Llanstadwell

 Pubs/Bars in Llanstadwell:
 Ferry House Inn
       Llanstadwell
       Milford Haven
       Dyfed
       SA73 1EG
 01646 600270

Llanstadwell (Llan-Studwal) - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
LLANSTADWELL (LLAN-STUDWAL), a parish, in the hundred of Rhôs, union and county of Pembroke, South Wales, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Milford; containing 833 inhabitants. It is situated on the northern shore of Milford Haven, and comprises a considerable tract of fertile and wellcultivated land, with some portions of hilly ground, which, from its steepness, is but ill adapted to repay the expense and labour of cultivation. The agriculture is not indifferent; but there are few farmers of much capital, and others display little inclination to adopt the English systems. A visible improvement has taken place in the general roads, but they are yet far from good, which is the more to be regretted, as the communication between the adjacent towns of Haverfordwest, Milford, and Pembroke-Dock is on the increase. Owing to the contiguity of the dockyard, which is immediately opposite the parish on the other side of the Haven, the population has been very considerably augmented of late years. It was once in contemplation to construct a dockyard at Nayland, in the parish, and some lands in the vicinity were purchased, on both sides of the harbour, on which to erect works for its security and defence. Considerable progress was made in the erection of one of the fortresses on the south side of the Haven, but upon the death of Sir John Philipps (father of the late Lord Milford), who was the principal promoter of the design, the plan was abandoned, after two ships of war only had been built, the "Prince of Wales," of seventy-four guns, and the "Milford" frigate. The surrounding scenery is varied, combining the fine expanse of water in the Haven on the south, and the spacious open Channel on the west, with extensive tracts of richly cultivated country on the north and east. In the vicinity are several good houses, of which the parish contains Jordanston, Hayston, and Newton, the last a dilapidated old house on a valuable estate.

The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £7. 17., endowed with £200 royal bounty and £200 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Rev. A. Crymes. Two-thirds of the great and small tithes are impropriate, and the vicar has the remaining third, now commuted into a rent-charge of £110, of which 10s. are in lieu of Easter offerings; there is also a glebe of seven and a half acres, valued at £10 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Tudwal, is an ancient structure in good repair, pleasantly situated on the margin of the Haven, in the southern part of the parish. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists, in each of which a Sunday school is also held. A munificent bequest was made by the late Richard Mathias, of Hayston, Esq., of all his personal effects, amounting to nearly £1900, for the purpose of endowing a charity school, wherein the poor children of this, and the adjoining parish of Rhôsmarket, were to be educated; the clergymen of both places for the time being, and others, to be trustees. Owing to law expenses, &c., this bequest was reduced to £1278. 19. in the three and a half per cents., placed in the control of the accountant-general, and producing an income of £44.12. per annum. The deed requires the school to be held in the parish of Llanstadwell, though for the benefit of the two parishes. Some remains of two ancient British encampments, comprising each an area of about an acre, are still visible; one situated at the north-eastern extremity of the parish, nearly opposite the village of Rhôsmarket, and the other at its south-western extremity, on a point on the shore of Milford Haven.