Portmadoc, Wales


A harbour town situated on the Glaslyn Estuary, Porthmadog is rich in maritime history and is an excellent base for touring the surrounding area. It has a number craft shops and restaurants. The town was named after W.A. Maddocks whose ambitious "Cob" embankment scheme led to the town's name, which translates as "Madog's Port". In times gone by, it was a vital, busy shipping port for the international slate trade, brought down from Blaenau Ffestiniog. The maritime history depicts its proud past.

How it got it's name

From around 1800, William Madocks constructed Port Madock, also known as Port Madoc, from the salt marshes of the Glaslyn Estuary. Madocks was an Englishman born of Welsh parent, and later became MP for Boston in Lincolnshire.

Madocks' first experience in land reclamation had been the building of two dykes. The second of these, constructed by James Creasy in 1800, was later used by the Croesor Tramway . Between 1808 and 1811, Madocks built the famous Cob, along which the Ffestiniog Railway passes before heading into the mountains. The Cob was hugely expensive - Madocks was bankrupted by its construction - but the thriving sea port of Portmadoc grew up because of it, fed by the then-growing export of Welsh slate.

More recently, Portmadoc has assumed the name Porthmadog in honour of the Welsh Prince Madog. The old name has almost completely passed out of usage. I have written these pages using both names, preferring the old name for historic topics and favouring the new name for issues of the present day.