250 px, Location of the cantref of Penfro within ancient Dyfed The Cantref of Penfro was one of the seven cantrefi of the

Kingdom of Dyfed The Kingdom of Dyfed (), one of several Welsh petty kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century sub-Roman Britain in southwest Wales, was based on the former territory of the Demetae (modern Welsh ''Dyfed''). The medieval Irish narrative, '' The Expul ...

. It subsequently became part of

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House o ...

in around 950. It consisted of the long peninsular part of Dyfed south of the

Eastern Cleddau The River Cleddau ( cy, Afon Cleddau) consists of the Eastern and Western Cleddau rivers in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. They unite to form the Daugleddau estuary and the important harbour of Milford Haven. The name of the combined estuary – ...

and the Daugleddau estuary, and bordered on its landward side by Cantref Gwarthaf. The name, meaning "land's end", derives from ''Pen'' ("end", literally "head") and "fro" ("populated area"). Its area was approximately . It was divided into two

commotes A commote ( Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wal ...

: Cwmwd Penfro in the southwest and Cwmwd Coedrath in the northeast, as shown in the map. The eastern part of Cwmwd Penfro was sometimes called Cwmwd Maenorbier, and the northern part of Cwmwd Coedrath was sometimes called Cwmwd Arberth, but both these were post-Norman lordships, and were probably not genuine commotes. Its civil headquarters were at Pembroke:

Rhoscrowther Rhoscrowther ( cy, Rhoscrowdder) was a village, ecclesiastical parish and civil parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales on the south shore of the Milford Haven Waterway. The placename is Welsh and perhaps means "crwth-player's moor". It is part of the c ...

Penally Penally ( cy, Penalun) coastal village, parish and community southwest of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village is known for its Celtic Cross, Penally Abbey (a Gothic style country house), the neighbouring St. Deiniol's Well, WWI Practice t ...

might have been its ecclesiastical centre. The cantref was made part of the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

in the 12th century, and many castles were built, including those of Carew,

Manorbier Manorbier (; cy, Maenorbŷr ) is a village, community and parish on the south coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. The name means the ' Manor of Pŷr'. The community includes Jeffreyston and Lydstep. An electoral ward with the same name exists. ...

, Narberth, Pembroke, and

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

. The area became English-speaking, as it continues today, except in the northern part of Narberth parish. At the time of the 1535 Acts of Union, the cantref was split between two newly formed hundreds, when Cwmwd Penfro became Castlemartin Hundred, and Cwmwd Coedrath was merged into

Narberth Hundred 200px, Pembrokeshire showing Narberth Hundred The Hundred of Narberth was a hundred in Pembrokeshire, Wales. An administrative and legal division, it was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 from parts of the pre- Norman cantrefs of Penfro (t ...

Notes

{{reflist Cantrefs History of Pembrokeshire