Castellan is an ancient

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and, until 1974, was a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the Hundred of Kilgerran,

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

, Wales. It is situated in the north of the county on the slopes of Frenni Fawr, one mile (2 km) north of

Crymych Crymych () is a village of around 800 inhabitants and a Community (Wales), community (population 1,739) in the northeast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated approximately above sea level at the eastern end of the Preseli Hills, Preseli Mount ...

and included much of the village of

Blaenffos Blaenffos is a small village of around 200 inhabitants in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the Community (Wales), community of Boncath. It sits on the boundary between the former parishes of Llanfihangel Penbedw and Castellan, Pembrokeshire ...

Origin of the name

The

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 nam ...

is an archaic

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

word meaning "little castle".

History

The parish had an area of . It was originally a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...

of the parish of

Penrydd Penrydd (variously spelled Penrhydd, Penrhudd, Penrith, Penreth or Penrieth) is a former parish in the Hundred of Kilgerran, north Pembrokeshire, Wales. The parish's history is closely linked with that of Castellan, and included parts of the pre ...

(several alternate spellings), granted by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

s of

Slebech Slebech () was a community (prior to 1974, a civil parish) in Pembrokeshire, Wales, which is now part of the combined community of Uzmaston and Boulston and Slebech, a sparsely populated community on the northern shore of the Eastern River Cled ...

c.1130 and was returned in the

Valor Ecclesiasticus The ''Valor Ecclesiasticus'' (Latin: "church valuation") was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII. It was colloquially called the Kings books, ...

(1291) as paying 13s 4d (two-thirds of a pound) ''per annum''. Castellan (as ''Cap. Kestellan'') appears on a 1578 parish map of Pembrokeshire. In 1684 the rector and churchwardens of Penrith (sic) and Castellan declared the chapel to be ''"out of repair''", the bier having been stolen some 28 years previously. It was annexed to Penrhudd Parish soon after the dissolution of the monasteries but was abandoned by c.1700 and in ruins by 1833. The church is no longer marked on Ordnance Survey maps. The 1831 census lists the chapelry as having 26 families in as many homes with no uninhabited buildings; 17 of the families were chiefly involved in agriculture and 7 in trades, crafts or manufacture. Tithe apportionment (1837) and map (1844) are held at the National Archives. Prior to 1850 the parish included

, Clover Hill, Frenni Fawr, Gorsfaith and Moelfryn with a population of 127 in 1833; earlier censuses included Castellan with Penrith and formed an extensive part of the parish of Penrith (sic). In 1833 (despite the chapel being in ruins) the incumbent received one guinea annually from Sir R.B.P. Philipps of

Picton Castle Picton Castle () is a medieval castle near Haverfordwest in the community of Uzmaston, Boulston and Slebech, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Originally built at the end of the 13th century by a Flemish knight, it later came into the hands of Sir John W ...

. In 1881 more than half of men still worked in agriculture with the remainder in trades; while a few women were in domestic service or trade, the majority are listed as "unknown occupation", presumably housewives. The 1881 census records David Nicholas aged 37 as farming 57 acres, having been born in Castellan; Nicholas was the father of Thomas Evan Nicholas. By 1901 there were more than 40 houses in the parish, dipping to 37 in 1931 but rising to 46 in 1961. The site of the chapel, described in the Inventory (visited 1915) as ''"a building 26 feet by 17 feet. A fragment of walling about 5 feet in height marks the east end of the little church.''", is still visible. The northern part of the parish is now in the

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

Boncath Boncath is a village, Community (Wales), community and postal district in north Pembrokeshire, Wales, about west of Newcastle Emlyn. The village stands at a cross-roads linking the nearby settlements of Newchapel, Pembrokeshire, Newchapel (''C ...

, and the southern part is in Crymych community. The name of the parish survives in Castellan Farm, near the site of the chapel which, according to Geograph, is no longer accessible.

Demography

Castellan's

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

population was estimated (being counted with Penrydd parish) as 82 in 1801 and 105 in 1811. Subsequently the population grew to a maximum of about 170 in the mid-19th century, to a minimum of 115 in 1951, and thereafter grew to 162 by 1981.

References

External links

Genuki entry included in that of Penrydd
{{authority control Villages in Pembrokeshire