TOWN LANDMARKS AND HISTORIC BUILDINGS

The Castle
It was as a Flemish settlement under the leadership of Tancred the Fleming that the town first appeared in history. The Flemings, sent here by Henry 1 built the castle, which to this day stands sentinel over the town, soon after they arrived in 1108. The castle became the focal point for administrative, economic and military activities in the area. Under its protection a settlement developed and the foundations were laid for a modern market town and commercial centre, a situation which has continued to the 21st century over 900 years later.

Over the centuries, the castle has had a colourful existence. It withstood all assaults by the Welsh and escaped unscathed in1215 when Llewelyn the Great devastated West Wales and five years later, when that prince returned, the town was burned “up to the gates of the Castle”. The town was fired again in 1405 when a French expeditionary force landed at Milford Haven in support of Owain Glyndwr. During the Civil War Cromwell ordered the castle to be demolished and the Mayor asked for the powder to do so. However as the castle was already in ruins the task was not an onerous one but the task was never completed.

By the 18th Century Haverfordwest became more fashionable with the local gentry, many of whom built town houses. Fine buildings such as the Georgian Shire Hall and Nash’s Foley House in Goat Street certainly enriches one of west Wales’s most charming townscapes.

Two Bridges
The town is dominated by two fine bridges, which span the River Cleddau, the Old Bridge and the New Bridge. The Old Bridge was the gift in 1726 of Sir John Philipps of Picton Castle and here was the ford of Haverfordwest, which Henry Tudor crossed with his army after landing at Dale in August 1485.

The New Bridge was built by architect William Owen in 1836 to complement the splendid approach to the town along the newly built Victoria Place.

War Memorials
Haverfordwest has three war memorials. The County of Pembroke War Memorial, which was originally erected in the middle of Salutation Square, now stands near the County Hall to commemorate the 3000 men who gave their lives in the 1914-1918 war. The memorial commemorating the names of eighty-eight men from Haverfordwest who died in the 1939-1945 war was removed from its site near St Mary’s Church to a position near the County memorial for convenience in celebrating the annual cenotaph service. In High Street on the site of the old guildhall below the church, rustic granite cross stands in remembrance of forty-four Pembrokeshire men who fell in the South African war of 1899-1902.

Burnt at the Stake

A little lower down High Street is a red granite column to mark the spot where William Nichol the Marian martyr was burnt at the stake in1558.

The Crypt
Opposite St Mary’s Church near the crest of the hill and the junction with Market Street is the entrance to the Crypt, the vaulted cellar of a 13th century house.

Foley House
Foley House in Goat Street was built by John Nash for Richard Foley whose brother Admiral Thomas Foley served with Nelson at Cape St. Vincent

Haverfordwest Priory
The ruins stand on the west bank of the river Cleddau are those of the Priory, built on land given to the Augustinian canons by Robert FitzTancard, lord of Haverfordwest, in about 1200. At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, the Priory was purchased by Roger and Thomas Barlow, whose brother, William was Bishop of St David’s. A programme of excavation was undertaken fom1983 and many of the original buildings are now brought to light. An unexpected discovery was that of a medieval garden laid out in raised beds.

The Town Goal
The Town Gaol was situated within the Castle walls for centuries and the new county gaol and house of correction, was erected against the south wall of the inner ward in1779. This was replaced by a three storied building in the outer ward in 1822, which now accommodates the Pembrokeshire County records.

The Town Museum
The old prison governor’s house within the Castle walls is now the Town Museum. It contains artefacts relating to the past of the town and has exhibitions of art and local history, together with multi-media based presentations.
www.haverfordwest-town-museum.org.uk

It is open from Easter to the end of October from 10am until 4pm every day except Sundays.