River Gwaun

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox river | name = Afon Gwaun | native_name = | native_name_lang = | name_other = River Gwaun | name_etymology =  | image = | image_size = | image_caption = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption=  | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Wales | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = Counties | subdivision_name3 = Pembrokeshire | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = Towns | subdivision_name5 = Fishguard  | length_km = 15 | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max =  | source1 = | source1_location = Preseli Hills | source1_coordinates= {{coord|51.9580|N|4.8043|W|display=inline}} | source1_elevation = | mouth = | mouth_location = Fishguard, Pembrokeshire | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|51.9959|N|4.9696|W|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }} The '''River Gwaun''' (Welsh: ''Afon Gwaun'', "''Gwaun''" meaning 'marsh, moor') is a river in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, which flows west to the sea at Fishguard (Welsh: ''Abergwaun'' - 'mouth of the Gwaun').

thumb|left|Llanychaer Bridge The Gwaun rises in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park on the northern slopes of ''Foel Eryr'' in the Preseli Hills, to the east of Pontfaen hamlet. The river is a slowly meandering stream passing through marshy, wet woodland with alder trees, water meadows and flood plains. Its river valley is deep and secluded through the Gwaun Valley, and passes through Pontfaen and Llanychaer to the sea at Lower Fishguard Bay.

thumb|left|River Gwaun, Lower Fishguard It has a total length of {{convert|9|mi|km}} and is navigable by canoe for the lower third of its length, beginning west of Pontfaen.<ref>{{cite web|title=Afon Gwaun - UK Rivers Guidebook|url=https://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/rivers/wales/south/afon-gwaun-llanychaer-bridge-to-the-sea|accessdate=1 June 2014}}</ref> Before Pontfaen, the river is joined by the Afon Cwmau which flows from the south.

The river (as ''Gwyne'') appears on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire.<ref>{{cite web|title=Penbrok comitat|publisher=British Library|url=https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/zoomify83390.html|accessdate=|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411005516/https://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/zoomify83390.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Formation== The river occupies a meltwater channel formed subglacially during the last and earlier ice ages.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=S |last2=Bowen |first2=D Q |title=Geological Conservation Review: Quaternary of Wales |date=1989 |publisher=Nature Conservancy Council |location=Peterborough |isbn=0861395700 |pages=93-94}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} {{Commons category|River Gwaun}}

== External links == *[https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=2796970 www.geograph.co.uk : photos of the River Gwaun and surrounding area]

Gwaun