Manorbier, Pembrokeshire
Historical Description
Manorbier (formerly written Manerbeyr or Manorbere),, a village and a parish in Pembrokeshire. The village stands-on the coast, 4½ miles SW of Tenby, and 5 ESE of Pembroke, and has a station on the Pembroke and Tenby railway, and a post and money order office (R.S.O.); telegraph office at the railway station. The parish contains also the hamlets of Jameston and Newton, and part of Lyd-step. Acreage, 3623; population, 587. Manorbier Castle was built in the time of Henry I. by William de Barri, ancestor of Giraldus Cambrensis; appears to have been constructed in the manner more of a convenient mansion than of a feudal fortress; is now an extensive rum, little altered from its original condition, except by the erosions of time; includes moat, entrance gateway, parts of surrounding ramparts, and a lofty loop-holed embattled wall; and stands on a commanding site, overlooking a reach of coast. A portion of the castle has been restored, and is now used as a private residence. Giraldus Cambrensis was bom here, and has left in his " Itinerary " a glowing description of the fish-ponds, the vineyards, the hazel-groves, and other attractions of his native place, all now nearly or quite extinct. The coast, however, is picturesque, and shows among other features a cromlech on cliffs, and two or three curious fissures about 100' feet deep, in old red sandstone rock. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St David's; net value, £198 with residence. Patron, Christ's College. Cambridge. The church is a peculiarly irregular ancient structure; has a N tower in the-angle of transept and chancel; comprises remarkably formed S aisle, transept, and nave-vaults; shows very curious interior arches, rising from square piers without capital or impost; contains a monument of the De Barris; and has been restored.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Registration district | Pembroke | 1837 - 1974 |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Pembrokeshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Manorbier are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online: