Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Ceredigion to the north-east, Carmarthenshire to the east, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and the administrative headquarters of Pembrokeshire County Council.
The county is generally sparsely populated and rural, with an area of and an estimated population of in . Haverfordwest is near the centre of the county, the port of Fishguard in the north, the seaside resort of Tenby in the south-east. The city of St Davids, on a peninsula in the north-west, is the smallest city by population in the United Kingdom. Milford Haven, the large ria in the south of the county, gives its name to the town of Milford Haven on its north shore; Pembroke Dock is on the south shore, and Pembroke a short distance further inland. Welsh is spoken by 17.2 percent of the population; for historic reasons the language is more widely spoken in the north of the county than in the south. Pembrokeshire is part of the preserved county of Dyfed.
Pembrokeshire's coast is its most dramatic geographic feature, created by the complex geology of the area. It is a varied landscape which includes high sea cliffs, wide sandy beaches, Milford Haven, and offshore islands including Ramsey, Skomer, and Caldey which are home to seabird colonies. The interior of Pembrokeshire is relatively flat and gently undulating, with the exception of the Preseli Mountains in the north. Most of the coast, the Preselis, and the upper reaches of Milford Haven are protected by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The coast can be walked using the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
There are many prehistoric sites in Pembrokeshire, particularly in the Preseli Mountains. During the Middle Ages several castles were built by the Normans, such as Pembroke and Cilgerran, and St David's Cathedral became an important pilgrimage site. During the Industrial Revolution the county remained relatively rural, with the exception of Milford Haven, which was developed as a port and Royal Navy dockyard. It is now the UK's third-largest port, primarily because of its two liquefied natural gas terminals. The economy of the county is now focused on agriculture, oil and gas, and tourism.
Settlements See List of places in Pembrokeshire for a comprehensive list of settlements in Pembrokeshire.
The county town is Haverfordwest. Other towns include Pembroke, Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven, Fishguard, Tenby, Narberth, Neyland and Newport. In the west of the county, St Davids is the United Kingdom's smallest city in terms of both size and population (1,841 in 2011). Saundersfoot is the most populous village (more than 2,500 inhabitants) in Pembrokeshire. Less than 4 per cent of the county, according to CORINE, is built-on or green urban.
Geography
Climate
There are three weather stations in Pembrokeshire: at Tenby, Milford Haven and Penycwm, all on the coast. Milford Haven enjoys a mild climate and Tenby shows a similar range of temperatures throughout the year, while at Penycwm, on the west coast and 100m above sea level, temperatures are slightly lower.
The county has on average the highest coastal winter temperatures in Wales due to its proximity to the relatively warm Atlantic Ocean. Inland, average temperatures tend to fall 0.5 °C for each 100 metres increase in height.
The air pollution rating of Pembrokeshire is "Good", the lowest rating.
Geology The rocks in the county were formed between 600 and 290 million years ago. More recent rock formations were eroded when sea levels rose 80 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Around 60 million years ago, the Pembrokeshire landmass emerged through a combination of uplift and falling sea levels; the youngest rocks, from the Carboniferous Period, contain the Pembrokeshire Coalfield. The landscape was subject to considerable change as a result of ice ages; about 20,000 years ago the area was scraped clean of soil and vegetation by the ice sheet; subsequently, meltwater deepened the existing river valleys. While Pembrokeshire is not usually a seismically active area, in August 1892 there was a series of pronounced activities (maximum intensity: 7) over a six-day period.
Coastline and landscape
The Pembrokeshire coastline includes numerous bays and sandy beaches. The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the only park in the UK established primarily because of its coastline, occupies more than a third of the county. The park contains the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, a near-continuous long-distance trail from Amroth, by the Carmarthenshire border in the southeast, to St Dogmaels just down the River Teifi estuary from Cardigan, Ceredigion, in the north. The National Trust owns of Pembrokeshire's coast. Nowhere in the county is more than from tidal water. The large estuary and natural harbour of Milford Haven cuts deep into the coast; this inlet is formed by the confluence of the Western Cleddau (which flows through Haverfordwest), the Eastern Cleddau, and rivers Cresswell and Carew. Since 1975, the estuary has been bridged by the Cleddau Bridge, a toll bridge carrying the A477 between Neyland and Pembroke Dock. Large bays are Newport Bay, Fishguard Bay, St Bride's Bay and western Carmarthen Bay. There are several small islands off the Pembrokeshire coast, the largest of which are Ramsey, Grassholm, Skokholm, Skomer and Caldey. The seas around Skomer and Skokholm, and some other areas off the Pembrokeshire coast are Marine protected areas.
There are many known shipwrecks off the Pembrokeshire coast with many more undiscovered. A Viking wreck off The Smalls has protected status. The county has five lifeboat stations, the earliest of which, at Fishguard, was established in 1822; in 2015 a quarter of all Royal National Lifeboat Institution Welsh rescues took place off the Pembrokeshire coast.
