Pembroke Town
The history of Pembroke may be regarded as falling into several periods
Period 1 (early 12th – mid 14th centuries)
This period sees the foundation of the borough, the granting of privileges to the burgesses by the Crown and marked growth until a total of about 228 burgage plots had been taken up. Many present-day houses and gardens within the walls of the town stand on the sites of these medieval burgage plots.
Go to "Mediaeval Pembroke" for a fuller picture
Period 2 (mid 14th – late 17th centuries)
The period of expansion was brought to an end by the Black Death, following which many houses fell into ruin, trade declined, and the economy stagnated. With the passing of the Act of Union between England and Wales in 1536 the town lost its old importance as the administrative centre of the Marcher Lordship of Pembroke. And henceforth it survived mainly as a local market centre and a small port.
Contemporary sources record this:
John Leland in his Itinerary (c1539) states that "The toune hath bene welle build and the est suburbe hath bene almost as great as the toun, but now it is totally yn ruin."
John Speed the cartographer said in the early seventeenth century that it was “more ancient in show than it is in years, and more houses without inhabitants than I saw in any one city throughout my journey”
When Sir Hugh Owen of Orielton took on the mayoralty of the town in 1632 he said that he did so specifically” for the raising of trade, which is now decayed”
Then there was the Civil War - the great siege of Pembroke lasted from about 15th May to the 10th of July 1648, and it resulted in great damage being done to the town.
Period 3 (late 17th – early 19th centuries)
The late seventeenth century saw a revival: by then the population had risen to about 250 households. This upsurge reflects a growth of trade within the county as a whole, which affected Pembroke because it was the main port of Milford. Greatly increased coal exports from the Pembrokeshire mines, close contacts with a rapidly developing Bristol, and a modest cut in the quickly-growing trade with the West Indies and the American colonies brought renewed prosperity to the town.
In 1725, when Daniel Defoe published the second volume of his “Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britian”, he states
“This is the largest and richest, and at this time, the most flourishing town of all South Wales. Here are a great many English merchants, and some of them men of good business; and they told us there were near 200 sail of ships belonged ot the town, small and great. In a word, all this part of Wales is a rich and flourishing county.”
By the late eighteenth century a large number of the present houses in Main Street would have been built. Orielton Terrace (below) is composed of Georgian houses displaying an elegance which must have meant prosperity. Pembroke also boasted an Assembly Room. The port was thriving, trade was good and, although Pembroke was never again to play an important part in the history of the nation, it flourished.
Period 4 - the Victorian Age
The maritime trade on which Pembroke had flourished declined, losing out to the new town of Milford and Haverfordwest. Early in the nineteenth century also, a new town was growing up: Pembroke Dock was founded in 1814. Many found employment in the new shipbuilding industry in the Dockyard and both towns were combined into one borough.
It was the railway which gave the final death-blow to Pembroke’s shipping industry: trains provided a far easier way of transporting raw materials although sailing ships did continue to use Pembroke Quay until the mid 20th Century.
For more information go to Ninteteenth Century Pembroke
Period 5 - Post WW2
It was after the Second World War that Pembroke was to change most dramatically: before the War it was largely still confined within its walls and the Mediaeval layout of burgage plots was almost intact.
In 1972 Pembroke was designated a Conservation Area in recognition of its historic importance and architectural merit. With its Castle and many listed buildings Pembroke's future obvious development lay in tourism.
Below Tudor House - one of the most distinguished Georgian buildings in Pembroke and a Grade 2 listed building which has recently been converted into apartments.
So many historic buildings have been lost and the destruction continues -
Lost buildings of Pembroke is to be the subject of a new page - coming later!