A Pint of History Please

Exploring the History of Ceredigion's Pubs

Details of pub: Aberaeron Uchaf Inn, Aberaeron

Other names:
Address/Location: South Road
OS Grid Ref: SN4593762465
Opened: before 1730      
Closed: c. 1802       Type: Pub
Summary: This was one of very few buildings near the mouth of the Aeron before the town began to grow from 1807. It was conveniently 16 miles from Aberystwyth, 22 from Cardigan and 13 from Lampeter. It was built by Lewis Gwynne as an inn and used by Magistrates for their Quarter Sessions meetings.

Notes: 1738
The little Village we dined at is call’d Abbereon
Anon, Diary of a tour of England and Wales about 1730 (July – October), Essex Record Office, D/Dmy/15M50/1325, pp 28-31
1769
20 September 1769. Bills at Aberaeron £0/7/6 (£0.38) [dinner] which was the remains of one prepared for a bench of justices.
(Grimston, James Bucknall, Sir, (Third Viscount Grimston, 1749-1809)
A Tour in Wales, 1769, source)
1774
Aberaeron (Small inn here)
(Anon, Notes of a tour in an interleaved copy of Wyndhams's Tour, 1774, NLW
MS6747 B)
1790
The village of Aberaron having a good stone bridge over the river Aeron ... consists only of a few scattered houses ... we took up our lodgings at the only inn the place affords which was a very indifferent one …
(The diary of Frances (Fanny) Nicholson, NLW MS15190C. p. 36-7)
1791
[Left Cardigan but went by land]
The country, during a tedious journey of forty miles, shewed [sic] us nothing by dreary moors, barren wilds, bad roads, and poor cottagers. The only house of accommodation is about twenty-two miles from Cardigan [Aberaeron which didn't exist as a town then]; we dined there, and reached Aberystwyth.
(Clarke, Edward Daniel, (1769-1822) (Cambridge University Librarian 1817-1822)
A Tour through the South of England, Wales and Part of Ireland, made during the Summer of 1791. (London: 1793). p. 256)
1794
Here is one of the best county Inns through all the western parts of South Wales'.
(Baker, J., A Picturesque Guide through Wales and the Marches; interspersed with the most interesting subjects of antiquity in that principality. (1794)
1796
[Aberaeron] is one of the principal stages where there is an excellent Inn.
(Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Journals of tours through Wales by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. NLW MS 16988)
1796
Aberaeron 'dined on fine salmon just taken out of the sea at the mouth of the harbour'
(Sykes, Christopher, Sir (1749-1801) (of Sledmere, Yorkshire, M.P. for Beverly, 1784-1790) Journal of a Tour In Wales, 1796 NLW MS 2258C (Typescript copy of his tour of Wales))
1797
'a comfortable little inn at Aberaeron ... This place is situated near the coast, and is at the extremity of a romantic valley ... Having sent a servant on forward, we found dinner nearly prepared, and as soon as the chaise arrived, which was not till near five, we sat down to a most comfortable and excellent repast. The inn is a very pleasant one, and there are good accommodations for a small party. We heard, however, that the landlady who keeps it, is sometimes nice with respect to the company she admits; and a Captain Trevor, who came there some time ago late in a rainy night, was denied entrance and forced to go on in the vile roads ...Having eighteen more miles to Aberystwyth, we remained here no longer than was necessary, the chaise having now four very good horses from the latter place'.
Manners, John Henry, (Fifth Duke of Rutland) 1778-1857, Journal of a Tour through North and South Wales, the Isle of man etc, etc. [Sept] 1797. London, 1805, p. 194-5
6.6.1800
Arriving at Aberaeron, we found the house had just undergone a thorough washing; the beds were taken down ; and everything bespoke sorry accommodation for the
night {so we went on to Aberystwyth}
Skinner, John, (1772-1839), Tour in South Wales, A.D. 1800, Central Library, Cardiff, MS. 1.503, p. 128
1802
Anne Mariah Felix, licensee
(Cardiganshire Quarter Sessions, Hundred of Ilar, 1802)
1802
Aberaeron Inn. Mrs Felix
Walter Davies, A journal kept on a journey through parts of South Wales, 1802, NLW MS 1730B, p. 146
1802?
Aberaeron Inn. Mrs Felix no longer allows the felicity of entertainment for the weary and benighted traveller. She has shut shop and converted the inn that was much wanted on a road of 42 miles in length [between Cardigan and Aberystwyth] into a private house. As she gave up inn she should give up house. Too tired to proceed, took shelter in a pothouse on the sea shore.
Walter Davies, NLW MS 1756 B, inserted pages
1803
Aberaeron, about four miles further, a neat village near the sea-shore, pleasingly situated at the entrance of an abrupt well-wooded valley. Near its picturesque bridge there is a more comfortable inn than might be expected in so retired a situation; and, as it afterwards appeared, the only tolerable one between Cardigan and Aberistwyth
Barber, J.T., (1774-1841) Tour Throughout South Wales and Monmouthshire, … (London, 1803), p. 100
1803
Crossing the mountains we descends into the vale of Aeron, intending to halt for the night at a small inn, called Aber-airon; but though our horses were jaded, the night perfectly dark, the rains pouring in torrents, and the wind blowing a hurricane, yet the good lady of the house, feeling and independence she was proud to assert, refused us admittance, observing that she had but two spare beds, which were already occupied; and that numbers of people, who had previously arrived, were sitting up in the parlour to wait for the morning light to pursue their journey. Finding that it was twelve Welsh miles to another inn, and pitying our beasts more than ourselves, we determined to alight after parleying amidst torrents of rain, and pleading humanity in vain, I suggested an appeal to that hospitality for which the country is famed, which had the desired effect: the hostler was called, a fire kindled in a small parlour, dry things brought, a comfortable supper prepared and the best beds made an ample compensation for the previous painful state of anxiety.
Evans, John, B.A., 1768-1812 (Jesus College, Oxford), Letters written during a tour through South Wales, in the year 1803, and at other times : (London, 1804), p. 332


See also Mair Lloyd Evans and Mair Harrison, The Ins and Outs of the Inns of Aberayron, (2013), p. 1-2


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