Pembroke 
Contents
PEMBROKE
From
From Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Wales
(1833)
PEMBROKE, a borough, market-town, and sea-port, having separate
jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Castlemartin, county of
PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 6 miles (S.E. by E.) from Milford, 10 (S. by
E.) from Haverfordwest, and 248 (W.) from London, containing,
exclusively of the parish of Monkton, 5383 inhabitants. The name of
this place is derived from the words Pen-Bro, literally signifying
a headland or promontory, and originally applied to a district
nearly corresponding in extent with the present hundred of
Castlemartin, stretching out into the sea, and separating Milford
Haven, on the north, from the Bristol channel on the south. On the
erection of a castle and the consequent growth of the town, the
name of the district in which they were situated was transferred to
them, and subsequently to the whole of the county of which that
town became the capital. The early history of this place is
involved in some confusion: it is stated by Giraldus Cambrensis,
that Arnulph de Montgomery erected here, in the reign of Henry I, a
slender fortress of stakes and turf, which, on his return into
England, he placed under the custody of his constable and
lieutenant, Giraldus de Windesor. In the Chronicle of Caradoc of
Llancarvan, who was contemporary with Giraldus, it is expressly
stated that the castle was attacked in 1092, and again in 1094, by
the forces of Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, but that it was so strongly
fortified as to baffle every effort of that chieftain to reduce it.
The latter of these dates, which is some years prior to the
accession of Henry I, contradicts the statement of Giraldus
Cambrensis, with respect to the time of the original foundation;
and the result of the attacks by so formidable an enemy is at
variance with his description of the character of the fortress.
Arnulph de Montgomery, on the accession of Henry I., having joined
in a confederacy against that sovereign, the castle of Pembroke,
together with his other estates, became forfeited to the crown, and
Henry afterwards conferred the castle, together with the lordship
of Carew and several other manors, on Giraldus de Windesor,
Arnulph's lieutenant, who had married Nêst, daughter of Rhys
ab Tewdwr. According to Caradoc of Llancarvan, Giraldus or Gerald
de Windesor rebuilt the castle of Pembroke in the year 1105, on a
more advantageous site, called "Congarth Vechan," and removed into
it his family and his goods. Soon after this, according to some
authorities, Owain, son of Cadwgan ab Bleddyn, having heard the
beauty of Nêst extolled at a banquet given by Cadwgan, either
at his castle of Aberteivy, or at that of Eare Weare, in the parish
of Amroath, came, under the pretence of relationship, to pay her a
visit at this place, and becoming enamoured at this interview,
resolved upon carrying her away by force. For this purpose, having
obtained the aid of some young men as profligate as himself he
returned in the evening to the castle, which he entered unobserved,
and, placing a guard over the chamber of Nêst, set fire to
the building, and, in the confusion and alarm which ensued,
forcibly conveyed her and her children to his residence in Powys.
Other writers, however, are of opinion that the castle of Carew was
the scene of this outrage and abduction. The alliance of Gerald
with the native princes of the country, by his marriage with
Nêst, who was some time after restored to him, subsequently
excited the jealousy of Henry, who used every possible means to
circumscribe his authority, as far as was consistent with the
safety of the English interests in this province.
Gilbert de Clare, surnamed Strongbow, was created Earl of
Pembroke, by Henry I., in 1109, and thus became possessed of the
royal territories in this quarter, and of the castle of Pembroke;
and in 1138, the earldom was erected into a county palatine, with
the privilege of jura regalia; and, under the authority of its
earl, a session and a monthly county court were held within the
castle. In the latter all pleas of the crown were determined, fines
levied, and recoveries passed: the writs were issued in the name of
the earl, who held also at this place his courts of chancery and
exchequer. Strongbow enlarged the castle, which he strengthened
with additional fortifications, and made it in every respect a
residence suitable to the dignity of the elevated rank which he
held. He also incorporated the inhabitants of the town, which had
arisen under the protection of the castle, and which he surrounded
with a lofty embattled wall, defended by numerous bastions, and
entered by three principal gates and a postern. Under the
protection and influence of its earls Pembroke became a place of
great importance; and in the year 1172, Henry II. kept the festival
of Easter in the castle. Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, after the
defeat of the Lancastrians at the battle of Barnet, retired into
the castle, in which were then residing the young Earl of Richmond
and his mother; but he was soon besieged by Morgan ab Thomas,
brother of the celebrated Rhys ab Thomas, a zealous partisan of the
house of York, to whom he must have surrendered the fortress, had
not David, another brother, who had embraced the opposite interest,
come promptly to his assistance, and conveyed him, together with
the Countess of Richmond and her son, to Tenby, where they embarked
for France.
