ANGLE - from Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Wales (1844)

ANGLE; or NANGLE, a parish, in the hundred of CASTLEMARTIN, union and county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 10 miles (W.) from Pembroke; containing 388 inhabitants. This place is situated at the south- western extremity of the county, and in an angle of Milford haven, affording excellent anchorage for small vessels; from which circumstance it probably obtained its name: it is traversed by the road running from Pembroke to Lands-end. The parish is bounded on the north by Milford haven and Angle bay, on the south and south-west by the Bristol channel, and on the east and south-east by the parishes of Castlemartin and Rhôscrowther: it comprises by computation about 2100 acres, of which 934 are arable, 788 pasture, 160 sandy burrows, 20 wood, and 195 cliff, waste, &c.; the soil is generally of a sandy nature, and produces good crops of corn, hay, turnips and potatoes; the annual value of the parish is returned at £1659. Limestone of very excellent quality is found here in abundance, which, being susceptible of a fine polish, is formed into mantel-pieces; blocks are also occasionally sent for the works in Pembroke dock-yard, and some portions of it are wrought in various kinds of buildings: but the chief part of it is used by the farmers for manure. The surface in some parts is hilly, and the scenery, both local and distant, picturesque and interesting, the eminences commanding beautiful and extensive views, embracing Milford haven, Bristol channel, &c. There are several mansions in the parish of some consideration, the principal of which are, the Castle, an ancient castellated structure; Bonjiston, formerly the seat of Lord Lion, ancestor of the present Earl Cawdor; and a seat called the Hall, a neat mansion of modern erection: the sole landed proprietor, who is also lord of the manor is John Mirehouse, Esq. There is a good village, in which the chief part of the population resides. The female inhabitants are employed in plaiting straw for bonnets, hassocks, and matting; and, during the season, the men are occupied in dredging for oysters. The living consists of a sinecure rectory and a discharged vicarage the former rated in the king's books at £10.10., of the net annual value of £157, and in the patronage of the Crown; and the latter rated at £3.19.2., endowed with £600 royal bounty, and the gross annual value of which amounts to £80; patron, the Bishop of St.David's; one-fourth of the tithes is appropriated to the vicarage, and the remaining three-fourths to the rectory, which is held by the Rev. Frederic Neve. The church, which is dedicated to St Mary, measures 84 feet in length, including the chancels, and 21 feet in breadth, and consists of a nave and two aisles, the whole containing about 100 free sittings. There is a day school, commenced in 1821, in which are about 50 children, the expense of whose instruction is defrayed by the parents; also a National Sunday school, begun in 1827, in which are 60 children, taught gratuitously by the master of the day school. The ruins of a building, formerly belonging to a monastic order, are situated here, and near the entrance of the haven are the remains of an ancient building, called the Block-House, directly opposite a similar one in the parish of Dale, in the hundred of Rhôs; from its situation it appears to have been erected for the protection of the entrance, probably in the reign of Henry VIII., or Elizabeth; but from excellence of the masonry, some tourists have ascribed to it a Roman origin.

Gareth Hicks, 18 Dec 1999