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Commerce along the coast

The boatbuilding era

All along the coast (and especially south of the Dyfi) from the later decades of the 18th century and through the 19th century, boatbuilding was a thriving industry even in the smallest of settlements and least promising locations, as the roads were in a poor state and goods were often transported by sea.

Hundreds of vessels of many types, such as smacks, schooners and brigs, were built at this time and the economies of Cardigan, Aberystwyth and Aberaeron were largely based on this industry. The vessels plied their trade not just up and down the coast, but also across the Atlantic. Limestone and timber were major imports, and slate (especially from ports north of Machynlleth) was the main exported commodity. Wherever there was boatbuilding, so secondary trades went hand in hand, including rope and sailmaking, insurance and customs.

The advent of steam power, and of iron as a ship-building material, meant a decline in demand for the timber-built sail-powered boats; and the arrival of the railway, which enabled goods to be moved more easily by land, led to a wholesale demise of the industry. By the beginning of the 20th century it had largely disappeared.