Neyland is a town and

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 ...

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 Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, lying on the

River 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 � ...

and the upstream end of the

Milford Haven Milford Haven ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was ...

estuary. The Cleddau Bridge carrying the A477 links

Pembroke Dock Pembroke Dock () 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 the constr ...

with Neyland. In 2011 it had a population of 3,464.

Etymology

The name of the town is a reduction of an earlier form of the English word ' preceded by the Middle English ' "at the". It was formerly known as New Milford by contrast with

History

Neyland was a small fishing village in the parish of Llanstadwell, but in 1856 it became the site for the western terminus of

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

with a transatlantic terminal for the largest ships of the time. It was selected instead of the other possible location Abermawr. The town then grew rapidly to serve the port. The construction of a more substantial port at Goodwick based on an earlier plan of 1846, was revived in 1899, and opened in 1906. Many people relocated from Neyland to Goodwick and

Fishguard Fishguard (, meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun") is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, with a population of 3,400 (rounded to the nearest 100) as of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Modern Fishguard consists of two parts, Lowe ...

at that time. Neyland was partially reprieved because silting of Goodwick harbour restricted its use, and for a little over one hundred years, Neyland was a busy rail and sea port. The Neyland terminal ceased operation in 1964. The rail terminus used to link with the ferry that crossed the Cleddau to Hobbs Point in

until 1975 when the Cleddau Bridge opened. The redevelopment of the 1980s saw the creation of a new marina and rehabilitation of the old railway yard. Some of the original Brunel iron wide gauge railway tracks can be seen today in use as safety barriers around the quay. In August 2010, an 8 ft bronze statue of Brunel was stolen from its site in the town's marina, presumably for its metallurgic value. It was later replaced.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Neyland, at

(town) and

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

level: Neyland Town Council and Pembrokeshire County Council. The town council is based at the Community Hub on John Street, which opened in 2020. Until 1900, Neyland was part of the parish of Llanstadwell. When parish and district councils were established in 1894, the parish of Llanstadwell was included in the Pembroke Rural District. On 1 October 1900 a parish of Neyland was created from part of Llanstadwell, and the new parish was declared to be an urban district, making it independent from the Pembroke Rural District Council. Neyland Urband District Council held its first meeting on 15 October 1900 at the town's board school, when Anthony James, a Liberal, was appointed the first chairman of the council. The urban district council later acquired premises at 60–62 High Street in the mid 1960s, which then served as a town hall until 2018. Neyland Urban District was abolished under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, with the area becoming part of Preseli Pembrokeshire in 1974. Preseli Pembrokeshire in turn was abolished in 1996 to become part of a re-established Pembrokeshire.

Sport and leisure

Sporting groups include Neyland Cricket Club (a founder member of the Pembroke County Cricket Club) established in 1889, Neyland RFC (a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club established in 1885) and Neyland AFC. The town has a

yacht club A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...

and a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

. The

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Pembrokeshire Coast National Park () is a National Parks of England and Wales, national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales. It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of the three National parks of Wales, the others ...

is nearby.

Public services

Potable water is supplied to the town by

Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is a not-for-profit company which supplies drinking water and wastewater services to most of Wales and parts of western England that border Wales. In total, it serves around 1.4 million households and businesses and over thr ...

(DCWW). There were gas works alongside the railway. In 1909 it was the site of an explosion which burnt to death a mother and her three-year-old daughter who was taken there to inhale the fumes for the benefit of her health.

Notable people

* Lord Gordon Parry of Neyland (1925–2004), Labour politician *

Sarah Waters Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as '' Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''. Life and education Early life Sara ...

(born 1966), novelist, '' Tipping the Velvet'' * Barry John (born ca. 1974), artist, soldier

References

External links

Council websitePhotos of Neyland and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Towns in Pembrokeshire Communities in Pembrokeshire