Approaches

A new eastern road into Aberystwyth was opened in 1995, Ffordd Parc-y-Llyn, with the section joining it to Park Avenue being named Boulevard St Brieuc in honour of one of Aberystwyth’s twin towns: Park Avenue had previously ended abruptly in fields beyond the Aberystwyth Town Football Club. New stores were opened in Parc-y-Llyn, between Southgate and Llanbadarn Fawr village, including Safeway (now Morrison’s), Great Mills, MFI (now Focus), Curry’s and Halfords, as well as a petrol station.

A new (and slightly bouncy) suspension bridge for foot traffic over the Rheidol was built in 2003, a few hundred metres upstream from Trefechan Bridge. It was named Pont yr Odyn (meaning Kiln Bridge), named by Elinor Thorogood, aged 11. It connects Trefechan with the waterside area behind Aberystwyth Town Football Club.

Public Houses and Railways

The Vale of Rheidol narrow gauge steam railway was privatised in 1989, previously being part of British Rail with through tickets to Devil’s Bridge until privatisation, the only part of British Rail to operate steam traction after 1968. It is the only heritage steam railway that has never been permanently closed and reconstructed, having only been shut down in war time. It runs for 11.75 miles and was originally designed to haul timber and ore, but has always run a passenger service since it was opened.

The White Horse Hotel became the Varsity in 1998 but returned to its historical name in 2014, the same year that Salt (formerly the Central Hotel) was replaced by a café. The Talbot Hotel bar has been successively replaced by a short-lived Irish theme bar, the Orangery and later Bella Vita restaurants and now Wiff Waff, a table tennis bar.

The St Paul’s Methodist Church in Upper Great Darkgate Street was converted to the Academy Public House in 1999, historically the site of the Three Jolly Sailors in the 1860s.

In 2001, the former 1925 railway station building, much of which had been derelict since the 1980s, re-opened as J.D. Wetherspoon’s public house, now the first thing that visitors arriving by train see of Aberystwyth from the platform beside the 1872 station building (the former platform 3), where a station has existed since the 1860s. Meanwhile, platform 4 now houses CRAFT, a recycling charity that was previously in the Old Police Station Yard, while platforms 1 and 2 house the Vale of Rheidol, moved from the former Aberystwyth Smithfields Station near the sheds on Park Avenue. The remaining part of the emergency platform 5, beyond platform 4, is now part of an oil storage facility, though oil trains no longer serve Aberystwyth.

The club K2 became initially controversial in 2005 after it was refurbished as Club Yoko’s in 2003, following the grant of an entertainment licence for topless dancing, with full nude private lap dances after 1:30am, but the strip club entertainment was withdrawn within weeks due to limited commercial demand. It remains the only licensed adult club that has ever existed in Aberystwyth. The pub had formerly been the Skinners’ Arms, the Tavern in the Town, Skinners’ Video Bar and Porky’s Fun Bar before it was divided between K2 and the former site of the Treehouse organic shop and restaurant (now in the former Victoria Tavern and later Victoria Inn that closed in 1920 on the corner of Baker Street and Eastgate Street). K2 was so named for Donald Kane, the owner of Kane’s Bar (formerly the Unicorn) and Aberystwyth Town Football Club.

Extreme Weather Events

There was serious flooding in Aberystwyth in 1976. In January 1982, snow was so heavy that Aberystwyth was cut off and the harbour froze over, requiring supplies by helicopter. In 2000, the Aberystwyth tidal defence scheme was opened. However, major flooding in the Aberystwyth area occurred again in 2012. The town centre was threatened but escaped the flooding, though areas on the banks of the Ystwyth, Rheidol and Leri (Eleri) in particular were severely affected, notably Tal-y-bont, Dol-y-bont and a number of caravan parks across the area.

The remnant of tropical cyclone Anne brought an Atlantic storm surge to the Irish Sea, coinciding with spring tides. Huge waves caused massive destruction to the promenade but the major damage was soon repaired, with some final repairs completed by the summer of 2015. The Victorian shelter near Bath Rocks fell into a void below the prom when the sea broke in and destroyed the roof. The early Victorian bath house had never been in-filled but had been sealed off under the promenade on the site of the even earlier town gallows, an unusual place of public execution in being located on coastal rocks.

The 1950s bandstand structure was unique in being entirely unscathed by the force of the ocean but the County Council decided to demolish it despite opposition in the town, intending to build a new building on the base of the remaining Victorian bandstand structure. The original plan for a modern glass building conflicted with the statutory duty to preserve the listed status and character of the seafront. Following public controversy, a new design was put forward instead, which is scheduled for completion in October 2015.

Local Government

An application for city status for Aberystwyth was refused in 1999. City status is an honour and has no bearing on local government in the modern era, being within the gift of the monarch. Aberystwyth has an ancient borough charter granted on 28th December 1277 by King Edward I of England and reaffirmed by successive monarchs including Edward III, Richard II, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV and Henry VIII.

The unofficially named Bank Square was renamed to Owain Glyndŵr Square by Aberystwyth Town Council in 2004 despite the objections of local businesses. Bank Square was a longstanding name used in the town, although it was officially just a part of Great Darkgate Street. The name Bank Square no longer appears to be in common use for the area between the banks and Siop y Pethau.

Ceredigion County Council relocated their Aberystwyth offices from various buildings in the town centre to modern offices costing £15 million beside Boulevard St Brieuc, near Parc-y-Llyn in September 2009, and new Welsh Assembly Government offices costing £20 million were opened by the First Minister for Wales in October nearby. The Countryside Council for Wales (now part of Natural Resources Wales) were relocated to these offices. Both of these are located on the Rheidol flood plain. As a result, Aberystwyth Town Council, who had previously shared the Town Hall, were obliged to relocate to the former Ceredigion Business Centre at 11 Baker Street.

Together with the rest of the county, Aberystwyth had no traffic wardens for a year after the end of May 2011. It gained a reputation for chaotic parking arrangements.

In 2012, the magistrates court along with various other tribunals moved into the new Aberystwyth Justice Centre in part of the former Technium building overlooking the marina. It vacated the rear part of the former County Offices (Queen’s Hotel) building on Victoria Terrace and Edlestone House on Queen’s Road.

Historic Events

In 2012, the Olympic Torch stayed overnight in Aberystwyth on its 70 day relay around Britain in advance of the Olympic Games in London.

Written by Talat Chaudhri 2015. The author asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this document.

May 1959: John John 2nd term
May 1960: Henry Ifor Owen
May 1961: William Gwyrfai Kitchin
May 1962: Clifford Knight
May 1963: Ryland Kenneth Clues
May 1964: Richard Jenkin Ellis 2nd term
May 1965: Henry Cecil Owen
May 1966: Emest William Roberts 2nd term
May 1967: Ronald Glynne Pickford 2nd term
May 1968: Ceredig Jones
May 1969: John Caleb Edwards
May 1970: Henry Ifor Owen 2nd term
May 1971: Samuel Lewis
May 1972: David Leslie Evans
May 1973: Bryn Davies
May 1974: Ceredig Jones
May 1975: Mervyn Jones
May 1976: J. R. Thomas
May 1977: R. K. Clues
May 1978: Mrs Mona R. Morris
May 1979: Miss K. A. Jones
May 1980: G. T. Parry
May 1981: Ll. Goronwy Edwards
May 1982: Owen H. Jones
May 1983: W. T. Rowlands
May 1984: T. E. Williams
May 1985: Afan ap Alun
May 1986: Mrs Elizabeth M. Griffiths
May 1987: Mrs Barbara E. Cole
May 1988: J. B. Evans
May 1988: T. E. Bromley
May 1990: Mrs Mona R. Morris MBE
May 1991: Mrs Barbara E. Cole
May 1992: E. Carl Williams
May 1993: Eric J. Griffiths
May 1994: Robert L. Griffin
May 1995: Hywel T. Jones Removed from office.
May 1996: Mrs Carol A. Kolczak
May 1997: Miss M. Elin Jones
May 1998: Graham. T. Parry
May 1999: Siôn T. Jobbins
May 2000: Jaci Taylor
May 2001: Alec Dauncey
May 2002: Mrs Carol A. Kolczak
May 2003: John T. James
May 2004: John T. James
May 2005: J. Aled Davies
May 2006: Michael Jones
May 2007: E. Lorrae Jones-Southgate Resigned in June 2007
May 2008: Sue Jones-Davies
May 2009: Trevor Shaftoe
May 2010: Samantha Hearne
May 2011: Richard Boudier
May 2012: Dylan Paul Lewis
May 2013: Mrs Wendy Morris-Twiddy
May 2014: Brenda Haines
May 2015: Dr M. Endaf Edwards
May 2016: Brendan Somers
May 2017: Steve Davies
May 2018: Dr Talat Zafar Chaudhri
May 2019: Mari Turner
May 2020: Charlie Kingsbury
May 2021: Alun Williams
May 2022: Dr Talat Zafar Chaudhri
May 2023: Kerry Ferguson
May 2024: Maldwyn Pryse

Honorary Freemen were inaugurated from 1912 under the The Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act 1885 but subsequently under the Local Government Acts 1933, 1972 as amended.

1912: Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet, of the City of London, first President of the National Library, President of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
1912: Lord David Davies, 1st Baron Davies, former M.P., politician and public benefactor
1912: Lord Stuart Rendel, 1st Baron Rendel, former M.P., politician and public benefactor, President of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth
1922: David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland
1923: Lt.-Col. Lewis Pugh Evans, Victoria Cross (4 October 1917 near Zonnebeke, Belgium)
1923: Matthew Vaughan-Davies, Lord Ystwyth (1st Baron Ystwyth), former M.P. for Cardiganshire
1923: Sir Herbert Lewis, former M.P. for the University of Wales and a founder of the National Library of Wales
1928: Stanley Baldwin, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland
1936: Sir David Charles Roberts, High Sheriff of the County of Cardigan
1936: Lord Ernest Edmund Henry Malet Vaughan, 7th Earl of Lisburne, High Sheriff of the County of Cardigan, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Cardigan
1951: Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (pictured with award)
1955: The Regiment of the Welsh Guards
1965: Sir David James, Pantyfedwen, philanthropist and benefactor
2011: Herr Fritz Pratschke, Krönberg, for over 40 years’ contribution to twinning
2015: Monsieur Jean Guezennec, St Brieuc, for over 40 years’ contribution to twinning

Other names were also suggested as possible freemen, notably Bing Crosby and Bob Hope in 1952. In 1969, the Prince of Wales declined the Council’s offer of the Freedom of the Borough because he was here as a student and wished to be treated as such: the Council would not normally give the Freedom to a student.

• The winged wheel is a heraldic symbol for tourism and indicates the importance of the tourist trade to the town.
• The Aberystwyth Castle Tower.
• The wheatsheaf signifies the importance of the town as a market centre, and its dependence on the agricultural hinterland.
• The heraldic ships record Aberystwyth’s past importance as a port and ship building industry.
• The open book represents academic aspects in the town’s life as represented by the University College of Wales and the National Library of Wales. The year 1277 is the date when the original Charter was granted by Edward I.
• The black lion is taken from the Arms of the Pryse family of Gogerddan, near Aberystwyth, who played an important part in the life of the Town and the County of Cardigan.
• The red dragon of Wales.
• The motto, meaning ‘The Best Way of Life is Service’