Pembrokeshire's diverse range of geological features was a key factor in the establishment of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and a number of sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs). In the north of the county are the Preseli Mountains, a wide stretch of high moorland supporting sheep farming and some forestry, with many prehistoric sites and the probable source of the bluestones used in the construction of the inner circle of Stonehenge in England. The highest point is Foel Cwmcerwyn at , which is also the highest point in Pembrokeshire. Elsewhere in the county most of the land (86 per cent according to CORINE) is used for farming, compared with 60 per cent for Wales as a whole.
Biodiversity Pembrokeshire's wildlife is diverse, with marine, estuary, woodland, moorland and farmland habitats. The county has a number of seasonal seabird breeding sites, including for razorbill, guillemot and Manx shearwater, and rare endemic species such as the red-billed chough; Grassholm has a large gannet colony, and the island of Skomer is one of the most important puffin colonies in Britain with more than 43,000 birds. Seals, several species of whales (including rare humpback whale sightings), dolphins and porpoises can be seen off the Pembrokeshire coast; whale-watching boat trips are frequent, particularly during the summer months, and a rare visit by a walrus occurred in the spring of 2021. An appeal for otter sightings in 2014 yielded more than 100 responses.
Pembrokeshire is one of the few places in the UK that is home to the rare Southern damselfly, Coenagrion mercuriale, which is found at several locations in the county, and whose numbers have been boosted by conservation work over a number of years.
Ancient woodland still exists, such as Tŷ Canol Wood, where biofluorescence, seen under ultraviolet light under the dark sky, is a feature that has led to the wood being described as "...one of the most magical and special woodlands in the UK."
The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales is in the process of restoring a lost temperate rainforest, also known as a Celtic forest, in Trellwyn Fach, near the town of Fishguard. Although temperate rainforests once covered much of western Britain's coasts, they were destroyed over centuries and only remain in fragments. The site will connect with remnants of the remaining rainforest in the Gwaun valley. The project is part of a larger, 100-year Atlantic rainforest recovery programme.
History
Human habitation in what is now Pembrokeshire dates back to between 125,000 and 70,000 years ago, with prominent prehistoric sites including Pentre Ifan and other Neolithic remains. Aerial surveys during the 2018 heatwave revealed many previously unrecorded sites, and in the same year, Wales's first known Celtic chariot burial was discovered in Llanstadwell. Roman influence was limited; although a few forts, coins, and roads have been found, much of the area remained beyond sustained Roman control. In the sub-Roman period, the Irish Déisi settled and merged with local populations, forming the Kingdom of Dyfed, which became part of Deheubarth in the 10th century. The region saw Viking raids and limited settlement.
Normans and Flemings arrived between 1067 and 1111, building castles such as Pembroke Castle and transforming Dyfed into the county of Pembroke. Although Norman control was contested by Welsh rulers including The Lord Rhys and Llywelyn the Great, it endured in many parts of the region. Pembrokeshire was declared a county palatine in 1138 and saw a wave of Flemish settlement. In 1485, Henry Tudor had launched his campaign from Pembroke, ultimately becoming Henry VII of England. The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 later reorganised it into seven hundreds, aligning it with the English shire system. The county supported Parliament in the English Civil Wars, with Oliver Cromwell besieging Pembroke in 1648 following a local mutiny.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Pembrokeshire remained largely agricultural, with modest urban centres and limited industrial growth. The Battle of Fishguard in 1797 marked the last invasion of Britain, ending in French surrender. Poor relief and infrastructure remained key concerns, with water supply improved only later in the century. In the 20th century, military use of the county intensified, particularly during the world wars: a naval base at Milford Haven, multiple airfields, D-Day training by U.S. forces, and accommodation of German POWs all featured. Pembrokeshire's wartime casualties are commemorated at the County of Pembroke War Memorial. After 1945, modern development included the construction of the Llys y Fran reservoir (1972), with the local economy later benefiting from tourism, agriculture, and energy infrastructure.
In February 1996, the Pembrokeshire coast suffered the UK's (then) third worst oil spill when the Sea Empress ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven.
Demography
Population Pembrokeshire's population was 122,439 at the 2011 census, increasing marginally to 123,400 at the 2021 census. 66.4 per cent of residents were born in Wales, while 27.5 per cent were born in England.
Language
The 2021 census recorded that Welsh is spoken by 17.2 per cent of the population, a fall from 19.2 per cent in 2011. As a result of differential immigration over hundreds of years, such as the influx of Flemish people, the south of the county has fewer Welsh-speaking inhabitants (about 15 per cent) than the north (about 50 per cent). The rough line that can be drawn between the two regions, illustrated by the map, is known as the Landsker Line, and the area south of the line has been termed "Little England beyond Wales". The first objective, statistically based description of this demarcation was made in the 1960s, but the distinction was remarked upon as early as 1603 by George Owen of Henllys. A 21st century introduction of Welsh place names for villages which had previously been known locally only by their English names has caused some controversy.
Religion