Parish of Camrose

by Jon Hudson, ©2000.

From the 12th century Camrose was owned variously by the Crown and the Earls of Pembroke, one of whom, Aymer-de-Valance who died childless in 1324, killed in a tournament in France, was recorded as owning "Kameros worth £10.3s.1d and a mill". Camrose parish was part of the lordship of Haverfordwest and was made up of several manors centered on the villages and hamlets of Camrose, Wolfsdale, Leweston, Keeston and Pelcomb, with a pilgrims "hospital" (i.e. a resting place for pilgrims traveling to St. David's) and a monastic grange near Keeston which in the late medieval period belonged to the Pill priory. For many generations very little changed in the village and in 1877 it was stated that going to Camrose was like "going back in time 500 years". Whilst this may have been an exaggeration, the village was still little more than a huddle of cottages with whitewashed walls of mud and thatched roofs. At that time probably the biggest change the village had seen for several hundred years was the founding of the chapel. The old part of the village of Camrose lies in the deep, wooded valley formed by the Camrose brook. This part of the village has many large trees and its deeply sunken lanes form a crossroads near the parish church with its Norman tower rising over the houses. Below the church, beside the brook lies the restored mill, the mill pond of which has now disappeared. On the other side of the brook stands a large earthen mound, all that remains of the Motte and Bailey castle that once stood there. From the 12th century

The history of Camrose stretches back along way indeed. The first written mention of the village comes from the year A.D. 1188 when Gerald of Wales traveled throughout much of the country in the company of the archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to muster soldiers for the crusades. Although Gerald has little to say about the village, he does state that "in the days of king Stephen (1135 - 1154), the relations and dependants.... of Gerald, son of William, avenged his fathers death on the men of Rhos (i.e. the people from the area around Haverfordwest) with more ferocity than was necessary." Although there are no other references to this incident and whilst it is not clear who Gerald son of William is, it seems likely that this is a reference to a battle or skirmish between the Normans and Welsh that must have been very bloody indeed to warrant such a mention in what was after all a barbaric age.

It is certain that the village was in existence long before this date and it`s original founding may even date back to prehistoric times. That this area has been settled and inhabited from an early date is evidenced by the numerous prehistoric settlements, trackways and burial sites scattered throughout the county. Examples of all of these prehistoric features can be found within Camrose parish. The most ancient objects that have been found within the parish are two stone axe heads both of which date from the Neolithic period (4.500 - 2000 B.C.) The first axe head is of a black flecked, white stone which is highly polished, making it a very striking object. It has been described as "one of the finest Neolithic axe heads to be found in Britain" and is thought to have been a ceremonial item or the status symbol of some Neolithic chieftain. The second axe head while being smaller and generally less impressive is perhaps just as interesting as the first. It`s interest lies not in its colour or quality but rather in the fact that it is made from Cornish green stone, which as it`s name suggests is found only in Cornwall (England). This finding of a piece of Cornish stone in a remote Welsh field shows that even in the Neolithic period this corner of Wales was not completely isolated and that travel and trade over long distances and indeed across seas could and did take place.

The earliest pre historic sites in Camrose date from the Bronze age, (2000-700 B.C.) examples being a stone cairn and several burial mounds. A prehistoric trackway crosses the Northern part of the parish, Going over the rough moorland of "Plumstone Mountain" and this may well date from roughly the same period. There are other ancient trackways within the parish though these may be of a considerably later date. There are 5 Iron age settlement sites in the parish ranging from Keeston castle, a relatively small but well defended hill fort to the more typical semi - defended sites that are often only a couple of hundred feet across and contained only a few circular huts along with some "outbuildings". It seems likely that many of these sites were inhabited throughout the Bronze age, Iron age and Roman period and possibly into later times as well and who knows perhaps the village of Camrose itself has grown up over thousands of years on such a site.

St Ishmaels Church, Camrose

In the Centre of the village itself stands its most prominent feature, the church, the bulk of which dates from the late thirteenth century. There are several factors that indicate that parts of an earlier church are incorporated into the present building, these being the East window that has three early English Lancet lights that probably date from the 12th century. There is also a large blocked up archway on the south side of the nave, which with a span of 12 feet is likely to have led to an earlier transept or side chapel although no traces of a building have been located on the outside, in the church yard. It is likely that a small Church or chapel of some sort stood on this spot for many hundreds of years previous to the 12th or 13th centuries. Although much restoration work was undertaken in the middle of the last century, which is likely to have obscured any remaining early features of the Church, it still stands as a fine example of a typical Pembrokeshire church which still contains a Norman font, which is without carving or any adornment. The font also dates from the 12th century and is no doubt a relic from the earlier church. The Church is aligned East - West with its tower at the Western end of the building. The main body of the church consists of a nave and Chancel, the nave being 65 ft long by 21 ft wide the Chancel being 35 feet long. The Chancel arch is unadorned and just inside it on the North wall are traces of stairs that possibly once led up to the rood loft, the rood screen and loft having been long since removed. On either side of the altar are two stone benches and beneath the altar is the Bowen vault, where in 1836 Hugh Webb Bowen was buried. At the Eastern end of the church is an old blocked up window. There is no porch on either its northern or southern door. The tower is of the typical Pembrokeshire type and is forty feet High and at ground level measures at least 12 feet square. There is a small protruding staircase tower on the northern side of the main tower which in this case is Polygonal in shape. In times gone by many parish churches were used as safe places of refuge in times of attack or trouble, their large windowless towers being ideal for the purpose. Many Church towers especially in the south of the county were used as beacons to send messages to each other but whether this would be practical from such a low lying church as Camrose is doubtful. The church of Camrose was first recorded in 1297. Before the dissolution of the monasteries in the sixteenth century the church was in the hands of the Augustinian Priory at Haverfordwest. The ruins of the old Priory can still be seen beside the Western Cleddau river near Haverfordwest. The dedication of the Church is to St Ishmael, supposedly the son of King Budoc of Brittany, who landed in Milford Haven, possibly in the fifth century. The original dedication was to St Ambrose.

A list of the vicars at Camrose goes back over five hundred years and begins in 1409. The list is as follows:

1409 Philip Pencaer - Also was Lord of the manor of Wolfsdale.

May 1409 John loke - Admitted to the living due to the resignation of Philip Pencaer who had gone to Burton parish.

1487 John David.

Sept 1487 John Rowth -admitted to the living on the 7th of Sept. when it became vacant due to the resignation of John David who due to old age and poverty was given a yearly pension of seven marks Sterling from the fruits of the vicarage.

1518 Eynon - ap - Gwalter.

1556 Peter Lede - Presented to the living by William Phillips Esq. of Picton Castle.

1620 Morgan Mortymer.

1628 Mark Carr - Presented to the living by the king.

1676 George Owen - Had been ejected from Begelly Church in 1650, a time when fifty clergymen in Pembrokeshire were ejected fro their livings by the Commissioners for propagation who were empowered under the "act for the propagation of the gospels" to eject all those clergymen considered to be unfit by the puritans who had persuaded parliament that the clergy in Wales was Largely made up of "dumb dogs, drunkards and fornicators".

1678 George Howell.

1714 Charles Bowen - First of the Bowen family to become vicar of the parish. Members of the family held the living for nigh on the next 200 years.

1775 Hugh Bowen - Charles Bowens son.

1778 Pryce Wright - Married Hugh Bowens niece. 1792 John Levett.

1833 William Wheeler Webb Bowen.

1881 Geoge Pinchin Allen Blomefield.

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