The suppression of the palatine jurisdiction, in the reign of
Henry VIII., deprived Pembroke of its dignity as the metropolis of
a regality; but during the civil war of the seventeenth century,
its strength rendered it the scene of many important transactions.
The castle, at the commencement of the war, was the only fortress
possessed by the parliamentarians in this part of the principality,
and was placed under the command of Colonel Rowland Laugharne. ln
1643, Admiral Swanley arrived with the parliamentarian fleet in
Milford Haven, and reinforced the garrison with two hundred
mariners and several small pieces of cannon, with the aid of which
the governor succeeded in reducing most of the neighbouring
fortresses, which were garrisoned for the king. In 1647, Colonel
Laugharne, and likewise Colonels Powell and Poyer, abandoning the
interest of the parliament, and embracing that of the opposite
party, made Pembroke their head-quarters, and the rallying point
for the army which they raised on behalf of the king; and after
their defeat in the disastrous battle of St. Fagan's, in
Glamorganshire, retired hither with the remnant of their forces,
closely followed by the parliamentarian army, led by Cromwell in
person, who immediately commenced the siege of the town, taking
post at Welsdon, a village about two miles and a half from it. The
siege was conducted with the greatest vigour, and sustained with
obstinate valour by the garrison, who were resolved to hold out to
the last extremity; but Cromwell having found means to destroy
their mills, and their supply of water being also cut off by the
destruction of a staircase leading into a cavern under one of the
towers, in which was their chief reservoir, there remained only the
alternative of a lingering death or immediate submission. Under
these circumstances the garrison capitulated, on condition that
their chief leaders should throw themselves on the mercy of the
parliament; that several of the inferior officers should leave the
kingdom, not to return within two years; that all arms and
ammunition should be given up, and that the town should be spared
from plunder. Laugharne, Powell, and Poyer were afterwards tried by
a court martial, and being found guilty of treason, were condemned
to be shot; but the authorities being induced to spare two of them,
it was ordered that they should draw lots for this favour; and
accordingly three papers were folded up, on two of which was
written "Life given by God,"and the third left blank: the latter
was drawn by Colonel Poyer, who was shot in Covent Garden, on the
25th of April, 1649. That the surrender of the garrison was justly
attributed to the failure of their supply of water, by the accident
above noticed, has been confirmed by a recent discovery of the
cavern, in which was found a copious spring of water, with the
shattered remains of a staircase leading to it from the tower, the
bones of a man, and several cannon balls.
