Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/190

Rh PEMBROKE. 178 PEMBROKESHIRE. by -water at high tides on three sides. In the reign of Henry I. the fortress came into the hands of Gilbert Strongbow, who rehuilt the greater part of the fortifi- cations, and added new works. Ii> 1648 it was taken after a determined and lengthened resistance by Crom- well through the treachery of one of the garrison. The three Royalist commanders, Colonels Laugharne, Powell, and Poyer, on the surrender of the castle, were con- demned to draw lots, one of which was left blank. The fatal lot fell to Colonel Poyer, who was shot by order of Cromwell. The descendants of this gallant, but unfor- tunate, officer are still living in the county. The castle is now to a great extent in ruins, which are well pre- served. They hear in every part evident marks of the siege and battering which they underwent in the Great Rebellion. The keep is still standing entire, of a circular form, about 75 feet high, and 163 feet in circumference at the base, and the walls are 14 feet thick. A dilapi- dated winding staircase in the thickness of the wall still leads by a perilous ascent to the summit, from whence a varied and extensive prospect is gained over the ad- joining country. A small room near the chapel is still pointed out as the chamber where Henry Tudor, afterwards Henry VII., was horn. Underneath the keep is a spacious cavern called the AVogan, formerly connected with the interior of tho castle hy a wooden staircase. It has a large arched exit on the shore of the creek which runs up from the main channel of Milford Haven, by which the garrison used to receive supplies by water. This cave is said to be connected by a sub- terranean passage with Tenby Castle, 10 miles distant, but no one has hitherto explored it. The town was first chartered by Strongbow, and under the Reform P>ill returns one member to the imperial parliament with the contributory boroughs of Milford, Tenby, and AVis- ton. The population of the municipal borough in 1851 was 10,107, which had increased in 1861 to 15,077, and the number of inhabited houses was 2,144, while the parliamentary borough in 1861 contained 21,773 inhabi- tants. It is divided under tho Municipal Act into two wards, and governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors with the stylo of " mayor, bailiffs, and bur- gesses of the town and borough of Pembroke." The town stands on very hilly and irregular ground, and is nearly surrounded by two branches of a creek, which, run up about 3 miles from Milford Haven. It consists chiefly of one long, narrow, and irregularly-built street, running nearly E. and AV., ascending gradually towards the castle at the AV. end. It is badly paved, and very insufficiently lighted with gas. The only public building is the townhall, built over the entrance to the market, in which county courts, &c., are held. There is very little trade of any kind, but small vessels laden with anthracite coal can come up at spring tides to a small quay below the castle on the K. side. The living is a vie.* in the dice, of St. David's, val. 500. There are three churches, dedi- cated to SS. Michael, Mary, and Nicholas. St. Michael's, situated in the E. end of the town, an ancient building in the Norman style, of a cruciform shape, with a tower, has lately been rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in a very inferior style. St. Mary's, in the centre of the town, is of the pointed order, with a large square tower. St. Nicholas, at the AV. end, was given in 1098 by Arnulph de Montgomery to St. Martin's Abbey at Sayes in Normandy, and thus became the priory church of Jlonkton Priory. It was originally of great extent, formed of an admixture of the Saxon and Pointed orders. The nave has a vaulted stone roof. The pointed arch which formerly led to the chancel now forms the back of the altar. The chancel is in a very dilapidated state, without a roof, and desecrated by being used as a fives court by the inhabitants of Monkton. There are re- mains of five large stone windows, a canopied recess, and two sedilia. Parallel to this, on the N. side, is a build- ing of similar dimensions, also in ruins. The prior's mansion, a little to the AV. of the church, now converted into a farmhouse, is ascended by stone steps, at the foot of which are remains of very singular pillars. Two chapels were appended to this priory, that dedicated to Deiniol has a tower; the other, named Crag-Muhaern, is in ruins. There are National and Sunday schools, and a new British school. There are places of worship for AVesleyans and New Connexion Methodists, Indepen- dents and Baptists. Pembroke gives title of earl to the Herbert family. Saturday is market day. Fairs are held on the 12th April, 4th May, Trinity Monday, 10th July, 10th October, and 30th November. PEMBROKE DOCK. See PATEU, co. Pembroke. PEMBROKE HALL, an ext. par. lib. in the co. of Cambridge. See CAMBUIDGE UNIVERSITY. PEMBROKESHIRE, a maritime co., forming the ex- treme AV. of South AVales, is bounded on the N.E. by the river Teifi and Cardiganshire, on the E. by Car- marthenshire, on the S. hy the Bristol Channel, on the AV. by St. George's Channel, and on the N. by Car- digan Bay. It lies between 51 36' and 52" 7' N. lati- tude, and 4 30' and 5 20' AV. longitude. The length from Strumble Head on the N. coast to St. Gowan's Head on the S. is about 30 miles ; while in breadth, from St. Anne's Head to Amroth, the distance is about 25 miles; and its area comprises 401,691 statute acres. It is about 145 miles in circuit, 100 of which are coast. The population of Pembrokeshire, according to the census of 1861 is 96,093, having increased 1,953 since the census of 1851, when it was 94,140. The number of inhabited houses was 18,832, and of uninhabited 1,172. At the time of the Roman invasion, Pembrokeshire formed part of tho territory of the Itemetie, or Dyfed, and was called Pen-fro, or Corner-land, by the Welsh. It was included by the Romans in the division Britannica Secwida. It was subject to ravages by the Danes at the close of the 10th century, who have left several traces of their occu- pation of this part of South Wales in the numerous Danish raths and trenches along the whole of the coast- line. Pembrokeshire was subdued by the Normans under Martin de Tours in 1069, and again in the reign of Henry I., according to the famous AVelsh historian, Giraldus Cambrensis, by Arnulf de Montgomery, who built the first castle of Pembroke of stakes and turf. On the same authority we also learn that a colony of Flemings were invited over by Henry I., who, " being fond of giving to others what he had no right to be- stow," settled them in the peninsula of land AV. of Pem- broke, now known as the hundred of Castlemartin ; their descendants still retain much of their nationality, and this district is hence still termed " Little England be- yond AVales." This county afterwards came into the hands of Strongbow, and was subsequently possessed by the Clares, Marshalls, Valences, Hastings, and Herberts. Richard II. landed at Milford on his return from Ire- land in 1399 ; and Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., disembarked at Dale, near the entrance to Milford Haven, in 1485, and marched thence towards Shrewsbury. Pembrokeshire, during the Great Rebellion, was the scene of many hotly contested struggles between the Royalist and Parlia- mentarian forces in various parts of the shire. The surface is generally undulating ; and from Cardigan Bay in the N., to the Bristol Channel in the S., is a constant succession of small hills and valleys, running from E. to W., and presenting exactly the appearance of lofty waves suddenly solidified. Tho climate is mild, and almost tropical in the S. ; but in the northern parts cold and moist. Storms of lightning and thunder very rarely break over the county ; but as they approach from the Atlantic, they divide into two portions, one of which goes up the Bristol, and the other the Irish Channel. The S.W. winds blow with such violence here during the greater portion of the year, that no trees can stand the violence of the blast, and conse- quently there is an almost total absence of timber, except in sheltered situations ; and the want of it gives a naked, barren appearance to many parts where the soil is extremely good. The soils are various, princi- pally a dark grey loam, improved by lime and shell sand. In the S. district the Old Red sandstone and lime- stone formations form a soil, producing excellent crops ; the rocky country from St. David's to Fishguard is well