Carew

Prehistory

There are remains of a possible New Stone Age burial chamber at Cuckoo Stones near Pincheston and Bronze Age burial mounds - the Williamston Mounds - on either side of Rosemary Lane. Human bones are said to have been discovered here beneath a stone slab in about 1880.  Park Rath was an Iron Age fort.

Early Christian Times

Perhaps it was then that the name came into use, derived from the Welsh 'Caer-rhiw' 'fort on a low hill'. It has been suggested that 'Carew' was an elite centre. The Celtic Cross, an 11th century royal memorial, was placed near its present position in 1822 and in storage during World War II. See CADW Guide 1991 to Lamphey Bishops Palace, which has a section on Carew Cross.

De Carew

This name was taken by the eldest son of Gerald and Nest and his descendants. Sir Edward de Carew mortgaged the castle and lands to Rhys ap Thomas, but during the 17th century the family presence in Carew was restored. Their descendants the Trollope-Bellew family continue to own the castle and mill and other property here. The houses named Kesteven Court recall Thomas Carew 3rd Baron Kesteven who died 5 November 1915 of wounds received in action (see war memorial).

Rhys ap Thomas

Sir Rhys ap Thomas was the leading Welsh supporter of Henry Tudor, who became King Henry VII in 1485. Knighted after the battle of Bosworth, he is remembered at Carew for transforming the castle into a palace and for the great tournament held 21-25 May, 1507 (said to have been the last held in Wales or England) to celebrate his admission to the Order of the Garter ten years earlier.

Reconstructed stone mullion window

The very beautiful armorial panels on the three-storey porch and entrance into the great hall, (see replica nearby made by John Brock, a member of the local history group) must have been a tribute by Sir Rhys to his monarch and the heir. The centre panel portrays the coat of arms of King Henry VII (with the greyhound of York and the dragon of Cadwalader as supporters) and either side are the shields of Prince Arthur, heir to the throne, and Catherine of Aragon whom the Prince married in 1501. (In fact, Arthur predeceased his father, dying in 1502).

Sir John Perrot...

Of Haroldston near Haverfordwest, and Lord Deputy of Ireland. He was granted the Lordship of Carew and embarked on a building programme. Politically he over-reached himself and died in the Tower of London in 1592 while under sentence of death.

Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority

The castle and its immediate surroundings were leased from the Carew Estate to the Authority in 1984 for 99 years and a 14 year restoration programme has recently been completed (February 1998). The repairs included the installation of three mullioned stone windows specially made of Bath Stone by Salisbury Cathedral's works department. The Authority also supported a major programme of archaeological investigation. The Authority manages the castle and mill as a visitor attraction. A wide range of special events is staged every year.

The schooner 'Good Hope' on the Carew River, 19th century

The Waterway

Carew village is at the highest tidal point on an inlet of Milford Haven. A short distance above the bridge (mentioned 1592) are the 'Steppes' (referred to in 1576) - that is the stepping stones of a ford.

In the past the rhythm of work depended on the ebb and flow of the tide. It filled the mill pond, brought grain vessels up, allowed the transport of coal down river from Cresswell Quay and encouraged fishing near the Black Mixen (Misken is the local form). The in-coming tide filled the 'docks' of the West Williamston area.

In the second quarter of the twentieth century lorries came to rival and eventually eclipse the river traffic, and inlets like the Gullum became the final resting place of boats like the Good Hope, Mary Jane, Charlie Pearce and more.

Industry

The limestone was excellent for building (Pembroke Dock was built from Carew stone) and was burnt to obtain lime which had a variety of uses including dressing the land and making limewash and mortar. Limestone was shipped to numerous points along the Welsh coast. The busiest quarrying areas were West Williamston and Carew Newton (where limestone is still extracted).

Agriculture

Farming was the major occupation. Carew has a number of large farms. Some like Somerton (mentioned as Summerton in 1363; an acreage of 224 in the Tithe Schedule of 1838) have a long history. The biggest was Llandigwinnett with nearly 370 acres.

Tollgate Cottage, redrawn from an original at the National Library of Wales

Fairs

W G Spurrell, the historian of Carew, says that the 5 ancient fairs, held between Carew Bridge and Carew Crossroads became rationalised in the 19th century to the second Monday of February, May, August and November. They died out about 1885.

The Turnpike Road

Carew was on an important through road which the Pembrokeshire Turnpike Trust (later known as the Tavernspite Turnpike Trust) sought to improve from 1771. From Narberth mountain, it passed through Templeton and Cresselly to Carew Bridge and from thence to the town of Pembroke. There are references to a temporary house at Carew Gate in 1775 when John Bowen was gatekeeper and to erecting a turnpike house at Carew in 1789. After this date the records virtually cease, but 2 sketches show a house and gate about 1825 and about 1840. In 1891 the toll-house, Gate Cottage, just south of Carew Inn, was a shop.

Inns

Late 19th century directories show the Plough Inn at Sageston, the Castle Inn and the Carew Inn at Carew and at West Williamston the Wheaten Sheaf and the Cardigan. West Williamston is said in fact to have had 5 public houses: the Black Lion, Upper Houses and Williamston Park, in addition to the 2 named in the directories.

The three chapels, clockwise from top - Wesleyan Chapel, Carew Bridge; Zoar Chapel, Carew Newton; Pisgah, Cresswell Quay

Places of worship

The parish church is in Carew Cheriton. There was an Anglican licensed room in West Williamston (now a private house). Two local names suggesting a religious connection are Llandigwinnett (variously spelt but the Welsh prefix means 'Church') and Critchurch.  However the associations of both are obscure.

John Wesley passed through Carew in 1761. A Methodist society formed in 1813 met in the loft of a building at Carew Villa from 1816. The present Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built in 1852 at a cost of just over £300. The schoolroom was built in 1883 and in 1889 the present pitch-pine pews and doors were installed in the chapel.

Control Tower in WWII, RAF Carew Cheriton, Sageston - Hawker Henley on runway, Bristol Blenheim flying past

Past into present

Still surviving are other reminders of the past: fields the shape of groups of strips; names like Hop Garden; past amenities like Bartletts Well; an old chimney of local style, all that remains of a house which until 1870 or so was parallel with the road, and subsequently used as a communal bakehouse (till 1927); Birds Lane (for which there is a 1576 reference); the Air Control Tower of the Royal Airforce Station at Sageston 'which is the only one of its type built in the last war' (Deric Brock); the Village Hall a memorial to those who lost their lives in the second World War; and in Manchester City Art Gallery, Turner's painting of the castle from the mill in 1795, one of many views by fine artists, for whom Carew was a magnet.

Dipper

Walks

Car parks at the castle and on the opposite bank of the mill pond make a good starting point for a stroll around the mill pond. Take the path across the fields to Milton and Carew Cheriton Church.  Follow the paths across the fields from the end of the mill dam to Cresswell Quay, returning via Pisgah Chapel and Carew Newton or along the quiet road through West Williamston where there is a nature reserve in the former limestone quarries.  On the tidal rivers look out for waders and a range of marine creatures.