This church, which in the statute of Bishop Reginald de Brian is called St Ursini, belonged to the abbot of Seys in Normandy, who granted it and the church of Jeffreyston to the canons of St Davids Cathedral, subject to the payment of 2s. by each of the two churches to the prior of Pembroke.--Stat. Menev.

Bishop Henry Gower in August 1339, consolidated the two churches and ordained that a perpetual vicar should be appointed by the chapter to the church of St Issells, and that the church of Jeffreyston should be served by a chaplain.--Stat. Menev.

Considerable difficulty has been experienced in distinguishing between entries relating to the churches of St Ishmaels and St Issells in Pembrokeshire, and St Ishmaels in Carmarthenshire.

Under the heading of 'Deanery of Pembroke' the Valor Eccl. gives the following entry:--'Vicaria Sancti Ismaelis.--Vicaria ibidem ex collacione Magistri Novi Collegii juxta Meneven' unde Henricus Stiffvowe clericus est inde vicarius habens ibidem mansionem. Et valent fructus hujus vicarie per annum iiij. Inde sol' in visitacione arch'ni pro procuracionibus et sindalibus quolibet anno ij vj. Et remanet clare £3 17s 6d. Inde decima 7s 9d.' From this it would appear that the master of St Mary's College, St Davids, was the patron of St Issells, but this seems incredible in view of the fact that in 1339 the patronage was vested in the canons of St Davids Cathedral and was still in their hands in 1564. The extract given above apparently relates to St Issells, but the ascription of the patronage to the college is erroneous, and the mistake probably arose from confusing St Issells with St Ishmaels in Carmarthenshire, which latter church was annexed by Bishop Adam Houghton to the college in question.

Bacon's Liber Regis has apparently followed the Valor Eccl., as will be seen by the following extract:--Under the heading 'Livings Discharged' :--St Ishmaels alias St Issells V. Archidiac quolibet anno, 2s 6d. Coll near St David's olim Patr.; Chanter and Chapter of St Davids, Patr and Impr. Clear yearly value £12. King's Books, £3 17s 6d.--Bacon's Liber Regis.

Described as 'Ecclesia de Sancto Ussello,' this church was in 1291 assessed at £13 6s 8d for tenths to the King, the sum payable being £1 6s 8d.--Taxatio

According to a survey made in 1649 the living had a glebe, house, barn, yard, small garden, and 3 acres 1 rod of arable land, with the endowment of the tithes of hay, wool, lambs, cheese, pigs, etc., and was estimated to be worth £12 per annum.

St Issells Church was restored in 1864.--Arch. Camb. Ser. V., Vol. V., p. 134

In 1490 the tithes of St Issells were apparently let with those of Jeffreyston to David Wogan.

Soon after the Reformation the tithes of St Issells were leased to William Philipps of Picton, Esq. This lease terminated about the year 1565, when they were let for 30 years to Matthew Bishop of Portclew [Pembroke] yeoman, at the yearly rent of £12 6s 8d. In July 1617, a lease of the tithes was granted to Philip King at the rent of £12 6s 8d., for the lives of Henry King, archdeacon of Colchester (eldest son of John King, bishop of London0, -------, and Dorothy, the daughter of the said John King. In 1663 the tithes were leased to John King (eldest son of and heir apparent of Henry King, bishop of Chichester, and one of the gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber), and Mary King (eldest daughter of the said Bishop Henry King), at the yearly rent of £12 6s 8d. In 1690 Isaac Houblon of London and Mary Windham of London, widow, were granted a lease of the tithes for the lives of Mary Windham (formerly Mary King), Henry Houblon (son of Isaac Houblon), and Dorothy Herbert (daughter of Mary Windham by her first husband, Richard Herbert), at the same rent as under the previous lease. In 1720 a lease of the tithes for 21 years was obtained by Nathaniel Morgan (chapter clerk) at the same rent, and in 1741 John Philips of Kilgetty, Pems., Esq., paid a fine of £150 for a lease for 21 years at the rent of £12 6s 8d. The last leaseholder for lives was Lord Milford, whose lease expired in 1815. He declined to renew it and subsequently the tithes of the church were let annually for some years.--Chapter Records.