Bletherston ( cy, Trefelen) is a small settlement 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 or ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The Park oc ...

, Wales. It is in the middle of eastern Pembrokeshire, north of Narberth and northeast of

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, ...

. The parish includes the village of Penffordd. Together with the parishes of Llys y Fran and New Moat, it 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, t ...

of New Moat.

Name

The English

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

appears to mean ''Bleddri's farm'': Bleddri is a Welsh name. The

Welsh placename The place-names of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. Toponymy in Wales reveals significant features ...

''Trefelen'' means "yellow farm".

Parish history

The church of St Mary, in the centre of the village, is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

, parts of which may be 12th century, but have been added to or altered since. The parish, which was noted on a map of 1583, is in the north-west portion of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

Dungleddy 200px, Ancient Dyfed showing Deugleddyf Cantref and its "commotes" 200px, Pembrokeshire showing Dungleddy Hundred The Hundred of Dungleddy was a hundred in the centre of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It had its origins in the pre-Norman cantref of Deugl ...

which George Owen in 1602 placed south of the Pembrokeshire language frontier. However, as part of the church lands to the north of the

Afon Syfynwy River Syfynwy (Welsh: ''Afon Syfynwy'', ''Syfnwy'' or ''Syfni'') is a river entirely within Pembrokeshire, Wales, rising in the Preseli Hills, feeding the Rosebush and Llys y Fran reservoirs and joining the Eastern Cleddau to the south. It is a ...

, Owen said it was bilingual, and in modern times it has been predominantly

Welsh-speaking Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it ha ...

. The percentage of

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it h ...

speakers was 97 (1891): 85 (1931): 50 (1971). The parish had an area of 970 Ha. According to

Lewis's Lewis's was a chain of British department stores that operated from 1856 to 2010. The owners of Lewis's have gone into administration many times over the years, including 1991. The first store, which opened in Liverpool city centre, became ...

''Topographical dictionary'' of 1844, the population was 371. Its census populations were: 235 (1801): 320 (1851): 235 (1901): 132 (1951): 84 (1981).

References

External links

Bletherston on GenukiPhotos of Bletherston and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire