St Davids Head, on which the village of Solva sits, contains features arising from volcanic activity that occurred 470 million years ago. The area’s distinctive extinct volcanos – Carn Llidi, Carnedd Leithr and Carn Penberi – which famously contributed to the ‘exultant strangeness’ that artist Graham Sutherland praised in Pembrokeshire’s landscape, are the results of igneous intrusions being contained within sedimentary rocks and extrusions forcing their way through them. The present coastal layout also results from these igneous areas – for example, at the end of the Gribin headland and opposite it, on the other side of the River Solva estuary. Here, the hard, volcanic rock has withstood the grinding of the sea, leaving promontories. The quarrying activity that took place further up the Solva valley at Middle Mill was also on an igneous intrusion.

During the last two ice ages – 50,000 and 18,000 years ago – most of Pembrokeshire was covered by ice, the melting of which formed the estuary of the River Cleddau, the spectacular Treffgarne Gorge and the steep valley of the River Solva. The Solva estuary was originally formed in St Brides Bay, beyond the present Green and Black Scars, before being drowned by rising sea levels resulting from glacial ice-melt.

The elusive megalithic tombs that survive around Solva are part of the oldest firm evidence of people living in communities in the whole of Pembrokeshire. The tombs – which now appear as stone uprights, sometimes with a capstone – exist all over the county: Pentre Ifan (above Newport), Longhouse (Abercastle) and Arthur’s Chamber (St Davids Head) are all examples, and date from 2500–3000 BC.

Little further evidence of occupation survives until we reach the ‘Iron Age’ forts – 500 BC, or thereabouts – such as the three specimens to be found on Solva’s Gribin headland, and those at nearby Whitchurch and Porth Y Rhaw – and generally along the coastal path, where they are a regular feature.

Its harbour has always provided a fine anchorage and base for fishing and other seagoing activities, but Solva’s existence as a distinct village first emerges in the early 18th century. At that time, it became a shipping port involved in the transportation of corn to other areas of Wales and Bristol – and of culm and limestone into the area to be burnt, the resulting lime being used on local fields to counteract the natural acidity of the soil.

The fabrication, transportation and construction of the original Smalls Lighthouse and – later, in 1856–61 – its stone-built granite successor had a great effect on Solva. The associated increase in population among service industries, trades etc. resulted in the forming and opening of five new chapels in the village between 1798 and 1864, and the construction of the new church of St Aidan in 1879 as a branch of the senior parish church at Whitchurch. The National Church of England opened a school in 1834, followed by the Welsh and non-sectarian school in 1844.

The Solva area was extensively involved in World War II, with the construction of St Davids Airfield in 1943 and Brawdy Airfield the following year. The former lies less than a mile north of Solva, and now provides a circular walk along a hard path with many access branches into wilder areas. Along with the airfield itself, accommodation blocks were provided for ground staff, air crew, prisoners of war and armed-forces personnel just passing through – hence, there are old concrete bases and, in some instances, simple buildings bordering the main A487 highway from Solva to Llandruidion and along the back road, inland, from Whitchurch to Fachelich. After the war and until 1960, the airfield became a service centre, run by Airworks, for forces’ planes – and was staffed by many local people from Solva and St Davids.

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Solva harbour and the Gwadn (Solva’s stony ‘secret beach’ tucked away beyond the Gribin) yield low-tide rockpools that reward investigation. During the summer months, the village quay provides entertainment for young locals and visitors alike using crab lines. On the coastal path, kestrels, peregrine falcons, chough and stonechat are regularly seen – and during the winter, whooper swans and hen harriers have been sighted on Dowrog Common at the centre of the St Davids Peninsula. There are also said to be otters on the Solva river, up as far as Middle Mill, and there are also reposted to be fields of alpaca – but that’s another story…

Image by Gerhard Gellinger from Pixabay 

Dewisland, the area of Pembrokeshire in which Solva is situated, contains acidic soils. Since the 15th century or so, its fields have been treated with quicklime, an alkali that reduces acidity and makes the land more amenable to crop-growing. Other means of increasing soil productivity were used, including the spreading of seaweed or the mixing in of sand (the ‘Sand Quay’ in Solva harbour was the landing place for the latter material), but limestone became the principal method for obtaining quicklime.

