Cemaes Head (formerly Cemais, and historically anglicised as Cemmaes, Kemmaes or Kemmes) (Welsh: Pen Cemaes or Trwyn Cemaes) is a headland and nature reserve in north Pembrokeshire. It lies in the community of St Dogmaels, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. To the west and north it overlooks Cardigan Bay, and to the east Cardigan Island and the estuary of the River Teifi.
Although the headland, when viewed from across the Teifi estuary, is relatively unspectacular, its cliffs, which are most dramatic on its north-western side, and reach over 575 ft (175m) in height, are the highest in Pembrokeshire. This makes the bays below the cliff tops largely inaccessible. The bedrock is composed of Silurian and (mostly) Ordovician sedimentary rocks, [1] more specifically of Llanvirn-Caradoc black mudstone, i.e. some 470 million years old. [2] This rock stretches southwest as far as Newport, but Cemaes Head lies north of the Ceibwr Bay Fault, which runs largely WSW – ENE from Ceibwr Bay to Cardigan.
These rocks are severely twisted and buckled, with even acute folds, a feature easily seen from the clifftops, though appreciated better from the sea. The soft composition of these sedimentary rocks also means that erosion by the sea through hydraulic action, abrasion and attrition is commonplace, and they are thus largely unsuitable for climbing.
In 1840, George Nicholson in The Cambrian Traveller's Guide, and Pocket Companion, wrote :
The coasts on each side of the mouth of the river are uncommonly grand, particularly on the Pembroke side, where rises Cemmaes Head, a promontory of immense elevation.
The highest part of the headland, at Pengarn (189m / 620 ft), grid reference SN 13214 48500, is marked by a pillar trig point (ref. 2097). [3]
On the western side of the headland, at the foot of the cliffs, is a stony beach area called Traeth Godir Coch which is exposed at low water.
The western side of the headland is exposed to the full force of the south-westerly Atlantic weather; the eastern side is sheltered. [4]
The whole headland to the north of the hamlet of Cippyn is a distinctive area; there is an absence of trees and to some extent hedges; fields have stony boundary banks; properties are small, and there is a general absence of modern development. [5]
Most of Cemaes Head comprises pastureland, but the headland contains a nature reserve – Cemaes Head Nature Reserve (site centre no. SN131500) – measuring 20 ha (49.4 acres) in size. It is also rated as a Marine Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). [6] Since 1984 this has been owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and its predecessor trust [7] who purchased the tenure with help from the Countryside Commission, Dyfed County Council, the Nature Conservancy Council and the World Wildlife Fund. [8] At the time it was the 50th nature reserve to be acquired by the Trust. [9]
The headland is home to a large variety of wildlife. Birds such as choughs, ravens, kestrels and buzzards are commonly seen, and the sea cliffs provide nesting sites for herring gulls, shags, fulmars, cormorants, razorbills and guillemots. [1]
Seals are commonly seen at the foot of the cliffs and in the bay – more grey seals breed here than anywhere else in Wales from mid-summer [10] – and the area is also home to bottlenose dolphins and porpoises, which can often be seen swimming offshore. [11]
The grassy western slopes of the headland are grazed by ponies and rabbits. Welsh Mountain ponies were reintroduced here to trample down the bracken in order to encourage the breeding of choughs. [12] This is also the habitat of voles. On the higher parts are varieties of maritime heather, such as ling heather and bell heather, and gorse also grows. Bracken and wild flowers commonly grow on the more protected eastern slopes; [1] efforts are being made to keep this bracken under control. [13] Recent efforts have also been made to tackle the invasion of Himalayan Balsam. [14]
Cemaes Head lies on the 186-mile (299 km) Pembrokeshire Coast Path, close to its northern end. This is itself part of the much longer 870-mile (1,400 km) Wales Coast Path. The remote section of path over Cemaes Head from Poppit Sands to Ceibwr Bay is some 5½ miles long, with a considerable amount of ascent and descent.
All stiles and gates on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path are numbered from north to south; the stile on Cemaes Head carries the number 1. [15]
It is possible to drive up part of Cemaes Head on the lane from Poppit Sands. This lane accesses a couple of private properties near the top, and stops at Allt y Coed campsite, some ¼ mile short of the furthest point of the coastal path; there is car parking available here, from where a two-mile round of the headland can be made on Rights of Way. [16] A round of the headland can also be made from the hamlet of Cippin, a mile up the lane from Poppit Sands, where there is also a car park.
