Pembroke Town Walls

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Penfro; Barnard's Tower; Bernard's Tower

In the community of Pembroke. In the historic county of Pembrokeshire (Modern authority of Pembrokeshire, preserved county of Dyfed).

Long rocky ridge, castle at point. Formerly a great round gate, four remaining round towers.Stone walls and earthworks built in ?C12 and C14. The town walls of Pembroke were erected in C13, probably during the tenure of the lordship by William de Valence. Most of the towers have been destroyed but much of that at the NE corner survives. The present circuit of Pembroke's town walls are thought to have been constructed in the later C13-C14 These enclose a long peninsular between two arms of Milford Haven, 850m W-E, between the castle and the E wall, and at most 240m N-S. There were three gates, of which the spring of an arch at the West Gate seems to be the only remnant, and there are remains of five towers, one of which has C18 gazebo built upon it, another, Barnard's or Bernard's tower at the NE angle, was built for independant defence.
Clearly there are difficulties with the dating of the town walls. The site is natural strong and would not need much work to make it defensible. The town was not attacked during the wars of the C13, Soulsby writes 'no doubt because of the sheer impregnability of the site'. However, walls and, particualrly gates, would have increased the defensibility and also enhanced the town status and tax collection effectiveness. Soulsby writes 'Medieval Pembroke was a prosperous community with a viable commercial life' but walls did not protect the town from decline of maritime trade (lost to Haverfordwest) and like many towns in Wales it declined in the C15, although this decline cannot, as it usually is, be blamed on the Glynd r revolt, since Pembroke was not attacked.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SM985013

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's National Monument Record (Coflein) number is 300446
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 13203 and others 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.cambria.org.uk/projects/PembrokeTownWalls.htm
    http://www.cambria.org.uk/HLC/milford/area/305.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_wales/158/barnardstower.htm
• Books
  • Hull, Lise, 2005, Castles and Bishops Palaces of Pembrokeshire (Logaston Press) p179-180
    Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p27, 49, 67, 83, 95, 128, 131, 145-6, 155-6, 240, 242, 272
    Pettifer, Adrian, 2000, Welsh Castles, A Guide by Counties (Boydell Press) p171-2
    Davis, Paul, 2000, A Company of Forts. A Guide to the Medieval Castles of West Wales (Gomer Press)
    Salter, Mike, 1996, The Castles of South West Wales (Malvern) p79
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences', in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116 [plan]
    Soulsby, Ian, 1983, The Towns of Medieval Wales (Phillimore; Chichester) p214-7
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p400
    Barley M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) p57-71
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p217-8
    RCAHMW, 1925, An inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Pembrokeshire (HMSO) p286-7
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p247
    Edwards, Emily Hewlett, 1909, Castles and Strongholds of Pembrokeshire (Tenby) p18-19 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesstronghol00edwauoft
    Lewis, Samual, 1849, A Topographical Dictionary of Wales http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=47875#s9
• Journal Articles
  • Lawler, M., 1998, 'Investigating the town wall and burgage plots at South Quay and Castle Terrace, Pembroke' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol147 p159-180
    Ludlow, N. 1991, ‘Pembroke Castle and town walls’ Fortress Vol8 p25-30
    King, D.J.C. and Cheshire, Mark, 1982, 'The town walls of Pembroke [12th century]' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol131 p77-84
    Hindle, B.P. 1979, ‘Medieval Pembroke’ Pembrokeshire Historian Vol6 p76-80
    Hogg, A.H.A. and King, D.J.C., 1967, 'Masonry castles in Wales and the Marches: a list' Archaeologia Cambrensis Vol116 p71-132
• Guidebooks
  • Anon, 1971 (14edn), A Short History of Pembroke Castle (Five Arches Press; Tenby) p32-4
    Anon, 1947 (7edn), A Short History of Pembroke Castle (Waterlow and Sons Ltd) p34-6
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/glameng.html#pemb3]
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1906, Leland's Itinerary in Wales (Bell and Sons; London) p115-6 http://www.archive.org/details/itineraryinwales00lelauoft