Pembrokeshire
- Eleanor Conlon
- Nov 17
- 9 min read
Where is Pembrokeshire?
In our episode about the historic Welsh county of Pembrokeshire, we talked about lots of interesting places and things, so here are some pictures and links if you'd like to find out more.
St Govan's Head
St Govan's Chapel is a chapel located at St Govan's Head, Pembrokeshire in south west Wales.
Built into the side of a limestone cliff, the building measures 20 by 12 feet (6.1 m × 3.7 m) with walls constructed from limestone, and consists of two chambers, one in the front and one in the back. The majority of the chapel was built in the thirteenth century, although parts of it may date back further to the sixth century when Saint Govan, a monk, moved into a cave located on the site of the chapel.
One legend suggests that Saint Govan is buried underneath the chapel's altar, located at the east end of the building.The entrance to the building is via a doorway on the north side, low stone benches run along the north and south walls and an empty bell-cote is located at the west end. The slate roof is suspected to be a modern addition compared to the rest of the building.
The building is accessible from the clifftop by climbing down a set of 52 steps,although tourist organisations propagate the legend that when counted, the number of steps differs between going down and going back up
Puffin Colonies
The Atlantic Puffin is arguably the most famous of Pembrokeshire’s seabirds, with the islands of Skomer and Skokholm forming the largest colony in Southern Britain. Skomer island alone recorded over 41,000 Puffins in 2024!
The Puffin is a member of the Auk family. They are immediately recognisable with their colourful beaks, and bright orange feet. They are often compared to penguins, and some have been known to call them ‘sea parrots’ or ‘clowns of the sea’.
The beak is only brightly coloured in breeding season for use in display, after this they are moulted leaving their winter bill which is relatively small, and blackish in colour.
Puffins live most of their lives at sea, resting on the waves when not swimming. They are excellent swimmers, using their short wings to stroke underwater with a flying motion. They steer with rudder-like webbed feet and are capable of diving to depths of 200 feet, though they usually stay underwater for only 20 or 30 seconds. Puffins typically hunt small fish like sprat and sand eels.
Trellwyn Fach
Rainforests used to cover much of the west coast of Britain, though were destroyed over hundreds of years and only fragments remain.
Rainforest restoration forms part of a wider programme of nature-based projects funded by Aviva to remove carbon from the atmosphere and help wildlife recover. Communities in Pembrokeshire will be closely involved in the project, with ambitions to provide volunteering, educational and employment opportunities, as well as improved access to nature.
The project at Trellwyn Fach is part The Wildlife Trusts’ Atlantic rainforest recovery programme, made possible through thanks to share of £38 million donation from Aviva.The Aviva funded programme will see temperate rainforests restored in areas where they used to grow along the damper, western climes of the British Isles. The first place in Pembrokeshire is Trellwyn Fach. Other rainforest restoration projects have been announced in Devon, North Wales and the Isle of Man.
Tŷ Canol Wood
Tŷ Canol Woods are an ancient woodland in the Tŷ Canol National Nature Reserve which lies south of the village of Felindre Farchog, Pembrokeshire, Wales, between the Preseli Mountains and the north Pembrokeshire coast. The site is designated as an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), NNR (National Nature Reserve) and SAC (Special Area of Conservation).
After the glaciers made their final retreat from Wales around 11,500 years ago, it took time to transform the barren landscape into a lush woodland. But gradually Arctic plants were joined by shrubs, then progressively birch, Scots pine, oak, alder and hazel trees colonised. By around 6,000 years ago, an extensive deciduous woodland may have covered even the uplands of Wales. 1,000 years later the woodlands started to diminish in size and number thanks to natural and human influences.
With trees over 800 years old, Tŷ Canol is one of the few remaining ancient woodlands in Wales. The site is important not only for its ancient oaks, but also for the many rocky outcrops. Both trees and rocks are covered with mosses and nearly 400 species of lichen, many of which are rare.
Biofluorescence, seen under UV light under the dark sky, is a feature that has led the wood to be described as "...one of the most magical and special woodlands in the UK."
Preseli Mountains
The Preseli Mountains, or Preseli Hills, whichever you prefer, rise out of the landscape to 536m in the northern half of Pembrokeshire and are in complete contrast to the relative lowlands of the south. The landscape is wild moorland, heath and grassland and is home to a wide range of plants and invertebrates some of them quite rare.
Dotted across the hills are prehistoric remains, burial cairns dating back to the bronze age and Iron Age hill forts. The fantastic hilltop of Foel Drygarn is a real must see. The Bronze Age remains of stone ramparts, banks and ditches circle the crest adding to the surrounding landscape of natural cliffs and crags.
St David's Cathedral
St Davids Cathedral (Welsh: Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi) is a Church in Wales cathedral situated in St Davids, Britain's smallest city, in the county of Pembrokeshire, near the most westerly point of Wales.
A monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in 589. Between 645 and 1097, the community was attacked many times by raiders, including the Vikings; however it was of such note as both a religious and an intellectual centre that King Alfred summoned help from the monastic community at St Davids in rebuilding the intellectual life of the Kingdom of Wessex. Many of the bishops were murdered by raiders and marauders, including Bishop Moregenau in 999 and Bishop Abraham in 1080. The stone that marked his grave, known as the "Abraham Stone", is intricately carved with early Celtic symbols and is now on permanent display within the Cathedral Exhibition at Porth-y-Tŵr.
In 1081, William the Conqueror visited St Davids to pray, and thus recognised it as a holy and respected place. In 1089, the shrine of David was vandalised and stripped of its precious metals. In 1090, the Welsh scholar Rhigyfarch wrote his Latin Life of David, highlighting David's sanctity, thus beginning the almost cult-like status he achieved.
