At the beginning of the year I wrote of the loss of one of Pembroke's proud old houses: the house known as Turner's Reach now stands as a sorry ruin on the prominent hill overlooking the Castle. However, on the opposite side of the Castle Pond there is another ruin, a small stone cottage tucked away on the bend of the river which is crying out for renovation.

"I have made enquiries on several occasions to renovate the cottage," said its owner Wyn Jenkins, of Priory Farm, "but the planning department have been very negative."

Asked when it was last inhabited, Wyn told me that he thinks it was lived in until the late 1920s by a Mr. and Mrs. Hughes who worked at the Priory Farm. His grandmother then bred rabbits in it, but sometime in the 1930s it burned down.

"A fatal accident happened there later," Wyn added "in 1947, a young lad was killed there - boys would play around the cottage and in this particular instance a stone dislodged whilst he was climbing on the roof and he fell hitting his head... it was a terrible tragedy.

"I did try to build the house back some years back but I had to abandon it as apparently the house was by then classed as an abandoned building and planning permission was required, planning I did not succeed in getting."

This is a great pity as the house does have a very interesting history.

For this, I have to thank David James, secretary of West Wales Maritime Heritage Society, who is an expert on all things maritime in this area.

David told me that the cottage may have been part of what was once a ship yard which was situated in that part of Monkton known as Cunnigar, opposite to and west of the Castle.

Hard to believe now, but back in time there were a great many industries along the Pembroke River, including shipbuilding, lime working, quarrying and Pembroke was a busy port.

The old engraving titled 'Pembroke Castle' by Paul Sandy, depicts a ship yard here as long ago as 1778 and there is a building clearly depicted to the right of the picture where the house now stands.

"George Hurlow owned the shipbuilding and timber yard," David informed me. "He, and later his son Thomas, owned eight ships between 1802 and 1840 which engaged in the timber trade. One such ship was the Pembroke Castle built by J. Bevans at Lawrenny. She regularly crossed the Atlantic Ocean transporting emigrants to Quebec and returning with timber to the Cunnigar shipyard."

It is interesting to note that the word Cunnigar means rabbit warren; probably derived from Welsh cwningen and garth literally rabbit garden. Coney or cony in middle English, from the old French conin, and Latin cuninculus are similar sounding words meaning rabbit.

"All that is left of the old Cunnigar shipyard," added David, "is the small building which was served as the stores and office. This was later converted into a cottage."

This cottage is marked on 19th century maps; it is named Rock Cottage on a map I have a copy of which is dated circa 1860 - 1880.

With so much new building all along the north side of the ponds of an unsympathetic character, it would be so good to see houses built along traditional lines with traditional materials to restore something of the character to this area around our mediaeval castle. The restoration of this historic house would be a real asset: who on earth could refuse planning permission for this?

If you have any stories or photographs for this column, please contact me, Linda Asman, on 01646 622428, email [email protected]">[email protected] and visit our website http://www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk">www.pembrokeandmonktonhistory.org.uk

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Our next coffee morning is tomorrow (Saturday, March 3) from 10.30 am - 1 pm at Monkton Priory Church Hall. A St. David's Day lunch will be served from 11.30 - Pauline Waters's home-made soup with lots of traditional Welsh fayre. There will be an exhibition along a Welsh theme with exhibits from Scolton Manor Museum and the showing of the old Haggar silent movie the Maid of Cefn Ydfa.

Following this on the evning of Friday, March 16, we will be holding a quiz night and buffet at Monkton Priory at 7.30 pm.