Bletherston () is a small settlement 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 ...
in
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. It is in the middle of eastern Pembrokeshire, north of
Narberth and northeast of
Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest ( , ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a Community (Wales), community consisting of 12,042 people, making it the secon ...
. The parish includes the village of
Penffordd. Together with the parishes of
Llys y Fran and
New Moat
New Moat () is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It extends from the southern edges of Mynydd Preseli to the Pembrokeshire-Carmarthenshire border.
Demographics
New Moat community includes the villages of New Moat, Blethe ...
, it constitutes 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 ...
of New Moat.
Name
The English
placename
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...
appears to mean ''Bleddri's farm'': Bleddri is a Welsh name. The
Welsh placename ''Trefelen'' means "yellow farm".
Parish history
The church of St Mary, in the centre of the village, is a grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
, parts of which may be 12th century, but have been added to or altered since.
The parish, which was noted on a map of 1583, is in the north-west portion of 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 ...
of
Dungleddy
image:LDDeugleddyfCymydau.png, 200px, Ancient Kingdom of Dyfed, Dyfed showing Deugleddyf Cantref and its "commotes"
image:LDDungleddyHundred.png, 200px, Pembrokeshire showing Dungleddy Hundred
The Hundred of Dungleddy was a hundred (country subd ...
which
George Owen in 1602 placed south of the
Pembrokeshire language frontier. However, as part of the church lands to the north of the
Afon Syfynwy, Owen said it was bilingual, and in modern times it has been predominantly
Welsh-speaking. The percentage of
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
speakers was 97 (1891): 85 (1931): 50 (1971).
The parish had an area of 970
Ha.
According to
Lewis's ''Topographical dictionary'' of 1844, the population was 371.
Its
census populations were: 235 (1801): 320 (1851): 235 (1901): 132 (1951): 84 (1981).
References
External links
Bletherston on GenukiPhotos of Bletherston and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control
Villages in Pembrokeshire