In 1115, with the area under Norman control, King Henry I of England appointed Bishop Bernard as Bishop of St Davids. He began to improve life within the community, and commenced construction of a new cathedral. In 1123, Pope Calixtus II granted Bishop Bernard's request to bestow a papal privilege upon St Davids, making it a centre of pilgrimage for the Western world; the Pope decreed that "Two pilgrimages to St Davids is equal to one to Rome, and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem".The new cathedral was quickly constructed and Bishop Bernard consecrated it in 1131.
The Smalls Lighthouse
Smalls Lighthouse is a lighthouse that stands on the largest of a group of wave-washed basalt and dolerite rocks known as The Smalls approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Marloes Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and 8 miles (13 km) west of Grassholm.
It was erected in 1861 by engineer James Douglass to replace a previous lighthouse which had been erected in 1776 on the same rock. It is the most remote lighthouse operated by Trinity House
Pembroke Castle
Pembroke Castle has a long and fascinating history, for it was around 1093 that Arnulf de Montgomery built the small inner bailey standing at the end of the promontory. Only a few years later the castle withstood a long siege by the Welsh, although its defenders were near starvation.
The late 12th century keep is both an outstanding feature and architectural novelty, for it has a massive cylindrical tower with an unusual stone dome. The views from the top of the dome are tremendous with the castle's natural defensive position on a rocky promontory overlooking Milford Haven is immediately apparent. The main room on the second floor of the Keep has two windows embellished externally by dog tooth moulding and a carved head.
All the rooms are circular and the keep is nearly 80 ft high. It was the work of William Marshall, son in law of Strongbow, conqueror of Ireland and the man responsible for the wholesale reconstruction of the castle in stone in the late 12th/early 13th centuries. Another absorbing feature of the castle is the gatehouse, which had a complex barbican and no fewer than three portcullises.
Carew Castle
At the end of the 11th century, the Normans extended their conquest of England into Wales and Pembroke Castle became the centre of Norman rule in South Pembrokeshire.
Gerald de Windsor was constable of the Castle on behalf of Henry I when he decided to build his own fortification on the Carew River, some ten miles up the tidal waterway from Pembroke.
This was not the first settlement on the site, however. Excavation has revealed an Iron Age settlement. A substantial five-ditched promontory fort has been unearthed, together with large quantities of Roman pottery. A Dark Age settlement or fort may also have existed on the site.
Manorbier Castle
The Norman knight Odo de Barri was granted the lands of Manorbier, Penally and Begelly in gratitude for his military help in conquering Pembrokeshire after 1093.
Two of his sons acquired larger estates in Ireland, which became the main power base of the de Barris, known as the Barris of Olethan. His fourth son was Gerald de Barri, known commonly as Gerald of Wales (the great twelfth century scholar) who was born at the castle. He is renowned today for his chronicles and descriptions of life in his time.
Llawhaden Castle
It’s worth taking the short detour off the busy A40 as you drive through Pembrokeshire to visit this little-known castle. Occupying a commanding location amongst serene forest and rolling farmland, Llawhaden’s unconventional mix of military and decorative features reveal its main purpose in life: that of a fortified mansion more than out-and-out castle, designed as a residence for the wealthy bishops of St Davids who liked their home comforts.
The site had seen much active service before being reconstructed along its present lines in the 14th century by Bishop David Martin. There were private apartments, a courtyard, lodgings for guests and quarters for a permanent garrison. Most impressive of all is the front of the gatehouse, added in the later 14th century, still standing to its full height.
Pembrokeshire Iron Age Chariot Burial
It was a chance find after the weather forced Mr Smith's to switch to another field.
When an expert told him it was a Celtic harness decoration and not a medieval brooch, he realised there might be more.
He thought immediately that the artefacts pointed to the site of a traditional burial, usually reserved for high-ranking tribe members who would be interred complete with their chariot, horses, tack and weapons.
He helped archaeologists carry out an initial dig which revealed more parts. The undisclosed site was then covered up again and scheduled as an ancient monument. The finds were identified and dated to probably AD 25-75 by curators and museum archaeologists at National Museum Wales by comparing them with others already known across Britain.
Red glass was made and allowed to cool into shaped recesses in the bronze surfaces, creating distinctive and vibrant flowing designs.
Ffynone Falls
Annwn is mentioned in the Mabinogion, the renowned collection of ancient Welsh tales. This “Otherworld” was not to be confused with an Underworld (where, as in Greek and Roman mythology, people went when they died). It was more like a parallel universe, existing alongside our familiar world but invisible to us.
There is said to be a portal into Annwn in north Pembrokeshire, via the Ffynone Falls, a stunning waterdrop on the Dulas river, hidden away in woodland near Newchapel, to the east of Boncath.
The Bleeding Yew of Nevern
These ancient yew trees (Taxus Baccata) are believed to be some 700 years old and one of these (the second on the right as you pass the main entrance gate – you will need to view it on the rear side) is known as the Bleeding Yew. It is not unusual for a tree to produce sap where it may have been damaged but generally such sap dries up quite quickly.
Nobody seems to be able to explain the phenomenon of this yew nor does anyone seem to know why this is happening. But it has been “bleeding” for as long as anyone can remember with a blood-red sap, with a consistency similar to blood, which can be particularly spectacular in certain lights.
As one might expect there are several legends and myths explaining why the Nevern yew tree bleeds. Indeed you could probably write a book on these alone but, as Christians, possibly the most endearing one is that it is bleeding in sympathy with Jesus as he was crucified on the cross. None of this satisfactorily explains it – unless of course it is true and is a sign of a modern day miracle!
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