Mwnt () is an ancient
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 ...
in
Ceredigion
Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...
,
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 ...
, north of
Cardigan. The
Wales Coast Path
The Wales Coast Path () is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales.
Launched in 2012, the footpath is long and was heralded as the first dedicated coast path in the world to cover the entire len ...
passes through this very small settlement.
It gets its name from the prominent steep
conical hill (Foel y Mwnt), a landmark from much of
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales.
Geography
Cardigan Bay ha ...
, that rises above the beach to a height of 76 m (249 ft), and was formerly anglicised as ''Mount''.
The beach
Mwnt is known for its popular beach, Traeth-y-Mwnt, which has been awarded a
Green Coast Award
Keep Wales Tidy is a Welsh national voluntary environmental charity which works towards achieving "a clean, safe and tidy Wales". It works in partnership with Local Authorities, schools and community groups, and organisations such as Waste A ...
(an award similar to a
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a Not-for-profit organi ...
Award but for rural beaches). Swimming conditions are considered safe at Mwnt but there is no lifeguard service.
The
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
off Mwnt is rich in wildlife, being a regular summer home to
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
s,
seals and
porpoise
Porpoises () are small Oceanic dolphin, dolphin-like cetaceans classified under the family Phocoenidae. Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and Beluga whale, belugas than to the Oceanic dolphi ...
s.
Flemish invasion
Mwnt was the site of an unsuccessful invasion by
Flemings
Flemish people or Flemings ( ) are a Germanic ethnic group native to Flanders, Belgium, who speak Flemish Dutch. Flemish people make up the majority of Belgians, at about 60%.
''Flemish'' was historically a geographical term, as all inhabita ...
in 1155. Its defeat was celebrated, at least in the eighteenth century, by a games meeting on the first Sunday in January known as ''Sul Coch y Mwnt'' (Red Sunday of Mwnt), commemorating the blood shed on that day. Within living memory human bones and skeletons have been exposed in the area. A nearby brook is called ''Nant y Fflymon'' (Flemings' Brook).
Church of the Holy Cross
The Church of the Holy Cross () is an example of a
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
sailor
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...
's
chapel of ease
A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...
. The site is said to have been used since the
Age of the Saints, but the present building is probably 14th century. It has an example of a 12th or 13th century
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design.
For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...
made of
Preseli stone. Mwnt was a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in its own right for several centuries, but before the 17th century it was a detached chapelry of the parish of
Llangoedmor. Since 1934, it has been part of the parish of
Y Ferwig. The church is a
Grade I listed building
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, Hi ...
.
The beach (but not the church) is owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
, who exercise a conservation remit over both.
See also
*
Gwbert
References
External links
Church of the Holy Cross - Photos & DetailsMwnt Beach - Info & Facilities
{{Ceredigion
Beaches of Ceredigion
Coast of Ceredigion
Populated places in Ceredigion
Tourist attractions in Ceredigion
National Trust properties in Wales
Seaside resorts in Wales