Limestone rock was obtained from the south of the county – in particular, from the quarries around West Williamston and Pembroke town itself. It was transported by sea to Solva – and to most of the other small ports and inlets around the Pembrokeshire coast – together with culm, a mixture of coal dust and clay (so-called ‘small coal’). The culm was obtained locally from Nolton, Little Haven and later Hook – and from the Cleddau area generally. The limestone was broken up into small boulders, perhaps 15cm diameter, and loaded onto a small coal fire that had been started within the lime kiln for burning. Limestone is a calcium carbonate rock and in this burning process it would give off carbon dioxide, which has an extremely offensive smell, leaving calcium oxide, or ‘quicklime’. This would be transported by horse and cart to the surrounding ploughed fields where it would react with rain and form slaked lime, giving off a great deal of heat in the process but improving soil productivity. This chemical reaction is the reason why the ‘burning’ was carried out as close as possible to the place of use.

Widespread lime-burning is recorded at the end of the 17th century, and at its peak Solva had ten kilns in use. There are still four on the east side of the harbour, together with an outline of the burner’s shelter; one large kiln at the south end of the Gamlyn in the centre of the lower village; and two more at the northern end. There were also two others at the present Main Street roadside in front of the old chapel, and one in the garden area of the Harbour Inn.

What is a gidel? You will not find the word in any Welsh dictionary, and will only discover it used in certain areas – notably, around Solva and St Davids. It is, in fact, a narrow passage between houses or garden walls – similar to what people in the industrial Northwest of England know as a ginnel. In Solva you will find that Prendergast has six such features, and the Cwm boasts two. Gidels were always open to the public, but with the passing of time many have been lost.

Each one gave access to the river for washing clothes, disposing of slops and waste, and collecting water for gardens. Solva’s Prendergast gidels were mostly used by homes situated on the left of the road as you head out of the village towards Middle Mill; houses on the right already had access to the river via their gardens. The arrival of sewage pipes, installed by Italian prisoners of war, and more general infrastructure in 1945 heralded the end of the River Solva being used for waste disposal. As a consequence, by the late 1940s the village’s gidels had become redundant.

During the 1950s and 60s, many local children used the deteriorating lanes, with their ivy-covered walls, as play areas. Enterprising boys ‘tickled’ trout in the river, and many apples were picked from overhanging trees.

Restoration of the Main Street Gidel, alongside the Ship Inn in Lower Solva, took place in 2013. The community-led project involved Solva Community Council, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Pembrokeshire County Council and Marston’s Brewery. The work included renovation of the gidel’s surface, drainage improvement, and repointing and rebuilding to some of the stone-faced walls on either side of the passageway. You will find a plaque at the entrance explaining the history of a gidel.

Solva’s war memorial is situated towards the top of the hill between Lower and Upper Solva, just before the junction with Pen yr Aber, and was built to honour local people who lost their lives in World War I and World War II. It is the focal point of the annual Remembrance Day service held in November.

Constructed in 1920, the memorial is said to have been designed by the Irish war artist Sir John Lavery and consists of a granite Celtic cross on a large block raised on five steps. It is inscribed on the northern side with ‘Ein Meirw Gogoneddus’, and on the south side with its translation: ‘Our Glorious Dead’. It is one of those striking memorials – of which there seem to be many in Wales – to bear the dates 1914–1919 rather than ‘–1918’. The later date refers to the point at which the Treaty of Versailles was signed: 28 June 1919.

Solva’s Memorial Hall – just a short walk up the hill from the monument – contains two brass plates that commemorate the men of the Parishes of Solva and Whitchurch who fell during both world wars.

Solva commemorated the end of the Great War throughout 2018.  Solva Heritage Society, in particular, organised a series of events that were both poignant and thought provoking.  Here is a link to an illustrated document, produced by Brenda Lloyd, that summarises Solva Heritage Society’s contribution.

One of the strangest of all Solva’s seafaring stories is that by 1848, soon after the village’s tally of trading ships had reached 30, it was possible to buy a passage from here direct to New York!

Berths were advertised for £3 a head, with a half-price ticket offered for those under 14 years of age and infants free. This was inclusive of water, fuel and sleeping places for a voyage that, in those days, could take up to 17 weeks.