Bow Street, Ceredigion
| Bow Street | |
|---|---|
 Bow Street, looking south towards Aberystwyth with the houses of Nantyfallen on the left |
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 Bow Street
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| Bow Street shown within Ceredigion | |
| Population | 1,901 |
| Language |
British English Welsh (68.8% of population) |
| OS grid reference | SN6284 |
| Principal area | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BOW STREET |
| Postcode district | SY24 |
| Dialling code | 01970 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | |
Bow Street is a large village in the Tirymynach district of Ceredigion, Wales, approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of Aberystwyth. As well as Bow Street itself, it is now often considered to include the neighbouring smaller village of Pen-y-garn and the hamlet of Rhydypennau. All three places stretch in a long narrow strip along the main Aberystwyth to Machynlleth road, the (A487).
Bow Street is also a post town, and as well as covering the villages of Bow Street and Pen-y-garn and the hamlet of Rhydypennau, it also includes the nearby village of Llandre and the hamlets of Taigwynion and Dole, together with the surrounding farms.
The population of the Community, Tirymynach in 2011 was 1,901.
The earliest attestation of the name 'Bow Street' yet found is in the parish registers of Llanbadarn Fawr, where there is a baptism entry dated 9 February 1777 for a "Wm son of Jenkin & Ann Thomas, Bow Street".
It would appear that the name is derived from the London street of the same name, and that its application to the small cluster of houses that would become Bow Street was connected with the turnpiking of the main Aberystwyth to Machynlleth Turnpike road from 1770 onwards. It may be that the choice of name was influenced by the fact that the road does actually bend slightly at this point, and might therefore have been analogous to the ‘bow’ of the London Bow Street. Interestingly there are two small lanes in the village which are also known locally by English names, these being Cock and Hen Street and Thread Needle Street (sometimes Thread and Needle Street),. Supposed traditions associating the name Bow Street with a local magistrate do not appear to stand up to scrutiny, and probably developed later as a way of justifying the existence of an English place name in a predominantly Welsh-speaking area.
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