Constitution Hill ( ) is a hill in the Welsh town of

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

, situated to the north of the town. The hill overlooks

Cardigan Bay Cardigan Bay () is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales. Geography Cardigan Bay ha ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, running between the town and the coastal settlements

Borth Borth () is a village, seaside resort and community in Ceredigion, Mid Wales; it is located 7 miles (11 km) north of Aberystwyth, on the Ceredigion Coast Path. The community includes the settlement of Ynyslas and the population was 1,399 ...

and Clarach to the north. The site provides good views of the Aberystwyth, and the sightline extends as far as

Snowdonia National Park Snowdonia, or Eryri (), is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in North Wales. It contains all 15 mountains in Wales Welsh 3000s, over 3000 feet high, including the country's highest, Snowdon (), which i ...

and north

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. Since 1896, the

Aberystwyth Cliff Railway The Aberystwyth Cliff Railway () opened on 1 August 1896. It is a long funicular railway in Aberystwyth and is the second longest funicular railway in the British Isles, after the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway. Since November 1987, the Aber ...

has ascended to the hill's summit, and the summit features a

camera obscura A camera obscura (; ) is the natural phenomenon in which the rays of light passing through a aperture, small hole into a dark space form an image where they strike a surface, resulting in an inverted (upside down) and reversed (left to right) ...

, which is a 1980s rebuild of a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

building which was erected as part of the "Luna Park" recreation area. At its peak runs the Clarach Footpath on the

Wales Coast Path The Wales Coast Path () is a designated long-distance trail which follows, or runs close to, the coastline of Wales. Launched in 2012, the footpath is long and was heralded as the first dedicated coast path in the world to cover the entire len ...

, which connects the town of Aberystwyth with Clarach Bay. Nearby is the Borth – Clarach

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. The hill itself is often referred to as "Consti" by locals.

Description

Constitution Hill is located on the western coast of Wales on

, lying north of the town of

and to the south of the Clarach Bay holiday park. The hill is traversed from south to north by the

. At the base of the hill there is an

apotropaic Apotropaic magic (From ) or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of superstition or out of tr ...

site, where people stop at a metal piece in the ground, and perform a ritual known as "kicking the bar", using the soles of their feet. The origin of this custom is unknown, with researchers having several theories as to its origin.

Human history

From medieval times up until the early twentieth century, Constitution Hill was the site of several large quarries which, along with others in the area, provided much of the stone required to build the town of Aberystwyth including its castle. In 1895 the Aberystwyth Improvement Company was formed, a business venture with the goal of developing the hill for leisure and tourism. The company was financed by businessman

George Newnes Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet (13 March 1851 – 9 June 1910) was a British publisher and editor and a founding figure in popular journalism. Newnes also served as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament for two decades. His company, George Newne ...

and the project to develop the hill was engineered by George Croydon Marks. The company developed the hill extensively over the following years, including the construction of a restaurant and arcades at the bottom, a theme park called Luna Park and the original camera obscura, and the

. The Luna Park development did not survive long, as successive summers of poor weather in the early twentieth century limited visitor numbers. The railway, which operated over a length of on a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

at a gradient steeper than 50%, and opened in 1896, proved more successful. Initially powered by pouring water into a tank in the descending car, it was converted to electric operation in 1921. The original camera obscura and other Victorian features on the hill's summit were abandoned and became derelict during the first half of the 20th century, and by 1959 only one building remained. The site was redeveloped in the 1980s, with the modern camera obscura and other facilities being built.

References

External links

Constitution Hill

Photos of Constitution Hill on geograph.org.uk
{{Coord, 52.425, -4.083, display=title Aberystwyth Mountains and hills of Ceredigion