County Dossier
Pembrokeshire
A coastal county of castles, saints and seafarers.
Pembrokeshire is a maritime county in west Wales, famed for its dramatic and varied coastline. The county stretches from the Teifi estuary southward to the broad sands at Newport, past rugged cliffs and headlands, including Fishguard, to the St David’s Peninsula opposite Ramsey Island.
At a glance
Pembrokeshire at a glance
A coastal county of castles, saints and seafarers.
- Welsh, Irish, Norse
- Lordship then county 13C
- Haverfordwest
- Area: 625 sq miles / 1,619 sq km
- Population: 122,122
- County Top: Foel Cwmcerwyn (1,760ft / 536m)
County Geography
Pembrokeshire is framed by the sea to west, south, and much of the north, with Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire meeting it on the landward side. Within the county, the Daugleddau and Milford Haven cut deep inland and help define its internal shape as much as its outer coast does.
Few counties are easier to understand geographically.
Map Reference
View Pembrokeshire on the map
Pembrokeshire is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Haverfordwest, Pembroke, St Davids, Fishguard, Tenby, Milford Haven, Newport, and Narberth all belong to the county’s story. So do the cathedral city of St Davids, the haven waterways, the castles of the south, the offshore islands such as Skomer and Ramsey, and the sea-facing settlements that give the county its unmistakable form.
Connections
The county has always depended on coastal passage, harbour movement, and the inland routes connecting the haven to market and ecclesiastical centres. Pembrokeshire’s geography has long been used and understood as one county territory.
Names
- Pembrokeshire
- County of Pembroke
- Pembs
- Sir Benfro
Sir Benfro is the Welsh form of Pembrokeshire. County of Pembroke is the formal historical style, while Pembrokeshire reflects the county formed around Pembroke but extending far beyond that single town.
The county’s history draws together Welsh, Norse, Irish, Norman, and marcher influences, with documentary forms such as Penbrokeshire appearing in the record. That complex history still belongs to one historic county.