Alban Square

Aberaeron is a relatively unusual example in Wales of a planned settlement. The town was developed in the very early 19th century by the Rev. Alban Thomas Jones Gwynne. Gwynne had amassed a large local landholding in the area through marriage and in 1807 obtained permission for the development of a port by Act of Parliament. Although work on the harbour proceeded swiftly, the construction of the intended residential areas behind it progressed more slowly. By 1819 Gywnne was dead, and no further work was undertaken during the time of his widow. Her death in 1830 saw their son, Colonel A.T.J. Gwynne, reinvigorate activities and in that year he engaged Edward Haycock Sr. to draw up plans.…

No.s 9-20 form the eastern side of Alban Square. No.s 1-8 form the northern, and No.s 22-37 the western sides. Thomas Lloyd, Julian Orbach and Robert Scourfield, in their Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, do not consider that the scale of the buildings is sufficient "to give a sense of enclosure to the grassy central space." The houses are built to a "simple" Regency design and are of two storeys. The roofs are of Welsh slate. The houses were painted in varying pastel colours in the 20th century. While Lloyd, Orbach and Scourfield do not think this represents an "authentic restoration", they acknowledge that the present appearance "entertains".…