Pembroke Town
The importance of this place subsequently to the abolition of the
palatinate depending principally upon its castle, which, after
these events, was never re-fortified, it now experienced a further
decline, owing to its remote situation and want of commerce; and
though it has to the present day nominally retained its dignity as
the capital of the county, it dwindled into comparative
insignificance, as all the substantial benefits arising from that
distinction were transferred to Haverfordwest, which, from its more
central situation, was found better adapted for the transaction of
the business of the county. The removal of the government dock-yard
from Milford to this place, in 1814, however, materially
contributed to revive its prosperity; and since that period it has
been gradually increasing in extent and population, and, from the
many local advantages which it possesses for an establishment of
this nature, there is every prospect of its becoming in due time
one of the most considerable naval arsenals in the kingdom. The
town is beautifully situated on an elevated ridge projecting into
the head of the Pennar Mouth Pill, forming the largest southern
creek of Milford Haven, and which it divides into two branches, by
which, at high water, it is nearly insulated and over each of which
is a neat bridge of stone: it consists principally of one long
street, irregularly built, and connected on the west with the
ancient village of Monkton, which forms a suburb to the town, and
on the north with a new street leading to Pembroke Dock, a
flourishing and populous place, about two miles to the north west,
forming a distinct town within the parish of St. Mary, which has
arisen since the removal of the dock-yard thither from Milford. The
houses are built on both sides of the ridge, of which the western
extremity is crowned with the magnificent ruins of the ancient
castle, and on both sides are gardens sloping down from the houses
to the water's edge: the embattled walls with which the ancient
town was surrounded are still tolerably perfect on the north side,
and the entire town, rising above the waters of the broad inlet,
amidst some of the richest scenery in this part of the
principality, has an air of venerable grandeur and picturesque
beauty. The streets are partially paved and lighted, and the
inhabitants are amply supplied with excellent water from seven
public conduits in different parts of the town, to which it is
conveyed from a distance of half a mile, by means of pipes laid
down at the expense of the corporation. There are no particular
manufactures carried on, the inhabitants consisting of persons of
small independent fortune, shop keepers, publicans, and a few whose
business is at the dock; but it serves in a great measure as a
depot for the neighbouring districts. Stone coal is brought from a
distance of about six miles to the east of it, and bituminous coal
from Swansea, Llanelly, Newport, and other places on the southern
coast. When colonial produce was not permitted to be imported into
Ireland direct, it was lodged in warehouses appropriated to that
purpose at Pembroke ferry, in the parish of St. Mary, but that
place is at present of no commercial importance. The market, which
is abundantly supplied with provisions of every kind, is on
Saturday; and there are fairs on April 12th, Trinity Monday, July
10th, October 10th, and November 30th; and in the suburb of
Monkton, on May 4th and September 25th. The two parishes of St.
Mary and St. Michael comprise, in addition to the towns of Pembroke
and Pembroke Dock, a considerable adjacent agricultural district.
Pembroke Dock
PEMBROKE DOCK, sometimes likewise called PATER, or PATERCHURCH, is
situated on the southern shore of Milford Haven, about two miles
from the old town. It consists of several streets of neat and
well-built houses, and is partially paved, but not lighted: there
are numerous good shops for the supply of the population, several
of which are branches from the larger establishments in the
borough. A handsome enclosed market-place was erected here about
five years ago, but it has hitherto been but scantily supplied, and
most of the inhabitants frequent the market at Pembroke. The
dock-yard forms a spacious area enclosed within a lofty wall of
stone, and comprises a neat range of buildings for the public
offices, houses for the principal officers of the establishment, a
well-built chapel fitted up with elegant simplicity for the use of
the officers and men employed in the yard, and a fort, which is
just completed, for the defence of the place, mounting twenty-three
long twenty-four pounders. There are twelve slips for
ship-building, which is at present the only business carried out in
the yard, though, from the low price of labour in this part of the
country, and the facility of obtaining materials of all kinds, it
is in contemplation to introduce other branches of labour for the
naval service. There are at present on the stocks, and in different
states of progress, the Royal William of one hundred and twenty
guns; the Rodney, of ninety two guns; the Forth, of forty-six guns;
the Andromache, of twenty-eight; the Harrier, of eighteen; and the
Cockatrice schooner: the number of men employed at present is about
five hundred. Besides the government establishment there is a small
private dock, and it is probable that the Irish packet
establishment will be removed from Milford to this place, with a
view to which alteration a very fine jetty is now being constructed
at Hobb's Point, a few hundred yards to the east of the dock-yard,
from which new roads have been formed, connecting it with the main
road from Carmarthen, in a new line avoiding both Narberth and
Haverfordwest, by which route the mail will save a distance of
several miles. About a mile to the east of the dock-yard is
Pembroke ferry, belonging to the crown, and held by Sir John Owen,
Bart., who underlets it at an annual rent of £200: it forms
the shortest and most usual line of communication between
Haverfordwest and Pembroke, the distance between which places by
the ferry is only ten miles, but by Narberth twenty-five: the fares
are one-half penny for a foot passenger, one penny for a man and
horse, and one shilling per wheel for carriages. The entrance from
Milford Haven to the creek at the head of which the town of
Pembroke is situated, at low water, is little more than a hundred
yards wide, and from nine to twelve feet deep; but proceeding
upwards it immediately expands into a wide oozy reach, called Crow
Pool, containing an abundance of excellent oysters.
