is a
community
A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...
and valley in north
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. The community is centred around
Pontfaen, a
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
and hamlet southeast of
Fishguard
Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...
, and includes the ancient parish of
Llanychaer. In 2011, the population was 313. The valley is known for its unspoilt nature and old-world pub, and there are numerous other
listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
.
Geography
The community's area is .
''The Companion Guide to Wales'' describes Cwm Gwaun as "one of the most important meltwater channels from the last ice age to be found in the British Isles."
The
River Gwaun rises in the
Preseli Mountains near the village and its tributaries have carved heavily wooded steep, narrow side-valleys. To the northwest are hills such as Mynydd Dinas and Mynydd Melyn and the valley forms a notable wetland.
Trees found in the valley include
sessile oak,
beech
Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...
,
alder
Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...
,
rowan
The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...
,
ash and
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions.
Most species are known ...
.
The valley is a nature walk of in the
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...
. The ''Rough Guide to Wales (Cwm Gwaun and the inland hills)'' says of the community, "Cwm Gwaun, the valley of the burbling River Gwaun is one of the great surprises of Pembrokeshire – a bucolic vale of impossibly narrow lanes, surrounded by the bleak shoulders of bare mountains."
New Year celebrations

The locals continue to follow the tradition of the pre-1752
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...
and celebrate New Year () on 13 January.
Children walk from house to house, and sing traditional
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
songs. In return, householders provide gifts, or ''calennig'', of sweets and money. In 2012, it was reported that most children from the local primary school would be absent that day to take part in the celebrations.
Notable landmarks
There are 21 listed buildings in the Gwaun valley, including the parish church and ''Dyffryn Arms''. Two bridges, at Llanychaer and Picton Mill, are Grade II listed.
The community (Pontfaen) has a primary school (''Ysgol Llanychllwydog'').
The Gwaun Valley contains a brewery at the Kilkiffeth Farm. A small hydroelectric power scheme is running at Pontfaen, whose output is sufficient to power some 70 homes.
The village pub is the Grade II-
listed ''Dyffryn Arms'',
known locally as ''Bessie's'' and run by Bessie Davies's family since 1845.
The pub was originally called ''Llwyn Celyn'' (Holly Bush).
In 2011 it featured in S4C's ''Straeon Tafarn'' series. In 2015 it featured in the
Good Beer Guide
The ''Good Beer Guide'' is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), listing what it considers to be the best 4,500 real ale outlets (pubs, clubs, and off-licences) in the United Kingdom.
Details
The content of the ''Guid ...
for a 40th successive year. In February 2019 it suffered a significant fire, but reopened in June.
Hen Galan
The community is known for continuing celebrations of
Old New Year (). Traditional festivities begin the night before with celebrations centered on the Dyffryn Arms.
The celebration continue into the day itself with a
Mari Llwyd, the making of apple charms named "perllan" and the collecting of calennig, where local children are absented from primary school to travel from house to house singing traditional Welsh language songs. In return, the householders would historically give the children food to help through the winter months but in recent years the children are given sweets and money. Residents who did not welcome and reward the visitors were thought to get a "llond y tŷ o fwg" (), meaning a year of bad luck.
Worship
There are two places of worship: the Grade II listed medieval church of St Brynach (
Church in Wales
The Church in Wales () is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses.
The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The position is currently held b ...
), which is open daily to visitors, and Jabes Baptist Chapel, one of the few remaining chapels in Wales that have an outdoor baptistry that is filled from the local river. The chapel was built in 1803 and restored in 1903.
References
External links
{{Communities of Pembrokeshire
Valleys of Pembrokeshire
Communities in Pembrokeshire