In 2008, Penparcau played a part in the transition town movement in Wales when it hosted the "Alternative Energy and Transport Festival" in Neuadd Goffa, attended by the local MP and mayor.[8] At the bottom of the valley, just below Penparcau, is a Welsh Government office building, designed to house more than 550 staff.[9][10]
Toponym
The name derives from the Welsh for "top of the fields" (Pen + parc(i)au). It is referred to as Pen y Parkiau in 1756, and variously in the 19th century as "Penparke", "Penparkey" , "Pen Parciau"[11]: 370 and "Pen-parcau".[12]
History
Grass fire on Pen Dinas behind Penparcau (2007)
People have lived in and around Penparcau for over two thousand years. The Iron Agehillfort is believed to have been occupied for some 300 years up to and including the first century BC. Pen Dinas is the largest Iron Age hillfort in Ceredigion. Estimated to have been first built around 400 BC, the outline of the ancient ramparts is still evident.
Mesolithic
There is evidence that during the Mesolithic Age the area of Tan-y-Bwlch at the foot of Pen Dinas (Penparcau) was used as a flint knapping floor for hunter-gatherers making weapons from flint that was deposited as the ice retreated.[13]
Submerged Forest
To the south of Tan-y-Bwlch beach lies an area where during low tides a submerged forest can be clearly seen. This is thought to be between 4000 – 6000 years old. A record relating to the submerged forest can be found made by the Royal Commission on the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales.[14][15]
Bronze and Iron Ages
The remains of a Celtic fortress on Pen Dinas (or more correctly 'Dinas Maelor' home of the mythical Celtic giant king Maelor Gawr), a hill in Penparcau overlooking Aberystwyth, indicates that the site was inhabited before 700 BC.[16][17] On a hill south of the present town, across the River Ystwyth, are the remains of a medieval ringfort believed to be the castle from which Princess Nest was abducted. This rare survival is now on private land and can only be accessed by arrangement.[18] A Bronze Age standing stone is also referenced as being in Penparcau in the Ceredigion County History (Volume 1)[19] and the Dyfed Archaeological records.[20]
Modern History
A distinctive memorial to the Duke of Wellington in the shape of an upturned cannon was built on the hilltop in 1852. The hilltop comprises a twin summit system and the mounded defences divide into three systems. Archaeological excavations in the 1930s demonstrated at least four phases to the defences.[21][22] Pen Dinas is now more popular as a tourist attraction for walkers and used in a more sedate manner for paragliding.[23]
Penparcau (pronounced in the local dialect as 'pen parky' or 'penpark'e with an emphasis on the e, as in the dialectical pronunciation of 'au' in North Ceredigion, where 'pethau' becomes 'pethe'(in Welsh)) in 1841 was spelled Penparke, Penparciau,[24] Penparkie or even Pen Y Parciau[25] (on the 1890 OS map) and stretched on both sides of the turnpike road from Trefechan to Southgate. The population of the hamlet was 239, most of whom were workers in agriculture and related rural industries. There were three agricultural labourers and only one farmer; the next most important occupation was that of stonemason of whom there were eight. There were three shoemakers, two tailors and two shipwrights as well as the following: rope-maker, joiner, tanner, carpenter, gardener, sawyer, wheelwright, weaver and saddler.
In the 18th century, smuggling was a key part of the economy, with tea, salt, rum and tobacco being some of the things smuggled into the local area. There are records in the national archive showing an extensive smuggling ring run by the Powell and neighbouring Stedman families. The smuggled goods were bought into Penparcau to avoid the excise men stationed in Aberystwyth.
There is also interesting domestic architecture that can be assigned to Richard Emrys Bonsall[26] such as the Ebeneser Chapel, still in use today. The plans for many of these buildings can be found at the National Library of Wales.
A feature in Penparcau is the toll house. It was built in 1771 and stood at the southern junction of Penparcau (hence the name Southgate). It was built of local slate stone and was roofed with Pembrokeshire slates. David Jones of Dihewyd was appointed as the first gatekeeper in November 1771, and the first tolls were charged on 23 March 1772. The building contains just one room, one end being used for the collection of tolls. A single fireplace at the opposite end of the house was used for heating and cooking. At St Fagans the house has been furnished in the style of 1843, the period of the Rebecca Riots when many tollgates were destroyed in Wales. Turnpike Trusts were eventually abolished in 1864 with county councils taking over responsibility for building and maintaining the roads but the Penparcau toll house remained a residence until the 1960s.
Culture
The United Kingdom Census 2001 reported that over 40% of the residents of Penparcau spoke Welsh and used Welsh daily, larger than any other individual census zone within that area, when compared to the other census data sets.[27] In 2011 the village had the largest number of Welsh language speakers (1095) in the Aberystwyth town area, covering an area from the sea to the Rheidol.[28]
Aberystwyth-Penparcau is the most populous electoral division in Ceredigion and elects two county councillors.
Penparcau is also the name of the village which covers a portion of the electoral division consisting of the areas of Southgate and Caeffynnon.
Five town councillors represent the ward on the Aberystwyth Town Council, one of the 51 town and community councils in Ceredigion and consists of 19 town councillors elected in five wards. The last elections were held in May 2017.
Penparcau is governed by Ceredigion County Council and Aberystwyth itself elects six of the 42 councillors in five separate wards (Bronglais, Central, North, Rheidol and Penparcau - the Penparcau ward elects two of these). The two county councillors for Aberystwyth-Penparcau, elected in May 2017 were Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru.
One of the more unusual residents is the headless dog of Penparcau. The myth tells of how a giant, going to his father's rescue, rode at such a rate that his dog could not keep up with him and its head came off in the leash. The dog now roams, mournfully crying and looking for its long-lost owner.[34] It has also been theorised[by whom?] that the original inhabitants were the same people that made the Banc Ty'nddôl sun-disc[35] in nearby Cwmystwyth.
^Evans, J.G., Limbrey, S. and Cleere, H. (eds) 1975. The effect of man on the landscape: the Highland Zone. CBA Research Report No 11 (1975)
^Briggs, C. S., "The Bronze Age", in J. L. Davies and D. P. Kirkby, Cardiganshire County History, I, (1994), p. 216, : appendix V, : no. 15
^Browne, D and Driver, T., Bryngaer Pendinas Hill Fort, A Prehistoric Fortress at Aberystwyth, (2001)
^Houlder, C.H., (1957), "Recent Excavations in Old Aberystwyth", Ceredigion, III, no. 2, pp. 114–117
^Briggs, C S, 1994 ‘The Bronze Age’, in J L Davies and D P Kirby (Eds.), Cardigan County History, Volume 1, From the Earliest of Times to the Coming of the Normans, 124-218
^Neighbourhood Statistics. "Check Browser Settings". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
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