Nevern, Pembrokeshire

Historical Description

Nevern, a village and a parish in Pembrokeshire. The village stands on the rivulet Nevern, in a picturesque reach of deep wooded vale, 2 miles ENE of Newport, and 8 NW of Crymmych Arms station on the Whitland and Cardigan section of the G.W.R. It was once a borough, governed by a portreeve and burgesses. Post town, Newport. The parish includes Penllyn, Cilgwyn, and Henllys. Acreage, 14,712 of land and 188 of water (including 156 of foreshore); population, 1209. There is a parish council consisting of thirteen members. Llanhyfer Castle stood on an eminence above the village; is said to have been the chief palace of the princes of Dyfed; was probably the residence of Martin de Tours before he married the daughter of Rhys ap Grufydd; was a square structure with a bastion at each angle; towered aloft on one side from the rim of a rocky ravine, and was defended on the other sides by a deep fosse excavated in the solid rock; it has left some traces. A short distance from the site of the castle on the roadside there is a cross called Pilgrim's Cross, shaped in the rock, with knee-marks underneath of the pilgrims who halted here on their way to the shrine of St David at St David's Cathedral. A mansion of the time of Henry VII. was the seat of Sir James ap Owain, passed to occupants of other families, and is now a farmhouse. Llwyngwair is a chief residence. A bridge, called Pont Baldwyn, crosses the Nevem rivulet, and is said to have been the first or one of the earliest places at which Archbishop Baldwin and Giraldus preached the crusades. Pentre-evan, about 1½ mile from the village, is a remarkably large crom-lech; has a capstone measuring 18 feet by 9; is so high that six persons on horseback can be sheltered under it; and is surrounded by a rude Druidical circle 150 feet in circumference. Another cromlech, with a furrow in the capstone, is at Llech-y-Drybedd. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelry of Cilgwyn, in the diocese of St David's; gross value, £194 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is Norman, with a tower, and contains a coffin-lid with an early Greek cross. The churchyard is planted with yew trees, and contains a very fine cross of the 9th century, 2 feet broad, 1½ foot thick, 13 feet high, circular at the top, and carved on all sides with knot-work. There are Baptist, Calvinistic Methodist, and Congregational chapels.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

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.

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers online:

• South Wales Daily News
• The Cardiff Times
• Western Mail