Bow Street, United Kingdom
Bow Street is a town of 1,572 people in Wales, United Kingdom.
Why visit Bow Street
Townapedia lists 11 museums and landmarks, 7 parks and trails, 8 places to eat, 2 places to stay and 5 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Aberystwyth Arts Centre, King's Hall, Aberystwyth Castle and Ceredigion Museum.
Weather in Bow Street
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Bow Street
Bow Street is a large village in the Tirymynach district of Ceredigion, Wales, approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of Aberystwyth. As well as Bow Street itself, it is now often considered to include the neighbouring smaller village of Pen-y-garn and the hamlet of Rhydypennau. All three places stretch in a long narrow strip along the main Aberystwyth to Machynlleth road, the A487.
From the Wikipedia article Bow Street, Ceredigion (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photos of Bow Street
Things to do5
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Cinema and theater · 2.4 mi
Arts centre of the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, Wales
King's Hall
Cinema and theater · 2.9 mi
Former theatre and entertainment complex in Aberystwyth, Wales
Museums and landmarks11
Aberystwyth Castle
Monument and historic site · 3.3 mi
Grade I listed castle in Ceredigion, Wales
Ceredigion Museum
Museum · 3.0 mi
Local museum in Aberystwyth, Wales, United Kingdom
National Library of Wales
Museum · 2.6 mi
Welsh archive and research library
Aberystwyth University Ceramics Collection
Museum · 2.4 mi
Ceramics collection in Ceredigion, Wales
Parks, trails and playgrounds7
Restaurants and cafes8
History
The earliest attestation of the name 'Bow Street' yet found is in the parish registers of Llanbadarn Fawr, where there is a baptism entry dated 9 February 1777 for a "Wm son of Jenkin & Ann Thomas, Bow Street".
It would appear that the name is derived from the London street of the same name, and that its application to the small cluster of houses that would become Bow Street was connected with the turnpiking of the main Aberystwyth to Machynlleth turnpike road from 1770 onwards. It may be that the choice of name was influenced by the fact that the road does actually bend slightly at this point, and might therefore have been analogous to the ‘bow’ of the London Bow Street. There are two small lanes in the village which are also known locally by English names, these being Cock and Hen Street and Thread Needle Street (sometimes Thread and Needle Street). Supposed traditions associating the name Bow Street with a local magistrate do not appear to stand up to scrutiny, and probably developed later as a way of justifying the existence of an English place name in a predominantly Welsh-speaking area.
Read more of the history
In his seminal work on Cardiganshire placenames, Iwan Wmffre suggests that an earlier name for Bow Street may have been Rhyd-y-castell (ford of the castle). But the ford of Rhyd-y-castell was actually located on the small lane called Cock and Hen Street, that runs alongside the Welsh Black (formerly the Black Lion) and leads towards Clarach and Llangorwen, and not on the main Aberystwyth to Machynlleth road where the first houses in Bow Street were built. Though there is no officially sanctioned Welsh equivalent to Bow Street, the author and novelist Tom Macdonald, who spent part of his childhood here, recounted that "old folk told me it was once called Nant-y-Fallen". The small stream still called Nant Afallen runs under the main road a little to the north of where the original hamlet of Bow Street first grew up, and was applied to the row of small cottages that once stood nearby. The name Nantyfallen was also later extended to refer to those cottages running up the slope from the brook towards Cross Street. Occasionally in Welsh writing the name Bow Street is spelt as Bwstryd.
From the History section of Bow Street, Ceredigion on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to stay2
Churches and places of worship7
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries4
Map of Bow Street
45 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
Haverfordwest Airport (HAW) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 58 miles away.
- Aberystwyth 3 mi southwest, about 5 min by car
- Llanilar 6 mi south, about 10 min by car
- Machynlleth 13 mi northeast, about 20 min by car
- Tregaron 16 mi south, about 26 min by car
- Llanidloes 21 mi east, about 33 min by car
- Dolgellau 22 mi north, about 35 min by car
- Lampeter 23 mi south, about 37 min by car
- Rhayader 24 mi southeast, about 38 min by car
- Newtown 31 mi east, about 50 min by car
- Llandrindod Wells 31 mi southeast, about 49 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Bow Street
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Keep exploring
Local news
Headlines from INDB.
Reviews, tips and questions
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- Bow Street - 2008-03-01, Voice of Clam, Public domain
- Tafarn y Welsh Black, Bow Street, Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bow Street - panoramio, Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0
- BV73 MMK on T2 duties approaching Jewson stop, near Bow Street station 2024-04-13 12, TheFrog001, CC0
- Bow Street railway station 1868608 2d708665, Ben Brooksbank, CC BY-SA 2.0
- 158830 at Bow Street station 2024-04-13 01, TheFrog001, CC0
- 158830 at Bow Street station 2024-04-13 02, TheFrog001, CC0
- AberystwythUniversityStudio, Vertigogen, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Neuadd y Brenin Baravin, Stefanik, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Arfordir Aberystwyth, Ceredigion - Aberystwyth SAC Special Areas of Conservation, West Wales Marine 43, Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0
- National Library of Wales, Ian Capper, CC BY-SA 2.0
- No 9 At Devil's Bridge, John Lucas, CC BY-SA 2.0
- The Animalarium - panoramio, Steve Sea, CC BY 3.0
- Aberystwyth - panoramio (20), Tanya Dedyukhina, CC BY 3.0
- EglwysSantPadarn LlanbadarnFawr, Pricey, CC BY 3.0
- Queen's Road English Methodist Church (1), GeraintTudur2, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Aberystwyth Old University Building, Eos12, Public domain
- Castell Gwallter, Bill Boaden, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Church of Saint John the Divine, Jason.nlw, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Rhyd-y-Pennau Inn, Peter Glyn, CC BY 3.0
- Ceredigion Museum (28121083292), Reading Tom from Reading, UK, CC BY 2.0
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