Cemaes Head
Cemaes Head 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.
Geology and structure
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 in height, are the highest in Pembrokeshire. This makes the bays below the cliff tops largely inaccessible. The bedrock is composed of Silurian and Ordovician sedimentary rocks, more specifically of Llanvirn-Caradoc black mudstone, i.e. some 470 million years old. 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 highest part of the headland, at Pengarn, grid reference SN 13214 48500, is marked by a pillar trig point.
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.
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.
Nature reserve
Most of Cemaes Head comprises pastureland, but the headland contains a nature reserve – Cemaes Head Nature Reserve – measuring 20 ha in size. It is also rated as a Marine Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Since 1984 this has been owned and managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and its predecessor trust who purchased the tenure with help from the Countryside Commission, Dyfed County Council, the Nature Conservancy Council and the World Wildlife Fund. At the time it was the 50th nature reserve to be acquired by the Trust.Wildlife
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.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 – and the area is also home to bottlenose dolphins and porpoises, which can often be seen swimming offshore.
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. 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; efforts are being made to keep this bracken under control. Recent efforts have also been made to tackle the invasion of Himalayan Balsam.
Access
Cemaes Head lies on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, close to its northern end. This is itself part of the much longer 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.
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. 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.
The Coastguard lookout post
On the cliff top above the beach of Traeth Godir Coch is an old coastguard lookout post. This was originally built in the 19th century 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 on.The lookout post was abandoned after the war, it being replaced by the Coastguard lookout post across the estuary at Gwbert.
Cantref Cemais
Cemaes Head lies on the northern edge of the former Medieval barony of Cemais, known as Cantref Cemais, one of the so-called 'Seven Cantrefs of Dyfed'.Cemais 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, 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.
Despite being occupied by the Normans in the 12th century, and made part of the March, it remained exclusively Welsh-speaking.
It later became known as the Hundred of Cemais, which was created 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.
Etymology
The word 'cemais' is the plural form of the old Welsh word 'camas', meaning a 'bend or loop in a river' or a 'bay/inlet of the sea'. 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 in northern Powys, or Kemeys Commander in Monmouthshire is by the sea, but both have developed beside rivers.In The Place-names of Wales, the author Thomas Morgan puts forward another less-likely suggestion, namely:
Archaeologia Cambrensis had the following to say on the matter:
The Welsh name of Pen Cemaes has been in use since at least as far back as the early 19th century. In recent years the name Trwyn Cemaes has also been used by the Welsh Government and maritime authorities.
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, the archdeacon of Brecon and chronicler of his time, who referred to it in his autobiography:
In Barons, Rebels & Romantics, Alan John Fitzgerald erroneously refers to the town of Cemais:
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.