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Dental Care Services, Dentists in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK dentalcareservices.co.uk |
Coordinates: 51°48′02″N 4°58′02″W / 51.80066°N 4.96736°W
Haverfordwest (Welsh: Hwlffordd) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales. Haverfordwest is the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire, with a population of 13,367 in 2001;[2] though its community boundaries (which exclude Merlin's Bridge) make it the second most populous settlement in the county, with 10,812 people.[3].
[edit] Pembrokeshire Coast National ParkHaverfordwest is 6 miles away from the village of Broad Haven, part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the United Kingdom's only coastal national park, which attracts thousands of tourists each year. [edit] Topography Haverfordwest serves as the market town for most of the county of Pembrokeshire. It forms an important road network hub between other towns in Pembrokeshire such as Milford Haven, Pembroke Dock, Fishguard and St David's, as a result of its position at the tidal limit of the western Cleddau river. The majority of the town, comprising the old parishes of St. Mary, St. Martin and St. Thomas, lies on the right (west) bank of the river. On the left bank are the suburbs of Prendergast and Cartlett. At this point, a pair of sandstone ridges extending east-west and separated by a deep, narrow valley, are cut through by the western Cleddau. This leaves two high spurs on the west side of the river. On the northern spur, the castle and its surrounding settlement form the core of St Martin's parish. On the southern spur, the High Street ascends steeply from the river, and forms the core of St Mary's parish. From the foot of each spur, ancient bridges cross the river to Prendergast: St Martin's Bridge ("the Old Bridge") and St Mary's Bridge ("the New Bridge", built in 1835). St Thomas's parish occupies the south side of the southern spur. From these core areas, the town has spread, mainly along the ridges. In addition to the four ancient parish churches, the remains of an Augustinian priory are visible at the southern edge of the town. [edit] HistoryThe name of the town[4] means "ford used by fat cows" from Old English hæfar=heifer, fat cows. In local dialect, it is pronounced "harford". The Welsh language name is said by B.G. Charles to be "merely a corruption of the English name", and as such has no meaning in Welsh. Another claim is that Tudor period monarchs called it "Hereford or Hertford in the West", to distinguish it from either the English Hereford in Herefordshire or Hertford in Hertfordshire. It seems certain that such an obvious strategic location would have been settled in some way from the earliest times. However, there is no documentary or archaeological evidence for the existence of a settlement on the site before the 12th century, when the first Norman architecture castle was established. This occurred around 1110.[5] It was constructed by Tancred, a Flemish marcher lord. The town rapidly grew up, initially around the castle and St Martin's church (the settlement being called Castletown), then spreading into the High Street area. It became immediately the capital of the English hundred of Roose (part of Little England beyond Wales), and because of its pivotal position, the commercial centre of western Dyfed, which it has remained to this day. In common with other British towns, its growth was meteoric during the period up to 1300, and its extent[6] by then was much the same as it was in the early 19th century. That being the case, its population was probably around 4-5,000 - a large town by the standards of the time. It received its first marcher charter from William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke some time between 1213 and 1219, and obtained the lucrative trading privileges of an English borough. It traded both by land and sea, and had a busy tidal quay on the river below the "New" bridge. At least ten guilds operated, and there was significant woollen cloth manufacture. On 30 April 1479, the town was designated a county corporate by a charter of Edward, Prince of Wales, with the aim of supporting a campaign against piracy in local waters. It shared this distinction only with Carmarthen and a few towns in England, and remained officially "The Town and County of Haverfordwest" until the abolition of the borough in 1974. In common with other large towns in Europe, Haverfordwest was hit hard by the Black Death in 1348, suffering both depopulation (perhaps by more than 50%) and diminution of trade. Large parts of the town were abandoned, and did not start to recover until the Tudor period. At the end of the 17th century,[7] the town was still significantly smaller than in 1300. In 1405, the town was burned by the French allies of Owain Glyndŵr, although in its early history Haverfordwest suffered less than most towns in Wales from such depredations. During the Civil War, the burgesses of the borough supported Parliament, while the ruling gentry were Royalist. As a result there was considerable conflict, and the town changed hands five times.[8] There followed a period of stagnation in which the comparative status of the town declined. Haverfordwest today has the air of a typical small country market town, but the centre still conveys the feel of the important medieval borough. The once run-down riverside area has been renovated and Bridge Street has been pedestrianised and improved. Culturally, the town has always been essentially English in language (south Pembrokeshire being known for centuries as 'Little England Beyond Wales'), but because the town markets traded the goods of Welsh farmers to the north and east, there has always been a significant Welsh-speaking minority, and the air of a "frontier" town. The suburb of Prendergast seems to have originated as an extramural Welsh dormitory, dating from the times when all agricultural trade had to pass through the borough, but no Welshman was allowed within the walls after nightfall. Haverford Township, Haverford, and Havertown in the United States are all named after Haverfordwest. [edit] Education
[edit] Current Schools
[edit] Sport and leisureHaverfordwest County A.F.C., an association football team, play at Bridge Meadow Stadium. They play in the Principality Building Society Welsh Premier League. The town is also home to rugby union club, Haverfordwest RFC which formed in 1885, and Haverfordwest Cricket Club. [edit] Local amenities
[edit] TransportationHavefordwest Bus Station is located beside Riverside Quay Shopping Centre and consists of six bus stops with two additional bays for coach drop off/pickup.[9] Havefordwest is serviced by Haverfordwest (Withybush) airport. Haverfordwest railway station is served by the West Wales Line. Havefordwest town centre lies at the confluence of A40, A4076 and A487 roads as well as several rural B roads. The A40 connects Haverfordwest with Carmarthen to the east and Fishguard to the north; the A4076 connects Haverfordwest with Milford Haven to the south; the A487 connects Havefordwest with St David's to the northwest. [edit] Notable residents
[edit] BibliographyDillwyn Miles (ed) A History of Haverfordwest, Gomer, 1999, ISBN 1-85902-738-5, [edit] References
[edit] External links
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