St Dogmaels Village
The beautiful riverside village of St Dogmaels is on the northern border of Pembrokeshire close to the market town of Cardigan. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path starts or finishes here, depending on which way you're walking it. St Dogmaels is the main route to the pristine and expansive beach of Poppit Sands.
The Poppit Rocket coastal bus service links St Dogmaels with Cardigan, Poppit Sands and Newport. Services are specifically designed to help walkers with one morning service to drop you off at your start point and one afternoon service to pick you up again.
What's in St Dogmaels?
Activities
A Bay to Remember coastal boat trips, depart from Poppit Sands during the summer months http://www.baytoremember.co.uk/index.html
Cardigan Bay Active operate from the quay on the south side of Cardigan Bridge. They provide a range of activities including coasteering, surfing kayaking at sea or on the river, wildlife watching boat trips, bushcraft, climbing, and mountain biking. http://www.cardiganbayactive.co.uk/
Pembrokeshire Paragliding use Poppit Sands on occasions when the wind is too strong for cliff tops. http://www.pembrokeshireparagliding.com/
Attractions
St Dogmaels Abbey was founded in the twelfth century on a site occupied by a pre-Norman monastery. Parts of the church and cloister are 12th century, however, the west and north walls of the nave are 13th century and the north doorway 14th-century ornamentation. The north transept is Tudor. The footings of the chapter house can be seen to the west of the cloister, with the adjacent monk's infirmary standing almost to roof level. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the church continued to be used for a time by the parish, and a rectory was built into the southwest corner of the cloister.
A Sagranus Stone in the church of St Thomas the Apostle bears an inscription in the ancient Ogham Script. The Church is next to the Abbey.
Y Felin Water Mill is one of only two working mills in Wales. The mill has been completely renovated with its original machinery intact. Y Felin dates back to the twelfth century and is thought to have been built by St Dogmaels Abbey. A guided tour of the mill will reveal how their wonderful selection of flour is made, including Welsh organic wholemeal, seed and herb, and garlic and chive. The delightful tea room offers a mouth-watering selection of fresh home-made produce, including scones, cakes, bread and light lunches. http://www.yfelin.co.uk/
The Coach House Heritage Centre opened next to the Priory in 2008. It is built in an old coach house with a modern extension and incorporates both historical interpretation of the village and surrounding area and a cafe. The centre provides an interpretation facility with models and displays and an internationally important collection of inscribed Christian stones dating from early Celtic times between the 7th & 10th century and which pre-date The Abbey. The centre provides educational facilities for schools, colleges and archaeological researchers. It also provides a venue for St Dogmaels History Society, workshops by local artists and rolling exhibitions of arts, crafts, local history and natural history
Food and Drink
The Coach House visitor centre has a great cafe as does Y Felin Mill.
The Ferry Inn occupies a lovely riverside location at the western end of the village. http://www.ferry-inn.com/
The Teifi Net Pool Inn has a great view over the river. All their food is homemade by their house chef. http://www.teifinetpoolinn.com/
The White Hart is on Finch Street on the Cardigan side of the village. It’s an historic Inn with a lot of character, some great beers and a wide ranging menu.
The Webley Hotel just before you reach Poppit Sands have a good menu with a lot of local produce on it including Locally Reared Lamb Steaks, line caught Sea Bass, Dressed Crab, Lobster and Cardigan Bay Prawns. Also Caws Cenarth cheese and ice cream from Crymych.
There’s a cafe at Poppit Beach in the car park and there’s a fish and chip shop on the High Street.
Bowens Fish and Chips on the High Street.
Accommodation
There are a few hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs in and around St Dogmaels – see Links. There is a holiday park and a camp site at Poppit and a touring caravan site at Cemaes Head. There are plenty of self catering cottages in nearby villages.
http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/towns-villages/st-dogmaels/