Both Cippin and Poppit Sands are on the route of the Poppit Rocket, a seasonal coastal bus service. [17]
On the cliff top above the beach of Traeth Godir Coch is an old coastguard lookout post. [18] This was originally built in the 19th century (it is marked on the O.S. map of 1887) and was subsequently enlarged seawards in World War II by the addition of a brick wide-windowed extension. At the same time the main doorway was enlarged and edged with the same red brick. The site was accessed via a track and footpath from Pengarn, ½ mile to the south-east and from Alltycoed Farm upon whose land it lies. This was one of hundreds of wartime coastal lookouts which kept watch for enemy aircraft and submarines; the oil storage tanks at Milford Haven were only a short flight from here, and during the war they were heavily bombed. [19]
The lookout post was abandoned after the war, it being replaced by the Coastguard lookout post across the estuary at Gwbert (originally established in 1878 as a Board of Trade Rocket Life Saving Apparatus Station and since extended, [20] and now part of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Emergency Response). [21] [22]
Cemaes Head lies on the northern edge of the former Medieval barony (or lordship) of Cemais, known as Cantref Cemais, one of the so-called 'Seven Cantrefs of Dyfed'. [23]
Cemais (sometimes spelled Kemes after one of several variations found in Medieval orthography) occupied the coastal area between the Teifi estuary and Fishguard, and the northern and southern slopes of the Preseli Hills, and had an area of about 359 km2. Robert fitz Martin (c. 10?? – c. 1159), a Norman knight from the west of England who supported Henry I in his campaigns in Wales, became first Lord of Cemais and founded nearby St Dogmaels Abbey. [24]
Despite being occupied by the Normans in the 12th century, and made part of the March, it remained exclusively Welsh-speaking. [25]
It later became known as the Hundred of Cemais, which was created [26] from the cantref at the time of the Acts of Union of 1535–1542, by transferring the parish of Llantood to Cilgerran hundred and adding a small area of Cantref Gwarthaf cantref.
The word 'cemais' is the plural form of the old [27] Welsh word 'camas', meaning a 'bend or loop in a river' or (less commonly) a 'bay/inlet of the sea'. [28] [29] As a name it is by no means unique in Wales: Cemaes is a riverside village located on Cemaes Bay on the north coast of Anglesey, and was part of a similarly named Cantref Cemais. Neither Cemmaes (Welsh: Cemaes) in northern Powys, or Kemeys Commander (Welsh: Cemais Comawndwr) in Monmouthshire is by the sea, but both have developed beside rivers.
In The Place-names of Wales (1912), the author Thomas Morgan puts forward another less-likely suggestion, namely:
Cemaes/Cemmaes — This name is very common in Wales. It is a compound word, made up of CEFN, back, ridge, and MAES, a field, thus signifying a high field. Or better, from CAM and MAES, meaning land at the bend of the river .... Others think it a compounded form of CAMP, a feat [in this case military], a game ; and MAES, a field.
Archaeologia Cambrensis (1904) [30] had the following to say on the matter:
Allow me to call attention to the spelling Kernels, which shows that the modern Welsh spelling should be Cemais or Cemmais, or else Cemes if you like, only not Cemmaes: there is no maes, field or plain, in it, as some people seem to imagine. The word is derived from cam, crooked, bent, and refers to the bend of a coast line or of a river. In the Pembrokeshire case the name refers, I fancy, to the angle made by the coast line with the mouth of the Teifi.
The Welsh name of Pen Cemaes (pen = head) has been in use since at least as far back as the early 19th century. [31] In recent years the name Trwyn Cemaes (trwyn = nose) has also been used by the Welsh Government and maritime authorities. [32] [33]
There was no recorded settlement here called Cemaes, only the Cantref/Hundred of that name. The earliest reference to it comes from Gerald of Wales (c. 1146 – c. 1223), the archdeacon of Brecon and chronicler of his time, who referred to it in his autobiography: [34]
But on the next day in Cemais, not far from the bridge of Aberteifi [Cardigan] ....
In Barons, Rebels & Romantics (2004), Alan John Fitzgerald erroneously refers to the town of Cemais:
The knights tried to retreat to the town of Cemais but many were drowned when a bridge collapsed and others were burned to death when the Welsh set fire to the town. The survivors had to take refuge in Cardigan Castle.
It seems probable that the name Cemaes Head derives from the ancient Cantref, rather than vice versa, since the headland had no recorded significance in Medieval times.
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The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a 186-mile (299 km) long-distance walking route, mostly at cliff-top level, with a total of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of ascent and descent. At its highest point – Pen yr afr, on Cemaes Head – it reaches a height of 574 feet (175 m), and at its lowest point – Sandy Haven crossing, near Milford Haven – it is just 6 feet (2 m) above low water. Whilst most of the coastline faces west, it offers – at varying points – coastal views in every direction of the compass.
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.
Strumble Head is a rocky headland in the community of Pencaer in Pembrokeshire, Wales, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It marks the southern limit of Cardigan Bay. Three islands lie off the head: Ynys Meicel – 112 feet (34 m) – Ynys Onnen and Carreg Onnen.
