Hide

BOSHERSTON

hide
Hide

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

In 1868, the parish of Bosherston contained the following places:

"BOSHERSTON, a parish in the hundred of Castlemartin, in the county of Pembroke, South Wales, 6 miles to the S. of Pembroke, its post town. It is situated on the north coast of the Bristol Channel. The district consists partly of downs, and is remarkable for the numerous caverns of singular form which penetrate the sea cliffs. The most considerable of those caverns is called Bosherston Meer, which runs inland a considerable distance; and in a heavy storm of wind from the south, large volumes of water rush through a hole in the limestone cliff, and rise to the height of 70 or 80 feet, accompanied with noise equal to the report of the heaviest cannon. In a wild romantic spot near Bosherston Meer is the hermitage of St. Govan: a small chapel approached by steps, and a cell cut in the rock. Below is a well, also bearing the saint's name, and still regarded with some degree of traditional reverence. A neighbouring promontory is called St. Govan's Head. St. Govan is said to be identical with Sir Gawaine, one of the heroes of the Arthurian romances, and nephew of the "flower of kings." The living is a rectory in the diocese of St. David's, and in the patronage of Earl Cawdor. The church is dedicated to St. Michael."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018