Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro) is a county in the southwest of Wales in the United Kingdom.

Geography

Pembrokeshire is a maritime county, surrounded by the sea on all sides except in the northeast where it is bounded by Ceredigion (Cardiganshire) and in the east where it is bounded by Carmarthenshire.

The population is 114,000. The administrative headquarters and historic county town is Haverfordwest. Other settlements include Pembroke itself, Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven, Fishguard, Tenby, Saundersfoot, Narberth, Neyland and Newport. St David's, in the west of the county, is the United Kingdom's smallest city.

The highest point is at Foel Cwmcerwyn (1759 ft/536 m).

The county boasts 170 miles (≈275 km) of magnificent coastline comprising important seabird breeding sites and numerous bays and sandy beaches. Almost all of the coast is included in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. A large estuary and natural harbour known as Milford Haven cuts deeply into the coast, being formed by the confluence of the Western Cleddau (which goes through Haverfordwest), the Eastern Cleddau and rivers Creswell and Carew. The estuary is bridged by Cleddau Bridge as part of the A477 between Neyland and Pembroke Dock : the next bridges upstream on the Cleddaus are at Haverfordwest and by Canaston Bridge.

Major bays include Newport Bay, Fishguard Bay and St Bride's Bay. There are many small islands off the coast of the county, the largest of which are Ramsey Island, Skomer Island and Caldey Island.

In the north are the Preseli Hills (Mynyddoedd Preseli), a wide stretch of high moorland with many prehistoric monuments. Elsewhere the county is relatively flat, most of the land being used for lowland farming.

See the list of places in Pembrokeshire for villages, towns and cities in Pembrokeshire.

History

The county was founded as a county palatine in 1138 with Gilbert de Clare as the first Earl of Pembroke. It has long been split between its English-speaking south (known as "Little England beyond Wales") and its Welsh-speaking north.

Flag

The unofficial flag of Pembrokeshire consists of a yellow cross on a blue field. In the centre of the cross is a green pentagon bearing a red and white Tudor rose. The rose is divided quarterly and counterchanged: the inner and outer roses have alternating red and white quarters. ^[1]

Local government

See also: Pembrokeshire County Council

Under the Local Government Act 1888, an elected county council was set up to take over the functions of the Pembrokeshire Quarter Sessions. This, and the administrative county of Pembrokeshire were abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, with Pembrokeshire forming two districts of the new county of Dyfed : South Pembrokeshire and Preseli - the split being made at the request of local authorities in the area.^[2]

In 1996, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, the county of Dyfed was broken up into its constituent parts, and Pembrokeshire has been a unitary authority.

Agriculture

Pembrokeshire's mild climate means that crops such as its famous new potatoes are often arrive in British shops earlier in the year than produce from other parts of the UK. As well as arable crops such as potatoes, the other main agricultural activities are dairy farming of cattle for milk and cheese, sheep farming, beef production and some other arable crops, such as rapeseed. Falling farm incomes have led to diversification into other novel farming and tourism related activities. From 1700 km² of land, about 126,000 (74%) are used by agriculture. The majority of this land (60%) is down to permanent grassland and 26% is arable. Farm revenues are less than the UK average, but agriculture still provides 7,000 jobs.

The former large fishing industry around Milford Haven is now greatly reduced, although limited commercial fishing still takes place.

Historic county

The traditional county of Pembrokeshire is bounded by Carmarthenshire to the east, Cardiganshire to the northeast, the St George's Channel to the northwest and the Bristol Channel to the south.

Places of interest

References

Wikipedia information about Pembrokeshire This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pembrokeshire". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.