Welsh Journals

The appearance of Bridge Street was much improved by its approach over the long handsome bridge over the Rheidol. In 1792, despite attempts to repair it, the old bridge collapsed and architects were invited to submit plans and estimates for a new structure. The work was given to John Nash of Carmarthen who also designed a temporary structure and it was this rough bridge which was drawn by Rowland- son when he accompanied Wigstead on his tour in 1797. Nash's bridge of five arches was completed in 1798 and lasted until it was swept away by the disastrous floods of 1886.10 The most notable addition to the town was Marine Terrace where building must have begun about 1805 or earlier for five houses only were completed in June 1809. Among the first occupants were the above-mentioned Rice Williams and Thomas Jones, Ropemaker.11 In 1816 there were eleven houses in being but it was another eight years before the section up to and including the Belle Vue Hotel had been completed.12 Construction of the promenade began in 1819 and the cost was borne by a general subscription by the inhabitants of the town.13 It was even proposed at one time that the promenade should be extended to Clarach. The town continued to expand rapidly in all directions and new street names continually appear in the accounts of the overseers of the poor for the parish of Aberystwyth. Corporation Row (later Street) first appeared in 1815 as did Gray's Inn Lane and New Street. In the same year Rosemary Lane became Princess Street and in 1816 Barker's Lane became Queen Street. A year later, Portland Street, Prospect Row, and Calibeat Terrace were listed in the accounts and in 1818 High Street made its first official appearance while Weeg Street was changed to the much more prosaic Pier Street. Baker Street was recorded in 1819 and by 1834 the area of the town was double what it had been in 1795.14 This expansion was greatest on the old town commons. Mention was made in a previous article of the difficulty encountered by the corporation in asserting its claim to the surrounding commons. The grants of common made by the Court Leet in 1808 aroused much opposition and at Cardigan Quarter Sessions in the following year the grants were annulled because they were to the great prejudice of the land proprietors'. The rights of common enjoyed by the burgesses were disputed by some of the inhabitants and especially by neighbour- ing landowners who claimed some of this land and had considerable influence at the Quarter Sessions. The corporation was compelled to go to law to assert its claims and it was successful but at a cost of £ 3,729 14s. To meet these heavy costs the common lands were let in 72 lots between 1813 and 1831 and the plan adopted was to demand