Borth

History

There is an ancient submerged forest visible at low tide along the beach, where stumps of oak, pine, birch, willow and hazel (preserved by the acid anaerobic conditions in the peat) can be seen. Radiocarbon dating suggests the trees date from about 1500 BCE. This submerged forest also ties in with the legend of Cantre'r Gwaelod. The stumps were exposed for a time by Storm Hannah in 2019.

Cors Fochno, a raised peat mire, part of the Dyfi Biosphere, is the only UNESCO Biosphere reserve in Wales. It is located next to the village, together with the Dyfi National Nature Reserve and visitors' centre at Ynyslas. The village is crossed by a long-distance footpath, the Dyfi Valley Way.

In the past Upper Borth, then known simply as Borth, was in the township of Cyfoeth y Brenin, and nearby Morfa Borth being part of the township of Henllys. It is Morfa Borth which is now known as Borth today.

On 4 April 1876, the entire Uppingham School in Rutland, England, consisting of 300 boys, 30 masters and their families, moved to Borth for a period of 14 months, taking over the disused Cambrian Hotel and a large number of boarding houses, to avoid a typhoid epidemic.

The village war memorial, above a cliff south of the beach, was struck by lightning on 21 March 1983 and had to be rebuilt.

In 2008 and 2009, Borth hosted The Square Festival.

In 2011, work commenced on the first phase of a £12-million coastal protection scheme along the Borth to Ynyslas coastline, which was finished in 2015. The work was funded by the Welsh Assembly and the EU. An unexpected consequence of the coastal defence work was to reveal the remains of the petrified forest.

In 2018, Borth was subjected to media attention after the escape of a wild lynx from its local zoo.

In 2019, the village hosted a community street production called Borth Begins.

Governance

An electoral ward named Borth stretches south-east to Geneu'r Glyn. Its total population at the 2011 Census was 2,078. Borth is also the name of a ward in the current Ceredigion County Council, covering the communities of Borth and Llandre.

Local government history

Borth had a representative on Cardiganshire County Council from its formation in 1889. The first councillor elected was Rev. Enoch Watkin James, Brynderwen, a Liberal candidate and Calvinistic Methodist minister. After his election in January 1889, according to a local newspaper, "flags were generally displayed and after nightfall bonfires lighted, fireworks discharged, houses illuminated and hundreds of people paraded the streets up to a late hour. About six o'clock, the rev. gentlemen and friends were drawn in an open carriage through the village and, addressing the assembly, said that the day was rapidly approaching when laws would be made by the people for the people."

Borth was represented on Ceredigion District Council by Tom Raw-Rees, from the 1970s until his death in 2001. He latterly sat also for Borth on Ceredigion County Council. Before 1996, the Borth ward for elections to Dyfed County Council covered Borth, Ceulanamaesmawr and Tirymynach.

Amenities

Borth is the location of the Borth Animalarium and the Borth and Ynyslas Golf Club, which was used for many of the scenes in TV series Hinterland.

The Borth inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established in 1966 at the southern end of the beach.

There is a youth hostel in the village, with caravan and camping sites nearby.

The village football team, Borth United, resumed playing in the Cambrian Tyres 1st Division in the 2021–22 season.

Transport

Borth railway station is a stop on the Cambrian Line. It is generally served by hourly trains each way between Aberystwyth to the west and alternating between Birmingham International and Shrewsbury in the east. Services are operated by Transport for Wales.

The station building houses Borth Station Museum, which displays community and railway historical artifacts and temporary exhibitions. The museum is run by volunteers.

In popular culture

• The 1976 award-winning children's fantasy novel, A String in the Harp by the American author Nancy Bond, is set in Borth and the surrounding countryside.
• Borth, Cors Fochno and the railway station form the backdrop to the main storyline of "The Girl in the Water", in series 1 episode 4 of Y Gwyll (Hinterland in English), transmitted on S4C in 2013 and BBC1 Wales in January 2014.

Notable residents

• Lindsay Ashford (born 1959 in Wolverhampton), crime novelist and journalist, currently lives in Borth.
• Frank Bickerton (1889–1954), Antarctic explorer and aviator, died in Borth.
• Michael Oliver (1925–2015), cardiology professor, was born in Borth.
• Mark Williams (born 1966 in Hertfordshire) was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ceredigion constituency in 2005–2017.

Gallery

File:Badgernet BorthBeach1.JPG|Submerged forest remains File:Upper Borth 01.JPG|Borth Beach in the summer, looking south File:Submerged forest at Ynyslas, Ceredigion.jpg|Sunset on Borth sands near Ynyslas, looking north

References

References

1. (July 2024). "Location of Ceredigion Preseli".
2. "Community population 2011".
3. "Borth Parish".
4. (25 May 2006). "Experts look for 'watery kingdom'". BBC News.
5. (September 2025)
6. "Coast – Submerged Forest". BBC.
7. (September 2025)
8. (25 May 2019). "Storm Hannah uncovers Borth 'sunken' underwater forest". BBC News.
9. "Hafan". Biosfferdyfi.org.uk.
10. https://borthmaritimehistory.com/A%20BRIEF%20HISTORY%20OF%20BORTH.html
11. "Uppingham by the Sea, a Narrative of the Year at Borth, Author: John Henry Skrine, Release Date 22 March 2006".
12. "BBC – Domesday Reloaded: The War Memorial, Borth, from 1986". domesday.
13. (27 January 2010). "Ceredigion music festival loses its licence". BBC News.
14. (2010-10-12). "Borth Coastal Defence – Written by Ceredigion County Council".
15. "Borth Coastal Protection Scheme.".
16. "Borth Begins".
17. "Ward population 2011".
18. (25 January 1889). "Cardiganshire County Council". Cambrian News.
19. (1988). "The County of Dyfed (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1988". Statutory Instruments.
20. "BUFC".
21. (May 2023). "Timetables". Transport for Wales.
22. "Borth Station Museum".
23. Bond, Nancy. ''A String in the Harp'', Atheneum, 1976.