Castlemorris
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Location within Pembrokeshire | |
OS grid reference | SM9042632387 |
Community | |
Principal area | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Haverfordwest |
Postcode district | SA62 |
Police | Dyfed-Powys |
Fire | Mid and West Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
UK Parliament | |
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament | |
Castlemorris (Welsh : Casmorys; also known as Castle Morris or Castle Maurice) is a small village in the parish and community of Mathry, Pembrokeshire, Wales, south of the Western Cleddau river, on the B4331 road between Mathry and Letterston. It has a population of roughly 150 people.
The Welsh manor (maenor) of Castle Morris lay within the ancient Cantref of Pebediog (later the Hundred of Dewisland). [1] The manor was granted to Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan by his brother David FitzGerald, then the second Norman approved bishop of St David's, [2]
Castle Morris may have acquired its name (Castell Maurice) in the 12th century from Maurice FitzGerald, but it may be a far more ancient relic of the pre-Norman Welsh name - Castell Marlais - Marlais then being the name of the reach of the Western Cleddau river which flows immediately below the village.
In 1302 Sir John Wogan, chancellor of St David's, secured a grant of the manor of Castle Morris for the bishop of St David's. [3]
To the northeast of the village crossroads is the Grade II-listed farmhouse of Pencnwc, a substantial early and late 19th century building that was formerly part of the Bishop of St Davids' estate, leased by Abraham Leach in 1843, and occupied by William Evans. [4] The farm occupies the site of a former timber castle with stone foundations, of which there are no longer any visible remains.
There was a village shop in 1902. [5] From 1906 George Evans was the village smith. [6] In 1910 the village shop, smithy, cottages and 43 acres of land were put up for auction, but bidding only reached £1,900 and the lot was withdrawn. [7] The village had a post office in 1916. [8]
Brian Morris (1930-2001), poet, critic and Professor of Literature, took the title Baron Morris of Castle Morris when made a life peer in 1990. [9]
The building that housed the former shop and post office is now Gwesty Bach, the village pub.
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Mathry is a village, community and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The hilltop village is 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Fishguard, close to the A487 road between Fishguard and St David's.
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Pembrokeshire has been called "the cottage garden of Wales", due to its good soil and the beneficial effects of the Gulf Stream, which provide a mild climate and a longer growing season than other parts of the country. The good climate and soil meant that the south of the peninsula was coveted by the Norsemen and Normans because it had "great plentie" of corn and cattle The county has prime agricultural land, much of which is located at about 70m above sea level, while to the north, the Preseli Hills rise to 500m above sea level and form uplands that are made up of heather and bracken, which are used for grazing sheep. Consequently, Pembrokeshire is classed as one of the most fertile counties in Wales, with its 392,300 agricultural acres having 14% of its land classed as of good quality, 67% being classed as medium quality and 19% being classed as poor quality. However, agricultural production is subject to market forces and in the 1890s, as a result of the Panic of 1893, a deep agricultural depression led to the area under cultivation falling by a third. Many labourers and farmers had no option but to emigrate to the New World and many of the large farming estates were sold. World War I brought prosperity again, but by the 1930s, as a result of the Great Depression, there was another agricultural depression which lasted until World War II. During the Post-war period agriculture has benefited from marketing schemes and marketing boards, which have helped in the regulation, marketing and distribution of the county's agricultural production.
William Owen (1791–1879) was a Welsh architect working in Haverfordwest in the late Georgian and early Victorian periods. He built up a considerable practice in Pembrokeshire and Carmathenshire. He was the county surveyor of Pembrokeshire, four times Mayor of Haverfordwest and High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire in 1859.