A SEAPORT town in the county of Merioneth, is situated at the embouchure
of the river Maw or Mawddach, which is obstructed at its entrance by a
bar, and hence the origin of the Welsh name Abermaw, and the English
Barmouth. The old town almost hangs over the sands, being built in
parallel rows along the front of a steep rock, and upon so inconvenient a
plan that the windows of all the houses, except those in the lowest
street, are annoyed by the smoke ascending from the chimneys of those
below. This formal arrangement has occasioned its comparison by tourists
to the rock of Gibraltar, and seen from the sea it certainly does present
a warlike front. The new town stands upon the sands at the base of the
rock, and though free from the smoky imputation which blackens the
character of its elder brother, is scarcely safe from the attacks of
Neptune, who is only kept at a respectful distance by the intervention of
a few mounts of sand shifting with every storm. The beach is level,
hard, and smooth; a great convenience to those whose health requires the
stimulus of cold immersion, and an agreeable ride for the fashionable
visiters who come hither in the summer season for sociability and
recreation. The panorama around the estuary is inconceivably grand; the
river, expanding into a bay, is embraced by mountains assuming all forms
as they aspire above each other, shooting into denuded cliffs that hang
over the water, or clothed with forests retiring into deep glens, whither
fancy alone can pursue them.
Barmouth has become now a very popular place, arising from various
causes, its established character for courtesy and hospitality to
strangers, the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the excellence of
the avenues communicating with the most fascinating landscapes in the
principality. All the various modes of amusement and recreation provided
at fashionable watering places are supplied here. The morning may be
passed in riding over the sands, or exploring the wonders of the
mountains and the beauty of the vales. Dancing, cards, billiards, and
social meetings, occupy the evenings, at which the lyre of old Cambria is
often heard pouring forth its plaintive melody. There are no public
buildings of any architectural claims here. Baths, lodging-houses,
spacious inns, and assembly rooms, are well adapted to their various
ends, but present nothing interesting in the exterior. The new church,
erected close to the water’s edge, is a very agreeable object, happily
designed and creditably executed.
The Friar’s Island stands precisely in the mouth of the river, and
ferries are established at the channels on each side; these once passed,
a ride of one mile over the firm sands reaches the road to Towyn, which
is carried along the front of a bold headland hanging over the sea, less
beautiful, but equally bold as the old road round the brow of Penmaen
Mawr.
[Picture: Tre Madoc; Harlech Castle; Castel Goch or Welch Pool. London.
Published by T. T. & J. Tegg, Cheapside, Oct. 1st 1832]
There was a military station on the summit of Dinas Gortin, and close to
the town stood a tower, in which the Earl of Richmond used to conceal
himself, upon his visits to his confederates in this part of Wales. Its
strength is celebrated in a poem, written at that period, in which it is
also compared with Reinault’s tower near Mold.