Pembroke
 Castles |  Royal Britain |
Pembroke is a small, historic town with well preserved medieval walls. It is dominated but one of the largest and best preserved Norman castles in Britain. Pembroke Castle has the advantage of natural defences and as such is a ready made defensive site, constructed as it is on a rocky headland with water surrounding it on three sides. These natural advantages, together with the Castle's walls over 16 feet (5 meters) thick in places, made the whole ensemble virtually impregnable.
Pembroke town is located in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and is part of a region sometimes referred to as ‘Little England beyond Wales'. This is because the English-speaking people who settled in the area after the Norman Conquest gave their towns English names and built fortifications to cut off the region from Welsh-speaking Wales. Nearby is the quirky Museum of the Home, with its fascinating collection of 3000 household utensils and appliances, which covers three centuries. Not too far away is the Sea Historic Gallery with its sea aquarium and a few miles from the town is the medieval world of walled gardens, orchards and fishponds at Bishop's Palace, Lamphey.
There are three fine old churches in Pembroke, the most ancient being Monkton Priory Church founded for the Benedictine order in 1098 by Arnulf de Montgomery. The priory was given to St Albans in 1473. The priory church, with its long narrow barrel-vaulted nave and impressively high monastic chancel went through alterations in the 14 th century and eventually fell into ruin. It so remained for many years and was finally restored between 1878-87. Interestingly, the priory incorporates a ‘lepers squint' through which sick monks could watch the service from outside. There is also an ancient holy-water stoup.
St Mary's Church, built in the 13 th and 14 th centuries, retains much original work, including its massive tower and some excellent Early English mouldings. The third church, St Michael's, also founded in the 13 th century, preserves a splendid vaulted roof in the north vestry.
There is evidence of pre-historic occupation of teh area demonstrated by the standing stones and burial mounds, but it wasn't until the late 11 th century, after the Norman Conquest of 1066, that recognisable development was recorded in Pembroke. In 1109 Gilbert Strongbow, the Earl of Pembroke, built a castle on the site and became its commander. The present fortress, with its massive curtain wall containing seven bastion towers, was constructed by the Normans between 1190 and 1245, replacing Strongbow's earlier castle but employing the same site. The Great Keep of Pembroke Castle is its most ancient part. It is a huge building nearly 80 feet (10 meters) high with walls 19 feet (6 meters) thick at the base. It is an impressive sight and somewhat unusual as it both circular and roofed. Below the north wall is the ‘Wogan', an enormous cavern entered from the northern hall inside the castle and opening onto the river. It was probably used for taking in stores. Pembroke Castle was the birthplace of Harri Tudor in 1457, better known as Henry Tudor, a Welshman who defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the final batlle in the drawn out Wars of the Roses. He thus became Henry VII, the founder of the Tudor dynasty. During the British Civil War of 1642/9, Pembroke, like Tenby Castle, was attacked by both sides during that bitter conflict. The town's mayor changed sides from Cromwell to the Royalists resulting in a Parliamentarian onslaught in 1648, during which their cannonfire damaged the castle. After the Civil War the fortunes of both castle and town suffered a lengthy period of decline. This continued until 1814 when the Royal Naval Dockyard was removed from Milford Haven to Pembroke Dock, two miles north-west of the town which brought prosperity back to Pembroke which lasted throughout the 19th century.
Pembroke Dock has broad streets, with some imposing Victorian houses. More than 250 warships, and three royal yachts for Queen Victoria, have been built at Pembroke Dock. Many seafaring ‘firsts' are claimed by the town - the first Royal Yacht (Victoria and Albert), the first steam man-of-war (HMS Tartar) and the first iron-clad warship (Warrior) launched in 1860. Downstream, there are large petro-chemical plants and oil terminals built to take advantage of the Milford Haven deepwater channels that can accommodate today's giant supertankers. The Milford Haven waterway was regarded by Admiral Lord Nelson as one of the world's finest and safest natural harbours.
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