The River Teifi in Wales forms the boundary for most of its length between the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, and for the final 3 miles (4.8 km) of its total length of 76 miles (122 km), the boundary between Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. Its estuary is northwest of Cardigan, known in Welsh as Aberteifi, meaning 'mouth of the Teifi'. Teifi has formerly been anglicised as "Tivy".
St Dogmaels is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the estuary of the River Teifi, a mile downstream from the town of Cardigan in neighbouring Ceredigion. A little to the north of the village, further along the estuary, lies Poppit Sands beach. The parish includes the small settlement of Cippyn, south of Cemaes Head.
Poppit, is a small, dispersed settlement which lies on the southern side of the estuary of the River Teifi, near Cardigan, in northern Pembrokeshire, Wales.
Moylgrove, also spelled Moylegrove, is a village and parish in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Cardigan, in the community of Nevern.
Cemais was an ancient cantref of the Kingdom of Dyfed, from the 11th century a Norman Marcher Lordship, from the 16th century a Hundred, and is now part of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It occupied the coastal area between the Teifi estuary and Fishguard, and the northern and southern slopes of the Preseli Hills, covering an area of approximately 140 square miles (360 km2). The Afon Nyfer divided it into two commotes: Cemais Is Nyfer to the north and Cemais Uwch Nyfer to the south.
Gwbert, also known as Gwbert-on-Sea, is a cliff-top coastal village in Y Ferwig community, Ceredigion, Wales. It lies at the most southerly coastal point of Ceredigion, on the eastern shore of the Teifi estuary, from where there are views westwards over Cardigan Bay, and south-westwards to Poppit Sands and the headland of Cemaes Head, in neighbouring Pembrokeshire. It is reached by the B4548 road from the town of Cardigan, 2.8 miles (4.5 km) away.
The Kingdom of Ceredigion was one of several Welsh kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. Cardigan Bay to the west and the surrounding hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. Its area corresponded roughly to that of the county of Ceredigion. Ceredigion transparently means "the people of Ceredig."
Cemais Is Nyfer was a mediaeval commote in the Dyfed cantref of Cemais, Wales. It consisted of the territory between the rivers Nyfer and Teifi, and comprised the parishes of Eglwyswrw, Monington, St Dogmaels, Llanfair-Nant-Gwyn, Llantood, Moylgrove and Bayvil, and parts of Nevern and Meline in what is now Pembrokeshire. Its area was about 100 km2 and its civil and ecclesiastical headquarters were at Nevern.
The Ceredigion Coast Path is a waymarked long distance footpath in the United Kingdom, on the coast of Ceredigion, Wales. It is 65 miles (105 km) in length, running along the coast of Cardigan Bay from Cardigan (52.0810°N 4.6608°W) to Ynyslas (52.5271°N 4.0495°W).
Ceibwr Bay is a bay opening into the Irish Sea in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. It is about 7 km west of Cardigan, and 3 km south of the headland of Cemaes Head. It is owned by the National Trust, and lies within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
Dinas Island is a peninsula, partially detached from the mainland, in the community of Dinas Cross between Fishguard and Newport, Pembrokeshire, in southwest Wales. A triangulation point shows 466 feet (142 m) above sea level at Pen-y-fan. Although Dinas Head is the northernmost part of the promontory where the cliffs meet the sea, the name is sometimes loosely used to refer to this highest point. Dinas Island is contained within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and the headland is under the care of the National Trust.
Monington is a small settlement and parish in the community of Nevern, north Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the Nant Ceibwr that flows through Moylegrove and into Ceibwr Bay. Part of the parish lies within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Saint Dogmael was a 6th-century Welsh monk and preacher who is considered a saint. His feast day is 14 June.
The Welsh Wildlife Centre is a wildlife reserve covering Teifi Marshes, near Cilgerran on the Pembrokeshire/Ceredigion border, Wales. The site is located close to the Cardigan-Cilgerran Offshoot of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path.
The coastline of Wales extends from the English border at Chepstow westwards to Pembrokeshire then north to Anglesey and back eastwards to the English border once again near Flint. Its character is determined by multiple factors, including the local geology and geological processes active during and subsequent to the last ice age, its relative exposure to or shelter from waves, tidal variation and the history of human settlement and development which varies considerably from one place to another. The majority of the coast east of Cardiff in the south, and of Llandudno in the north, is flat whilst that to the west is more typically backed by cliffs. The cliffs are a mix of sandstones, shales and limestones, the erosion of which provides material for beach deposits. Of the twenty-two principal areas which deliver local government in Wales, sixteen have a coastline, though that of Powys consists only of a short section of tidal river some distance from the open sea. Its length has been estimated at 1,680 miles (2,700 km).