Administration
The inhabitants of Pembroke received their first charter of
incorporation from Gilbert Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in the
reign of Stephen; but the earliest of which any record is preserved
they obtained in the reign of John: various others have been
granted to them by succeeding sovereigns, the latest being that of
King James II. The corporation consists of a mayor and an
indefinite number of common-councilmen (of whom all who have passed
the chair are styled aldermen), assisted by a town-clerk, two
serjeants at mace, and other officers. The mayor is chosen annually
from the common-councilmen, who elect the members of their own body
and two bailiffs from the burgesses at large, who are likewise
chosen by the common council. Pembroke, with the contributory
boroughs of Tenby, Wiston, and Milford, which last was added by the
act recently passed for amending the representation of the people,
sends one member to parliament: the right of election has hitherto
been vested in the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses, but is now, by
the late act, confined to such of these as are resident, and
extended to every male person of full age occupying, either as
owner or as tenant under the same landlord, a house or other
premises of the annual value of not less than ten pounds, provided
he be capable of registering as the act directs: the number of
tenements of this value, within the limits of the borough, which
are minutely detailed in the Appendix, is two hundred and
ninety-seven, including those in the parish of Monkton, which for
electoral purposes has been included within the borough: the mayor
is the returning officer. The mayor, who is also coroner and clerk
of the market, is a justice of the peace within the old borough,
his jurisdiction extending over the parishes of St. Mary and St.
Michael, and likewise, as regards the duties of coroner, into the
village of Monkton, in the parish of St. Nicholas. A mayor's court
is held pro formû every fortnight, but all other
courts formerly held have fallen into disuse. The revenue of the
corporation amounts to about £100, arising out of the tolls
of the markets and fairs. Pembroke has been constituted a
polling-place in the election of a knight for the shire. The
town-hall is a plain modern building in the centre of the south
side of the principal street, and underneath it is a commodious
area for the corn market.
The Parishes
The livings of all the three parishes of St. Mary, St. Michael, and
St. Nicholas, are consolidated into one discharged vicarage, in the
archdeaconry and diocese of St. David's, rated in the king's books
at £9, (viz., £4 for St. Michael's, and £5 for
that of Monkton, or St. Nicholas, St. Mary's not being in charge,)
and in the gift of Sir John Owen, Bart. The church, dedicated to
St. Mary, is an ancient and venerable structure, in the Norman
style of architecture, situated near the centre of the town, and
composed of a nave, chancel, and north aisle, with a small chapel
on the southern side: in the north aisle and in the chancel are
doorways, now closed up, which formerly communicated with
additional buildings no longer standing. That dedicated to St.
Michael has been nearly rebuilt from the ground, in the later style
of English architecture, the expense having been defrayed by a
parochial rate. Each of these churches had anciently chapels of
ease, situated a little distance without the walls of the town; and
on the summit of an eminence, about three-quarters of a mile to the
south of the town, still stands an ancient ecclesiastical edifice,
dedicated to St. Daniel, with a lofty spire rising from a low
tower, now private property. The chapel within the dock-yard is not
consecrated, and is in the patronage of the Lords Commissioners of
the Admiralty. There are places of worship for Baptists and
Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists. A grammar school was founded
here, in 1690; but its endowment does not exceed £10 per
annum. A National school for the united parishes (including
therefore the village of Monkton), in which two hundred children of
both sexes receive gratuitous instruction, is supported by
subscription: the school is held in a house in the town, hired for
the purpose, which is also appropriated to the use of a
savings-bank. Dr. I. Jones, of Carmarthen, in 1698, bequeathed his
estates, real and personal, to be appropriated to the apprenticing
of poor children and the relief of the poor of the four parishes of
Lawrenny, St. David's, Cosheston, and Lampeter-Velvrey, with a
discretionary power to his brother, the Rev. William Jones, to add
such other parishes as he should think proper to the four named by
the testator; and Mr. W. Jones accordingly, by deed in 1703, vested
in three trustees the several sums of £300, £100, and
£44, to be laid out in the purchase of land, and the rents to
be appropriated to the apprenticing of poor children and the relief
of the poor of this place, to which purposes the income, now
.£143. 13., is applied. Matthew Warren bequeathed a
rent-charge of £2. 12., and George Evans another of fourteen
shillings, for bread to twelve poor widows; Richard Howell
bequeathed £100; Margaret Mears £30, of which £10
has been lost; Sir Hugh Owen, Bart., £20; and Sir Martin
Beckman £5, for the poor: there are also some other
charitable donations and bequests.
