Pembrokeshire Contents

MANORBIER

Parish based sketch map of the hundred

" MANORBEER (MAENOR-BYR), a parish in the hundred of CASTLEMARTIN, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 4 1/2 miles (W. S. W.) from Tenby, containing 582 inhabitants. . . The parish is situated on the small bay to which it gives name, in the Bristol channel, and within two miles to the south of the turnpike road leading from Tenby to Pembroke: it contains a moderate portion of good arable and pasture land in good cultivation, and a small tract of hilly and barren waste; and, with the exception of such as are employed in the limestone quarries, which are worked only to a small extent, the population is wholly engaged in agriculture. The stone obtained from these quarries is shipped in small vessels, and sent into Cardiganshire: at Lydstep haven vessels of one hundred and thirty tons' burden can ride in security. . . The sands on this part of the coast are fine, specially at Lydstep haven, where they are well adapted for sea-bathing; and the beauty of its situation, and its convenient distance from Tenby, render this a favourite excursion from that watering-place. Within the limits of the parish are two small villages, called Jamestown and Manorbeer Newton. . . The church, dedicated to St. James, is an ancient and spacious structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a lofty square embattled tower, and is in a rather dilapidated condition. . . There are places of worship for Calvinistic and Primitive Methodists. . . " [From A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1833).]

• Census
• Church History
• Church Records
• Court Records
• Description and Travel
• Genealogy
• History
• Land and Property
• Maps

Census

The 1851 census for this parish has been indexed by Dyfed Family History Society.

Census Returns for this parish have the following LDS Call Numbers:

• 1841 Census - 0464342
• 1851 Census - 0104233
• 1861 Census - 0543242
• 1871 Census - 0850852
• 1881 Census - 1342303
• 1891 Census - 6099637

Church History

Some church and chapel data from The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by   I.G Jones, & D. Williams. UWP,   Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

• Manobier (sic) Parish Church                   Henry Hughes, Minister
• Jamestown Primitive Methodist chapel               Erected in 1828       John Bittle, Chapel Steward, Jamestown
• Independent chapel, Newton              Erected in 1822       James Eddy, Minister
• Penuel    Particular Baptist                  Erected in 1850              William Freeman, Deacon; James Cook, Manager, Jamestown

Parish entry from The Welsh Church Year Book, 1929 (Cd by Archive CD Books).

• St James
• &
• Jamestown Mission Church
• Incumbent and Curates; P Rigby
• Rural Deanery of Castlemartin
• Acreage 3,623; Population 650

Davies, John Garfield. Manorbier Church and parish . Tenby : Five Arches Press, [1969] 16p

Church Records

Parish register: Christenings (1761-1993), Marriages (1755-1971), Burials (1761-1993) at Pem.RO

Facsimile copies C (1813-70) M (1755-1837) B (1813-87) at NLW

Copy ts PR M pre 1813 with index at NLW and Pem.RO

Bishops' Transcripts, covering the period (1685-6, 1799-1804, 1806-21, 1823-85) are at the National Library of Wales, and have been microfilmed by the LDS - Call Number: 0105187.

Nonconformist Chapels:

• Penuel, in Jameston  [Baptists, 1850]         SS06669893        Built 1850, renovated or rebuilt 1883   Still open 1998    Coflein        On Dyfed FHS
•  
• Newton , in Newton [Independents, 1822]. Records ; See the Tabernacle and Bethel                    On Dyfed FHS
  Rees, Thomas & John Thomas. Hanes Eglwysi Annibynnol Cymru (History of the Welsh Independent Churches), 4 volumes (published 1871+). Here is the entry from this book for this chapel (in Welsh ) -with translation by Maureen Saycell (Jan 2009)
•  
• Jameston , in Jameston [Primitive Methodists, 1828]. Records ; baptisms, 1847-1907, at Pem RO ; other types of records are also deposited at Pem RO including accounts, minute books etc.            On Dyfed FHS
•  
• Jameston Friends Meeting House (Quakers), Jameston                SS0598          Coflein

Dyfed FHS have published a series of indexes of baptisms, marriages and burials from Pembrokeshire hundreds for various periods.

Court Records

Walker, R. F. (Ronald F.) . The Manorbier court rolls, 1686-1698, and the Trefloyne rentals, 1711-1736 . National Library of Wales Journal 29 (1995), p. 39-62

Description and Travel

Places, villages, farms etc within Manorbier parish  as shown on the parish map on the CD of  Historic Parishes of England and Wales: an Electronic Map of Boundaries before 1850 with a Gazetteer and Metadata [computer file]. (Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.).  (Extracted by Barry Johnson)

• Manorbier (142); Baldwin's Moor, Beaver's Hill, Calvesland, Coomb, East Moor Cliff, Hill Fm.,Jameston, Lydstep, Lydstep Haven, Lydstep Point, Manorbier, Manorbier Bay, Manorbier Newton, Manorbier St., Moor Fms., Norchard, Old Castle Head, Park Fm., Presipe, Rock, Skrinkle, Skrinkle Haven, Slade, Sunny Hill, Swanlake Bay, West Moor Cliff

Transcript of complete entry in Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Wales of 1833.

Manorbier, Jameston, Lydstep and St Florence  -  a community page on  Manorbier.com

Manorbier - on Wikipedia

Manorbier Photo gallery - on Richard Crossen's site

Manorbier Historic Landscape Characterisation - a Dyfed Archaeological Trust  site

Genealogy

Pembrokeshire Families

Hughes, John.  A Problem Shared..... Dyfed FHS journal, Vol 7/5 Aug 2001. A genealogy problem relating to the Lewis and Hitchings  families of Manorbier, Penally, Cosheston, Caldey Island......

History

Manorbier War Memorial - on the Roll of Honour site

Manorbier Castle - a  Castles of Wales site. " ...located in Pembrokeshire ...., it rests in the lovely Welsh countryside described by that famous Welsh renaissance man, Giraldus Cambrensis as "the pleasantest spot in Wales". "

There are historical snippets about this parish on Not everyone knows this..

Vlitos, Roger. Manorbier Castle & Gerald of Wales .Llandeilo : Dragon Publishing Ltd, (1986?) 32p

Land and Property

Details of extant records on Archives Network Wales for the following;

• Picton Castle Estate Records     "Including ..... manorial records of the manors of Manorbier, Penally, etc., 1601-1851........."

 

Walker, R. F. (Ronald F.) .The manor of Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, in the early seventeenth century . National Library of Wales Journal 27 (1991), p. 131-74

Maps

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[Gareth Hicks: 6 June 2009]

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