Manorbier (; cy, Maenorbŷr ) is a village,

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

and

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

on the south coast of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, Wales. The name means the '

Manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

of Pŷr'. The community includes

Jeffreyston Jeffreyston (also known as Jeffreston) is a village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire. Jeffreyston lies on the B4586 road about northwest of the main A477 St Clears to Pembroke road; the nearest town is Tenby about to the southeast. C ...

and

Lydstep Lydstep Haven, known in ancient times as ''Lis Castell'', is an area in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the community of Manorbier. Both the beach and caravan park are what is known as Lydstep Haven. Reached via the A4139 from Tenby and Pembroke. The ...

. An

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

with the same name exists. It stretches inland to

St Florence St Florence (Welsh: ''Sain Fflwrens'') is both a village, a parish and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. St Florence sits on the River Ritec that flows eastwards to its estuary in Tenby. The Church of St Florence is a grade II* listed buildi ...

and at the 2011 Census, the population was 2,083. The area is served by the West Wales Line stopping at

Manorbier railway station , symbol_location = gb , symbol = rail , image = Manorbier railway station, Pembrokeshire - geograph.org.uk - 3991437.jpg , borough = Manorbier, Pembrokeshire , country = Wales , coordi ...

. Manorbier is within the

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of three national parks in Wales, the others bei ...

and is a popular tourist attraction with

Manorbier Castle Manorbier Castle ( cy, Castell Maenorbŷr) is a Norman castle in Manorbier, southwest of Tenby, Wales. It was founded in the late 11th century by the Anglo-Norman de Barry family. The castle was part of a mesne lordship under the control of the ...

, St James's Church, the sandy beach, cliffs, and part of the Wales Coast Path.

History

Fossils can be found along the stream bed, although some are of poor quality, and along the cliffs to the side of the beach the rock formations are revealed as vertical beds. The evidence of early human habitation consists of many

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...

microlith A microlith is a small Rock (geology), stone tool usually made of flint or chert and typically a centimetre or so in length and half a centimetre wide. They were made by humans from around 35,000 to 3,000 years ago, across Europe, Africa, Asia an ...

s from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

and

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

ages, housed in local museums. The

cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an ...

known as the

King's Quoit King's Quoit is a Neolithic burial chamber in Manorbier, east of Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is a scheduled monument. Description The cromlech known as the King's Quoit is south of Manorbier bay and beach. The monument is on high land abo ...

is south of Manorbier bay and beach. Later evidence points to occupation of The Dak with the finding of a perforated mace head as well as

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

burial mounds on the Ridgeway. Fortifications also seem to have been prominent including an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

enclosure near Manorbier station and the site of a

multivallate A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

, meaning multiple ditches,

promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

at Old Castle Head where there are remains of hut platforms within the ditches. A well-restored

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called quicklime (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is :Calcium carbonate, Ca ...

is in Mud Lane behind the castle. To the east of Manorbier, on the side of the road to Lydstep, is an area of

strip lynchet A lynchet or linchet is an earth terrace found on the side of a hill. Lynchets are a feature of ancient field systems of the British Isles. They are commonly found in vertical rows and more commonly referred to as "strip lynchets". Lynchets appe ...

s dating to early

Anglo Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

times and perhaps as early as the

. The

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

knight Odo de Barri was granted the lands of Manorbier,

Penally Penally ( cy, Penalun) coastal village, parish and community southwest of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village is known for its Celtic Cross, Penally Abbey (a Gothic style country house), the neighbouring St. Deiniol's Well, WWI Practice ...

and

Begelly Begelly ( cy, Begeli) is a village and parish in south Pembrokeshire, Wales, north of Tenby on the A478 road. The parish includes the hamlets of Thomas Chapel and Broom and has a web of small settlements associated with the 19th century anthra ...

in gratitude for his military help in conquering Pembrokeshire after 1103. The first

was

motte and bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...

style, with the stone walls being added in the next century by later Normans. Giraldus Cambrensis, son of William de Barri, was born in the village in 1146, and called it "the pleasantest place in Wales". St James's parish church dates from the 12th century and is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. A large number of other buildings and structures in the parish are listed. From 1933 to 1 September 1946, a mixed

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

airfield was operational. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

it was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

airfield,

RAF Manorbier RAF Manorbier was a Royal Air Force airfield near Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The site was first used in 1933 as a mixed civilian/military airfield and was the base for 'Y' Flight of No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Unit RAF in 1937, usi ...

. The site is now a firing range employed by the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

as a testing range for high-velocity missiles.

Railway

on the

Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock ( cy, Doc Penfro) is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, northwest of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following ...

branch of the West Wales Line is operated by Transport for Wales Rail, who also manage the station. Trains stop here on request every two hours in each direction, westwards to and eastwards to , , and .

Twinning

Manorbier is twinned with

Vernou-la-Celle-sur-Seine Vernou-la-Celle-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Vernou-la-Celle-sur-Seine is the twin town to Manorbier, in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, and was twinned in 19 ...

, France.

References

External links

* *
Photos of Manorbier and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk

{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire Communities in Pembrokeshire Coast of Pembrokeshire