Lower Town bridge / Pont y Cwm

An early photograph exists of the stone bridge which crossed the River Gwaun at Lower Town prior to the building of the present bridge in 1875; it represents quite an early photographic record of Lower Town. As this image was released as a postcard, many will have seen the image previously.

An album recently lent to Ein Hanes on Fishguard Square has what appears to be an original image of this view – the photographer of which is believed to have been Henry Jackson who was an active photographer in the area from around 1870.

A second image in the album however is unlikely to be known to many. It shows a group of men  which the notation under the image indicates, were the contractors who actually built the bridge in around 1875.

The decision to provide a new bridge was decided at the Pembrokeshire Spring Quarter Sessions in 1874 when a motion was put forward that “inasmuch as the foundations of Fishguard bridge are in so defective a state as to make future reparations thereon useless”

The accompanying Surveyor’s report advised that the foundations of the old bridge had been damaged by flooding and it was not appropriate to spend any further monies upon it.  So it was agreed that a new bridge was necessary and the inevitable committee was appointed to oversee the project. Committee members were Messrs James Bevan Bowen, John Harvey,    Lewis Matthews, John Worthington, Hugh Lloyd Harries and Charles Henry Barham. The sum of £500 was to be placed at their disposal for the project costs.

The following Quarter Sessions agreed that the bridge should be one arch rather than two and should be built by a contractor on a schedule of costs rather than by the day. The anticipated cost was to be £520.  There was also a proposal to provide as part of the project a tramway beneath the bridge but this was not proceeded with.

The Pembrokeshire Quarter Sessions held in the summer of 1875 recorded that the bridge had been completed and was now open to traffic and that the contractor had carried out the work satisfactorily. The piers of the old bridge were agreed to be removed to avoid any risk of them damaging the new bridge.  Concern was expressed by the Surveyor that the mill owner a little further upstream had created a river diversion which could damage the bridge foundations.

Mae y llun cynnar hwn yn dangos y bont garreg a groesai yr Afon Gwaun yn y Cwm cyn adeiladu’r bont bresennol ym 1875. Mae’n  gofnod ffotograffig eithaf cynnar o’r pentre. Gan i’r ddelwedd hon gael ei rhyddhau fel cerdyn post, bydd llawer wedi gweld y ddelwedd hon o’r blaen.

Mae albwm a fenthycwyd yn ddiweddar i Ein Hanes ar Sgwâr Abergwaun yn cynnwys llwyth o luniau da. Yn eu plith mae y llun gwreiddiol o’r olygfa hon. Credir mai Henry Jackson, a fu’n ffotograffydd gweithgar yn yr ardal hon o tua 1870 ymlaen, oedd y ffotograffydd.

Mae ail ddelwedd yn yr albwm fodd bynnag yn annhebygol o fod yn adnabyddus i lawer o bobol. Mae’n dangos grŵp o ddynion sydd, yn ôl yr ysgrifen o dan y llun, yn debygol o fod y contractwyr a gododd y bont tua 1875 .

Penderfynwyd i ddarparu pont newydd dros yr afon yn Sesiwn Chwarter y Gwanwyn yn Sir Benfro ym 1874 pan gyflwynwyd cynnig “i’r graddau bod sylfeini pont Abergwaun mewn cyflwr mor ddiffygiol fel eu bod yn gwneud cywiriadau yn y dyfodol yn ddiwerth”

Dywedodd adroddiad y Tirfesurydd, bod llifogydd wedi difrodi sylfeini’r hen bont ac nad oedd yn briodol gwario rhagor o arian arni. Felly cytunwyd bod angen pont newydd a phenodwyd y pwyllgor i oruchwylio’r prosiect. Aelodau’r pwyllgor oedd y Meistri James Bevan Bowen, John Harvey, Lewis Matthews, John Worthington, Hugh Lloyd Harries a Charles Henry Barham. Roedd y swm o £500 i’w roi ar gael iddynt ar gyfer costau’r prosiect.

Cytunodd y Sesiynau Chwarter canlynol y dylai’r bont fod yn un bwa yn hytrach na dau ac y dylai gael ei hadeiladu gan gontractwr ‘ar bris’ wedi ei gytuno, yn hytrach na gan weithwyr yn gweithio ‘wrth y dydd’. Y gost a ragwelwyd oedd £520. Roedd cynnig hefyd i ddarparu tramffordd o dan y bont fel rhan o’r prosiect ond ni aethpwyd ymlaen â hyn.

Cofnododd Sesiynau Chwarter Sir Benfro a gynhaliwyd yn haf 1875 fod y bont wedi’i chwblhau a’i bod bellach ar agor i draffig a bod y contractwr wedi gwneud y gwaith yn foddhaol. Cytunwyd i gael gwared â phileri’r hen bont er mwyn osgoi unrhyw risg iddynt niweidio’r bont newydd. Mynegwyd pryder gan y Tirfesurydd bod perchennog y felin ychydig ymhellach i fyny’r afon wedi creu dargyfeiriad afon a allai niweidio sylfeini’r bont.