Granston () is a hamlet and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, Wales. The parish was in the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Dewisland 250px, The cantref of Pebidiog in ancient Dyfed The Hundred of Dewisland (often written "Dewsland") was a hundred in northwest Pembrokeshire, Wales. Formerly the pre-Norman cantref of Pebidiog, it included the city and the peninsula of St Davids ...

and includes the settlements of Llangloffan and Tregwynt, with Tregwynt woollen mill. Granston is in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Pencaer Pencaer is a community which covers an area of dispersed settlement in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the peninsula of Pen Caer and comprises the village of Llanwnda and the smaller settlements of Granston, Llangloffan, St Nicholas (Tremarchog) and ...

Name

The Welsh name of the hamlet, Treopert, suggests an association with a Robert, possibly Robert FitzMartin of Cemais. In 1292 the village was referred to (Latin) as "Villa Grandi", and in 1535 as "Grandiston" (Grand's Farm), possibly a reference to a French name, Grand.

History

Prehistoric remains were noted in the parish in 1920. The earliest church records of the parish are from 1291 and 1326. The parish was attached to the crown after the Dissolution. There was an Episcopal court at Granston. The size of the parish is . There are a number of listed buildings in the parish and, following the change from civil parishes to communities, Granston became part of the community of Pencaer.

Population

Granston parish in 1833 had a population of 195. The population in 1872 was 156 people occupying 31 houses. Analysis of the 1881 census found that the four most frequently-occurring surnames in the parish (67 of 175 inhabitants) were Davies, Evans, Thomas and Williams.

Places of worship

The parish was annexed to that of Mathry and the church dedicated to St Catherine (sometimes recorded as Katherine), one of only three mediaeval churches in Wales to be dedicated to the saint. When the church was visited by the Royal Commission in 1920 it was found to have been constructed in 1877 with no evidence of the mediaeval structure save an octagonal font probably from the 14th century. However, the diocesan description notes that the foundations are mediaeval. The parish includes the hamlet of Llangloffan, where there is a Baptist chapel. The original chapel was built in 1706, restored in 1749 and 1791 and rebuilt in 1862. There is no baptismal pool at the chapel, baptisms being performed at a specially constructed site in the Western Cleddau at Pont Llangloffan, south of the hamlet. Llangloffan is the name of a Welsh hymn melody (composer unknown). Archives for both churches are kept by Dyfed Family History Society.

Tregwynt

Granston includes the estate of Tregwynt, whose papers are held by the Pembrokeshire Record Office. In the 14th century Sir William Horton of Tregwynt married the heiress to

Candleston Castle Candleston Castle (historically sometimes Candlestone Castle) is a 14th-century fortified manor house, in ruins since the 19th century. It is southwest of Merthyr Mawr, Glamorgan, Wales, now Bridgend County Borough and just northwest of Ogmor ...

. The Tregwynt Hoard, from the Civil War, was found at Tregwynt Mansion in 1996. The present Grade II*-listed manor house and extensions date from the 18th century. Tregwynt mill (''Melin Tregwynt'') dates back to the 17th century when it served the surrounding area's sheep farming. It is still in operation, employing about 30 people, and in 2012 celebrated 100 years as a family business, now weaving for a global market. The mill featured in a BBC2 Wales ''Made in Wales'' episode in December 2012.

Llangloffan

Llangloffan hamlet is south of Granston. Close by the source of the

Western Cleddau The River Cleddau () consists of the Eastern and Western Cleddau rivers in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. They unite to form the Daugleddau estuary and the harbour of Milford Haven Waterway. The name of the combined estuary – the Daugleddau – ...

river, the Llangloffan Fen includes a National Nature Reserve and a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI). Llangloffan lends its name to a range of Welsh farmhouse cheeses; the brand was acquired by Carmarthenshire Cheese Company in 2006.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire