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Carew or Carey, Pembrokeshire

Historical Description

Carew or Carey, a village and a parish in Pembrokeshire. The village stands on a creek of Milford Haven, 4 miles ENE of Pembroke. In the village is a very ancient and beautiful cross, probably Saxon or Danish, of a single shaft 14 feet high, covered with Runic carvings. The parish comprises 5095 acres of land and 499 of water and foreshore, and its post town is Pembroke. Population, 720. The manor belonged to the princes of South Wales, was given as a dowry with Nesta, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, to Gerald de Windsor, passed to Sir Rhys ap Thomas, gave entertainment to the Earl of Richmond on his way to Bosworth Field, was soon afterwards the scene of a great tournament, the first show of its kind in Wales, and belongs now to the Hon. Robert Cranmer Trollope of Crowcombe, Somerset. A fortress stood here in the times of the Welsh princes, additions were made in the Edwardian period, and a magnificent mansion was added to this in the time of Henry VII. Some part of the ancient fortress seems still to exist in a shattered, ivy-clad barbican, and the shell of the added mansion still stands, and is one of the finest ruins in Wales. The architecture is rich Late Perpendicular, the windows are large, square, and lantern-like, and the great hall has a lofty porch, and measures 104 feet by 20. The chapel, the only roofed portion remaining, appears to date from the reign of Edward II. The castle was garrisoned for Charles I. in the Civil War, but was taken in 1644, and afterwards dismantled. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St David's; net value, £197 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of St David's. It is held in plurality with Redberth or Rhydberth, formerly a hamlet of Carew, but now a distinct parish; net value, £72, also in the patronage of the Bishop of St David's. The church belongs to the Decorated period, with good Perpendicular tower, and contains monuments of the Carews and others.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Pembrokeshire is available to browse.


Newspapers and Periodicals

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