History
Like many other towns in Wales, Aberystwyth is a product of Edward I’s mania for castle-building. The now mainly ruined castle was erected in 1277; like many other castles in Wales it was captured by Owain Glyndŵr at the start of the 15th century and wrecked by Oliver Cromwell’s forces during the Civil War. By the beginning of the 19th century, the town’s walls and gates had completely disappeared.
The town developed a fishing industry, and silver and lead mining were also important here. With the arrival of the railway in 1864, it reinvented itself as a resort appealing to genteel Victorian sensibilities. In 1872 Aberystwyth was chosen as the site of the first college of the University of Wales, and in 1907 it became home to the National Library of Wales, a building which was dramatically but tastefully redeveloped following a £2.4 million investment grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2001.
Aberystwyth
Things to do
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