Town in Vale of Glamorgan, Wales
Penarth
Penarth made its fortune shipping coal, then became a Victorian seaside resort known as the Garden by the Sea.
Key information
- County
- Vale of Glamorgan
- Nation
- Wales
- Known for
- Its Victorian pier, the Esplanade, the marina and a seafront cliff walk
- What locals are called
- Penarthians
- Famous people
- Robert Windsor-Clive, James Pyke Thompson, William Butterfield
About Penarth
The coal port that dressed up as a resort
Penarth is one of the few Welsh towns to have been a hard-working coal port and a polite seaside resort at the same time. Its docks opened in 1865, and the south Wales coalfield did the rest. Coal rolled down from the valleys by rail and left from Penarth for the rest of the world. The money that flowed through the docks built the town on the hill above. Shipowners, coal merchants and brokers built big villas with sea views, and the streets filled with terraces, churches and shops. The nickname "the Garden by the Sea" came from the leafy parks and the clifftop setting. The land belonged largely to the Windsor family, later the Earls of Plymouth, and their influence is still in the street names. Windsor Road is the obvious one.
A pier that won Pier of the Year
Penarth Pier opened in 1895 and stretches about 200 metres out into the Severn Estuary. It has one of the biggest tidal ranges in the world on its doorstep, so the view from the end changes dramatically between high and low water. The Art Deco Pier Pavilion was added in 1929 and still works as a cinema, gallery and café. In 2014 the pier was named Pier of the Year by the National Piers Society. Paddle steamers still call here. The Waverley is the best known, and when it ties up, the whole seafront turns out to watch.
The cliff that gave a rock layer its name
Geologists know Penarth even if the rest of us don't. The Penarth Group, a layer of Triassic rock, takes its name from the cliffs here. They are striped with pale and dark bands and are a good place to spot fossils. Just along the coast at Lavernock Point, Guglielmo Marconi sent wireless messages across open water to Flat Holm island in May 1897. It was an early test of the technology that became radio. On a clear day, from the Esplanade you can see Flat Holm, Steep Holm and the coast of Somerset.
From dock to marina
Coal trade at Penarth declined through the twentieth century, and the docks fell quiet. In the 1980s the dock basin was turned into Penarth Marina, now lined with flats and full of yachts rather than colliers. In 1999 the Cardiff Bay Barrage was completed, running from Penarth Head across to the Cardiff side. It turned the tidal mudflats into a freshwater lake and gave walkers and cyclists a route into Cardiff Bay. Penarth is now one of the best-connected ways of reaching the bay on foot. The old docklands have been redeveloped as housing, but the marina and surrounding streets still show the town's maritime past.
Art, churches and a Victorian art collector
Turner House Gallery was built in 1888 by the shipowner James Pyke Thompson to house his art collection. It is still a gallery today and shows work from the national collection. On the hill stands St Augustine's Church, designed by the Victorian architect William Butterfield and completed in 1866. Its tall spire is a landmark you can pick out from across the estuary and Cardiff Bay. Alexandra Park, near the town centre, has Victorian-style planting, a bandstand and a bowling green. It is a good place to see how the Victorians liked their seaside towns to look.
Life in Penarth today
Locals are called Penarthians, and many commute into Cardiff, which is only a few minutes away by train. The town centre has independent shops and cafés, and the Windsor Arcade is a good place to browse. Sport here leans towards rugby, cricket and sailing, and the yacht club makes the most of the marina and the estuary. Fish and chips and an ice cream on the seafront remain the traditional treat. The Cliff Walk, the beach and the pier are the usual evening and weekend stops. Many people say the best way to see the town is to walk from the pier up the hill to the church and back along the Esplanade.