Marloes is a village and
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
in
Pembrokeshire,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, on the Marloes Peninsula west of
Milford Haven and forms the western tip of the southern shore of
St Brides Bay. It is within part of the
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park ( cy, Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in west Wales.
It was established as a National Park in 1952. It is one of three national parks in Wales, the others b ...
. The parish has of mainland coastline accessible throughout by the
Pembrokeshire Coast Path
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path ( cy, Llwybr Arfordir Sir Benfro), often called the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, is a designated National Trail in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Established in 1970, it is a long-distance walking route, mostly a ...
and, together with
St Brides, constitutes the
community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
of
Marloes and St Brides
Marloes and St. Brides (Welsh: ''Marloes a Sain Ffraid'') is a community in the West Wales county of Pembrokeshire.
The main settlements are the villages of Marloes and St Brides. Both villages lie on the southern shore of St Brides Bay
The ...
. In 2001, the population was 323.
Name
The name appears to derive from
Old Welsh 'bare' and 'moor' or 'promontory', identical to
Melrose in Scotland. It is locally pronounced . A part of
Little England beyond Wales, it has been essentially English-speaking for 900 years.
Geography
The
Marloes Sands beach, located SW from Marloes, is rated as one of the best beaches in Britain but involves a fairly long walk to reach it. The National Trust owns the western half of the peninsula, including the open-access deer park on its western tip, which is a favourite area for picnicking and viewing the wildlife of
Skomer Sound, including
seals,
chough
There are two species of passerine birds commonly called chough ( ) that constitute the genus ''Pyrrhocorax'' of the Corvidae (crow) family of birds. These are the red-billed chough (''Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax''), and the Alpine chough (or yellow- ...
s and
puffins. The deer park, which was originally part of the Kensington estate of St Brides, has never actually contained any deer.
Marloes includes the island of
Skomer
Skomer () or Skomer Island is an island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, in the community of Marloes and St Brides in west Wales. It is well known for its wildlife: around half the world's population of Manx shearwaters nest on the island, the A ...
, accessible from
Martin's Haven
Martin's Haven is a small bay in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK, on the Dale Peninsula, with views across St Bride's Bay towards St David's. Its shingle beach has a stone slipway which acts as an embarkation point for the ferry which visits the near ...
at the tip of the
peninsula, and the small islands of
Grassholm and
Gateholm
Gateholm or Gateholm Island is a small tidal island off the south west coast of Pembrokeshire, in the community of Marloes and St Brides, in the south west side of Wales, in the west of the UK, and about 8 miles (13 km) west of the port of ...
.
History
Every place in Wales was described by Samuel Lewis in his 1833 book ''A Topographical Dictionary of Wales''. His description of Marloes is as follows:
MARLAIS (MARLOES), a parish in the hundred of , county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 11 miles (W.S.W.) from Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest (, ; cy, Hwlffordd ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a community, being the second most populous community in the county, ...
, containing 427 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the southern shore of Muggleswick bay ... It comprises a considerable tract of arable and pasture land, which, with the exception of a comparatively small portion, is enclosed and in a good state of cultivation. The village is principally inhabited by fishermen, who obtain a livelihood in the lobster and crab fisheries, which are carried on here to a considerable extent, and by the sale of leeches
Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that comprise the subclass Hirudinea within the phylum Annelida. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworm, and like them have soft, muscular segmented bo ...
, which are found in great numbers in a sheet of water covering from sixty to seventy acres, called Marlais Mere, and which, during the summer months, when it is dry, affords excellent pasturage for cattle... The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a small edifice, not possessing any architectural details of importance. A former structure, which was dedicated to St. Mary, and situated near the beach, was destroyed by an encroachment of the sea ...Quoted in Genuki
/ref>
See also
*
Skomer Marine Conservation Zone
Skomer Marine Conservation Zone is an underwater marine nature reserve located off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales. The nature reserve completely surrounds the islands of Skomer and Middleholm, and encompasses the mainland coastline aroun ...
References
External links
Marloes and St. Brides in Pembrokeshire- the community website
www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Marloes and surrounding area*
Plan of the church of St Peter, Marloes
{{Authority control
Villages in Pembrokeshire