The
Hebrew
Pictures:
British Isles
The
Hebrew
Pictures:
British Isles
Pembrokeshire
Contents:
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<<Gors Fawr the only stone circle in Pembrokeshire, its sixteen boulders
forming an egg-shaped ring, standing on a purple moor within sight of the source
of the famous bluestones. It is these Presely bluestones that are to be found
at Stonehenge. Most common of the megalithic monuments in Pembrokeshire are
the standing stones. They appear to have formed part of complex Bronze Age ritual
practices that are not yet understood. They are sometimes to be seen in pairs,
as at Cerrig Meibion Arthur, and at Parc-y-meirw there is a rare alignment of
eight stones, now mostly concealed in hedgebanks.>>
The "Celts" arrived in ca. 500 BCE.
<<Their fortified settlements are scattered all over Pembrokeshire. Tall
promontories that thrust out into the sea have defensive banks built across
the neck to protect them from landward. The promontory fort on St. David's Head
has the formidable Warriors' Dyke for its defence. The Deer Park is the largest
promontory fort in Wales. Inland there are many hill-top settlements enclosed
by ramparts and among them three great hill-forts: Moel Drygarn, Carn Ingli
and Garn Fawr, each with the visible remains of hut platforms and enclosures
that provided refuge for women, children and stock in the event of enemy attack.
Traces of Iron Age fields are to be seen on the slopes above Porth Melgan and
on Skomer Island, which has one of the best preserved ancient field systems
in Wales. The Celts brought with them a new culture and a language that survives,
in one of its derivative forms, as the Welsh language. The Roman legions kept
clear of Pembrokeshire. They came as far as Carmarthen, which became a defended
Roman settlement.<br>
<<Late in the fourth century an Irish tribe, the Deisi, from Co. Meath
in Ireland, migrated to Pembrokeshire under their leader, Eochaid Allmuir, and
established a royal dynasty that was to rule in south-west Wales for some five
centuries. They provided the first written records in the form of inscribed
stones bearing the names of those who were considered worthy of commemoration.
The writing was in Latin or in ogham, an Irish alphabet designed for ease of
cutting on the edge of a stone pillar. ...Pembrokeshire lay on the route of
the Celtic saints, as the early missionaries were known, who travelled between
Ireland and Rome or Jerusalem. It also had its own saint, David, born at St.
David's to St Non, who is remembered by a chapel and a well above St Non's Bay...
>>
<<Bands of Norsemen marauded the Pembrokeshire coasts from the middle
of the ninth century onward ...They left only their names on the offshore islands
and on a few coastal settlements, like Angle and Goultrop and Dale in the south,
and Fishguard in the north. The Normans lost no time in invading south Wales
once its powerful prince, Rhys ap Tewdwr, was killed in 1093. Roger de Montgomery,
Earl of Shrewsbury, and his son, Arnulf, swept across Wales to Pembroke. Arnulf
later joined his brother,
Robert, in revolt against the king, Henry I, and was banished, and Pembroke
became a royal lordship with Gerald de Windsor as its custodian.
<<In north Pembrokeshire Robert FitzMartin occupied the Welsh stronghold
at Nevern and established a Norman lordship in the hundred of Cemais...
<<Nowhere in Wales was the Anglo-Norman grip stronger than in south Pembrokeshire.
A line of powerful castles reaching from Roch to Tenby was Supported by a string
of lesser fortresses along the foothills of the Presely Hills. In addition,
there were the great castles of Carew, Manorbier and Pembroke. The Normans did
not come alone; they brought large numbers of English followers whose anglicising
influence was such that the southern part of Pembrokeshire became known a `Little
England beyond Wales'. There was also an infusion of Flemings, sent hy Henry
I.
<<The Welsh harassed the Anglo-Normans from the outset, and regained their
territories except for Pembroke Castle. In 1096 they laid siege to the castle
but they were hoodwinked by Gerald de Windsor who, although he had hardly any
provisions left, threw his last few flitches of bacon over the palisade at the
besiegers to make them believe that he was well supplied. The Welsh withdrew
but only to fight and fight again, against overwhelming odds. Rhys ap Gruffydd
recovered south Pembrokeshire in 1189, and Llywelyn the Great came in 1215,
and Llywelyn the Last in 1277 overran the Norman lordships, but Pembroke was
never taken. ...On 28 January 1457, at Pembroke Castle, the thirteen year old
Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrian heiress to the throne, gave birth to a son, Henry Tudor.
In 1471, young Henry had
to flee from the Yorkists with his uncle Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke: they
sailed from Tenby and landed in Brittany and another fourteen years were to
pass before he returned. On Sunday evening, 7 August 1485, just before sundown
Henry landed at Mill Bay on the Dale peninsula, and, early next morning, marched
through Haverfordwest and set off on the long journey to Bosworth Field where
he defeated Richard III and became King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.
...the diocese of St. David's led the way in promoting Protestantism, at the
same time acting as a buffer against
the invasion of Popish influences from Ireland....Among other prominent Pembrokeshire
Elizahethans were Thomas Phaer, who translated Virgil's Aeneid and made medical
science intelligible in English, and Rohert Recorde of Tenby, who is claimed
to have introduced the equal sign in mathematics.
<<George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, came to Pembroke
and Haverfordwest in 1657 and, before long. there were Quaker meetings held
at Redstone, near Narberth, Puncheston, St, David's, Newport, Jameston and Haverfordwest.
By 1661 Lewis David of Llanddewi Velfrey and others were imprisoned for their
beliefs and their persecution continued until they emigrated to Pennsylvania
where David had purchased 3,000 acres of land from William Penn. There they
settled in townships which they named Haverford and Narberth.<br>
<<The Methodist Revival made an early impact on the county, partly due
to the influence of Griffith Jones, rector of Llanddowror, who introduced his
`Circulating Schools' to provide education for young and old, and partly through
the diligence of his curate, Howel Davies, `the Apostle of Pembrokeshire'...
North Pembrokeshire was for the king when the Civil War broke out in 1642, whereas
the south supported Parliament.
...Agriculture has always been the main industry in Pembrokeshire. In addition
to the traditional mixed farming, it has specialised, in the last half century,
in early potatoes turkey breeding and vegetables, notably cauliflower and broccoli,
have been grown on a limited scale. There have been several attempts at growing
flowers, particularly daffodils, and one grower, at least, is exporting bulbs
to Holland. The fishing industry brought prosperity to the town of Milford in
the early part of this century, and made it one of the leading fishing ports
in the kingdom. ..
By the end of the eighteenth century, Pembrokeshire had been discovered as a
place of resort for holidays.
