Nevern
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
or hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
, of just a few houses in Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....
, West Wales
West Wales
West Wales is the western area of Wales.Some definitions of West Wales include only Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, an area which historically comprised the Welsh principality of Deheubarth., an area called "South West Wales" in the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics....
. It lies in the valley of the River Nevern
Afon Nyfer
The Afon Nyfer is a river in North Pembrokeshire, West Wales which runs into the Irish Sea.The river rises at Blaencwm , just east of Crymych. It flows northward then westward, skirting the slopes of the Preseli Hills. It passes through Felindre Farchog and Nevern, and reaches the sea at Newport...
close to the Preseli Hills
Preseli Hills
The Preseli Hills or Preseli Mountains are a range of hills in north Pembrokeshire, West Wales...
of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.It was established as a National Park in 1952, and is the only one in the United Kingdom to have been designated primarily because of its spectacular coastline...
east of Newport
Newport, Pembrokeshire
Newport is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Nevern in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.- History :The town was founded by the Norman William FitzMartin about 1197...
.
Nevern Parish Church
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
church of St Brynach
Brynach
Saint Brynach was a 6th century Welsh saint. He is traditionally associated with Pembrokeshire, where several churches are dedicated to him.A 12th century 'life' tells us that some time in the early 6th century, Brynach travelled to Rome and Brittany, and then on to Milford Haven...
is on the site of St Brynach's 6th century "clas", an important ecclesiastical centre. At the time when it is said that Dyfed
Dyfed
Dyfed is a preserved county of Wales. It was created on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the Local Government Act 1972, and covered approximately the same geographic extent as the ancient Principality of Deheubarth, although excluding the Gower Peninsula and the area west of the River Tawe...
had seven bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s, this was probably the seat of one. Except for the castellated tower, perilously undercut by the adjacent river Caman, most of the original Norman structure of the present building has been rebuilt. The church and churchyard
Churchyard
A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....
are remarkable for the Celtic Cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
and several inscribed stones.
The Nevern Cross on the south side of the church dates from the 10th century or early 11th century. It consists of two sections fitted together with a mortice and tenon joint, both cut from the local dolerite stone. It has classic braided decorations and inscriptions reading "dns" on one side and "h.an.eh" on the other.
Nearby is the Vitalianus Stone, dating from around 500 AD, inscribed in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
"VITALIANI EMERTO" and in Ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
"vitaliani".
In the Henllys Chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
in the south transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
, two inscribed stones are set into the window sills. The Maglocunus Stone is inscribed in Latin "MAGLOCUNI FILI CLUTORI" and in Ogham "maglicunas maqi clutar.." and is of the 5th century or early 6th century. The Braided Cross is of the early 10th century. The churchyard also contains a "bleeding yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
" that leaks red sap
Sap
Sap may refer to:* Plant sap, the fluid transported in xylem cells or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant* Sap , a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia...
at certain times of the year.
George Owen is buried here, and he is commemorated by a plaque in the Henllys Chapel.
Nevern Castle
The castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
was located on a spur of the hill 150 m northwest of the church. Little remains of it now. It was the original headquarters of the Normans in the Marcher lordship
Marcher Lords
A Marcher Lord was a strong and trusted noble appointed by the King of England to guard the border between England and Wales.A Marcher Lord is the English equivalent of a margrave...
of Cemais
Cemais (Dyfed cantref)
thumb|200px|right|Ancient Dyfed showing the cantref of Cemais and its commotesthumb|200px|right|Pembrokeshire showing the hundred of CemaisCemais was a cantref of Dyfed, and now part of Pembrokeshire, Wales...
, built on the hill above the village by Robert fitz Martin
Robert fitz Martin
Robert fitz Martin was a Norman knight and first Lord of Cemais, Wales.-Family background:Robert fitz Martin was born some time in the late 11th century to Geva de Burci, heiress of Serlo de Burci, and an otherwise unknown man called Martin.Geva de Burci's second husband was William de Falaise,...
around 1108. The castle was destroyed and Robert expelled during the rebellion of 1136. His son, William fitz Martin, regained both Nevern and Cemais via a marriage to a daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd
Rhys ap Gruffydd
Rhys ap Gruffydd or ap Gruffudd was the ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales. He is commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh Yr Arglwydd Rhys, but this title may not have been used in his lifetime...
but was in turn driven out by Rhys about 1189. In 1197 William founded the nearby town of Newport, and transferred the headquarters of the Lordship to Newport castle. Nevern castle then ceased to be important.
Other features
There is a Pilgrim's Cross cut into the rock on the roadside between the village and the castle.The Pentre Ifan
Pentre Ifan
Pentre Ifan is the name of an ancient manor in the civil parish of Nevern, in North Pembrokeshire, West Wales. It contains the largest and best preserved neolithic dolmen in Wales.-History:...
cromlech
Cromlech
Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...
and the Castell Henllys
Castell Henllys
Castell Henllys is an important archaeological site in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, between Newport and Cardigan....
hillfort are in the parish, each about 2 miles from Nevern village as the crow flies. Nevern is slightly more than 2 miles from the small town of Newport
Newport, Pembrokeshire
Newport is a town in Pembrokeshire, south-west Wales, lying on the River Nevern in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.- History :The town was founded by the Norman William FitzMartin about 1197...
.
The parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Nevern was the largest in Pembrokeshire (5963 Ha), and was divided into four "quarters": Crugiau, Morfa, Trewern and Cilgwyn. Cilgwyn extends to the far side of the Preseli Hills. The church is in Crugiau Quarter.
It was a marcher borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
. Owen, in 1603, described it as one of nine Pembrokeshire "boroughs in decay".