Cardigan Bay

Cardigan Bay is the largest bay in Wales, indenting the western coast from Bardsey Island in the north to Strumble Head in the south. The inlet opens to the Irish Sea, but its long curve and the Llŷn Peninsula create a coastal setting of sheltered approaches, exposed headlands, beaches and river mouths. Fertile farmland lies behind much of the shore, with Aberystwyth, Fishguard, New Quay, Barmouth and other towns and villages occupying suitable landing places. Cardigan, at the mouth of the Teifi, gave the bay its English name and anchored a strong maritime economy. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the port had more than 300 registered ships, far exceeding Cardiff and Swansea at that time. Fishing and coastal trade depended on safe movement between the Welsh ports and the wider Irish Sea. The central and northern waters also carry the legend of Cantre’r Gwaelod, the drowned lowland of the Hundred under the Sea. Together, maritime trade, oral tradition and buried woodland show a bay whose economic and physical shores have never been fixed. Its beaches and waters also support marine life.