Pembroke Castle
The majestic and venerable remains of the ancient castle occupy the
western extremity of the elevated ridge on which the town is built,
and are justly regarded as among the most picturesque and
magnificent ruins in the country. The entire fortress was
surrounded by a lofty embattled wall, defended by numerous
bastions, and having only one entrance from the land, through a
grand gateway defended by two circular towers of prodigious
strength, and a barbican. On this side it had likewise a dry moat,
and the enclosed area was divided into an inner and an outer ward,
the former of which comprised the state apartments, and the latter
the inferior buildings and the offices for the use of the garrison.
The principal remains consist of this grand entrance, the state
apartments occupying the northern side, and the keep, which latter
is in the inner court, a massive and lofty round tower,
seventy-five feet high, and one hundred and sixty-three feet in
circumference at the base, and gradually diminishing in diameter
towards the top, which is covered with a vaulted roof. This tower
is divided into five stages, and the walls are seventeen feet in
thickness at the base, and fourteen feet thick at the summit, from
which is obtained a most extensive and delightful prospect,
comprehending the greater part of Pembrokeshire, from the Pencelly
mountains, on the north, to the sea, and from the Carmarthenshire
hills, on the east, to St. George's channel, presenting a fine open
champaign country, intersected by the numerous aestuaries which
unite to form the noble haven of Milford, and richly diversified
and enlivened with cheerful villages and gentlemen's seats, among
which those of Cresselly, Clareston, Orielton, and others, the
grounds of which are richly wooded, form a striking and beautiful
contrast to the general appearance of the surrounding country,
which is elsewhere almost destitute of timber. In the inner court,
besides the keep, is a suite of apartments apparently of later date
than the rest of the castle, extending over the cavern called the
Wogan, or Hogan, by corruption of the Welsh word Ogov, signifying"a
cave:" this subterraneous chamber is seventy-five feet in length
and fifty-nine feet wide, and communicates with the upper part of
the castle by a staircase, and with the harbour below by a
sally-port. The rock on which the castle is built is forty feet
high, and is almost insulated by the two branches of the estuary
into which it projects, and which is navigable to the town: under
the south-eastern bastion there is a natural opening in it, of
unknown extent. The great solidity of the walls, and its commanding
situation, must have rendered this fortress impregnable against any
hostile attempt and its ponderous towers, with the northern suite
of state apartments rising above the embattled walls, and part of
the platform and parapet, which are still remaining, give its
present ruins an air of venerable grandeur; and the ivy and other
parasitical plants with which they are overspread contribute to
heighten the picturesque beauty of their appearance. Leland says he
was shown an apartment in one of the gateway towers, in which he
was informed Henry VII. was born; but other writers refer that
circumstance to a room in the inner court of the castle. Pembroke
castle is now the property of the crown, and is held, under lease
granted in the reign of James ll., by Pryse Pryse, of Gogerthan,
Esq. This place gives the title of earl to the noble family of
Herbert. The different parishes of Pembroke, though
ecclesiastically united, continue separate for all civil purposes;
the average annual expenditure for the support of the poor in the
two forming the ancient borough amounts to £1284. 11, of
which sum, £854. 2. is assessed on the parish of St. Mary,
and £430. 9. on that of St. Michael.
Gareth Hicks, 9 Jan 2000
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