Mathry (Welsh: Mathri) is a village,

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 ...

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. The hilltop village is southwest of Fishguard, close to the

A487 road The A487, officially the Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road, is a trunk road in Wales that follows the coast from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the south, to Bangor, Gwynedd, in the north. Route The road starts at a junction with the A40 in ...

between Fishguard and St David's.

History

Mathry (formerly Mathrey or Merthyr) was in the hundred of Dewisland. A weekly market and annual fair were granted by letters patent in the reign of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

. The market had ceased by 1833 but the fair, on 10 October, still continued. Originally on the turnpike between Fishguard and St David's, it is now just north of the modern A487. There were 860 inhabitants in the parish in the early 1800s and a school for poor children was subsidised by Sir John Owen to the tune of £10 a year. The parish, prior to 1850, was one of scattered settlements, with slate quarrying employing local people.

Community

Mathry community includes the villages of Abercastle and Castlemorris. Mathry Community Council meets once a month in Mathry Community Hall.

Parish

Mathry church and war memorial - geograph

The parish church of the Holy Martyrs, dedicated to ''seven sainted men of Mathry'', is in the centre of the village. It was built in 1869 on older foundations and restored in 1902. Richard Fenton wrote that the church of his day originally had a steeple which was blown down in a storm.

Notable people

A genealogical search in 2006 by a Pembrokeshire man found that a

Jemima Nicholas Jemima Nicholas (also spelt Niclas; c. 1750 – July 1832), also known as Jemima Fawr, was a Welsh heroine during the 1797 Battle of Fishguard (commonly known as the last invasion of Britain). Early life Jemima Nicholas was the daughte ...

was baptised in the parish of Mathry on 2 March 1755.

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, ...

Records Office thought this was likely to be the same Jemima Nicholas associated with the Battle of Fishguard.

References

External links

Photos of Mathry and surrounding area on geograph.org.ukHistorical information and sources on GENUKI
{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire Communities in Pembrokeshire