How Fishguard grew
By looking at maps from the past 200 years it is possible see how Fishguard has developed and changed.
The first map shown above was drawn by Lieutenant Thomas Evans RN in 1817. Lieut. Thomas Evans was a cartographer whose work is believed to have contributed to the formation of the Royal Naval Surveying Service. He seems to have fairly accurately positioned the main houses in the town although there may well have been smaller cottages which he felt were not sufficiently worthy to record. Interestingly the area now known as Rafel was at that time recorded as Yr Afal. Near to the Bigney Hill can be seen Rope Walk – this is where ropes were made for the ship building which at this time was still taking place at the bottom of the Slade.
A short description of the town was recorded by another Thomas Evans who wrote “Walks through Wales” in 1819. His paragraph about Fishguard referred to the port exporting oats and butter – that there were 400 houses and a population of 2000. He also said that the “Castle was built by descendants of Martin de Tours but it was demolished by Llewellyn. Only a gateway remains”.
This suggests that he may have seen a castle gateway when he visited – but if so, where exactly was it?
Between 1836-1850 almost the whole of Wales was surveyed to enable compliance with the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 which was passed to ensure that Tithes to the Church were paid in money rather than produce, which had previously been the practise. As a result of this Act, accurately prepared maps exist of most areas in Wales.
Fishguard’s tithe map was drawn in 1839 and each individual property existing at that time was shown on the map and a schedule of who owned each plot of land, who occupied it, what it was used for and its exact size was recorded in what is termed the tithe map apportionments. These maps and apportionments can be viewed online via the National Library of Wales at Welsh Tithe Maps
It can be clearly seen that in the 20 years since the map drawn by Lieutenant Evans, the town had increased in size – official figures from the period suggest that the population had increased by approximately one third. The tithe map relating to Lower Town appears to have changed little from that drawn 20 years previous whereas Upper Fishguard as it was known, differs considerably. In the centre of Fishguard Square, can be seen two cottages – by 1859 these had disappeared – they were demolished to improve the layout of the square. click here for more information Although the street names are not written on the tithe map they were recorded on the apportionment. Some names on the apportionment have long disappeared – the streets still exist but they have a different name. In 1839 there was a Barham Street (now Smith Street) Ballock Street (now Hamilton Street) and a Water Street.
Moving on to the latter part of the 1800s, the Ordnance Survey map 1870 edition (with later amendments) gives a detailed picture of the developing layout of Fishguard with Lower Town again showing only minor changes. On the map covering the Tower Hill part of town, there are a number of places recorded which no longer exist. The tannery was in operation at this time (see Tannery) and at the top of the Wallis there is mention of an “old pound”. This would have been the place where stray animals were penned whilst awaiting to be claimed. A number of mills are also identified, both flour and woollen at Lower Town with a saw mill in operation at the bottom of the Slade. Brodog Terrace is only part built at this time.
The final map is from the 1960s and the development of Pen yr Aber can be seen on land which was previously Windy Hall Farm. Danybryn off Plas y Fron has still yet to be built.
Lower Town remains very much as it did back in the early 1800s with little additional development – over the years the topography of the area has limited the possibility of much change.
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