Cherubs

Last week, I related the story of the cherubs on Pembroke Clock Tower. Gordon Smith came along to the coffee morning to share some of his photographs with us and he happened to have a very old photograph of the Speculation Inn (early 1900s?). Opposite in the photograph you can see quite clearly depicted the 'other' two cherubs on the gateposts of 'Images' the former Lodge House of Orielton.

Royal Pembroke

We made Saturday a right royal occasion by making 'Royal Pembroke' the theme for our coffee morning exhibition. With the Diamond Jubilee imminent, we have been collecting material around royal visits to Pembroke and encouraging people to bring in anything they may have.

Pembroke has great royal connections in its prestigious past and the exhibition traced these back over the centuries. Pembroke's recorded history began with the Norman Conquest, when in 1093 a force under Arnulf de Montgomery overcame Welsh resistance to build their wooden fortress on the site where Pembroke Castle now stands. This would have been in the former Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth: the daughter of its defeated Royal House, Princess Nest, was taken hostage. Nest, reputedly the most beautiful woman of her day, the 'Helen of Wales', became the lover of Henry I and was later married to Gerald de Windsor, Castellan of Pembroke Castle. So she returned here, first lady of Pembroke, and a royal one at that.

Pembroke was the springboard for the conquest of Ireland: the sons of Nest along with Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke led the gory campaign which was chronicled by Nest's grandson Gerald of Wales, Gerald de Cambrensis. It resulted in a royal visit in 1171 when Henry II stayed at Pembroke Castle en-route to Ireland. The 400 strong English fleet was the largest gathering of warships in Milford Haven. His son, the infamous King John also came here sailing up the Pembroke River to Kingsbridge where he camped (hence the name) on his way to Ireland.

Of course, Pembroke can claim to be a royal town more than most - famously it was the birthplace of Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty. Henry was born in 1457, but, before that, the greatest of the Earls of Pembroke, William Marshall was king in all but name. His life reads like a film script, from lowly origins, to tournament star, adviser to four kings and ultimately to become Regent of England after the death of King John. Although he spent little time in Pembroke, he was responsible for building the castle's donjon or keep which is so distinctive. He is certainly not given the honour and fame he deserves!

Another king in all but name was Oliver Cromwell, who rose to become Lord Protector. His visit to Pembroke was not so welcome as he came to lay siege and destroyed much of the castle and walls.

Modern Times

So much for our prestigious past, when Pembroke played an important part on the national stage: it did not warrant much in the way of royal notice until the founding of the Pembroke Dockyard in the 19th Century. The earliest photographs we have found are, I have been informed (but am not quite sure), of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh who came to Pembroke Dock to launch the ship 'The Edinburgh'. There are three photographs in this set depicting the town decorated with flags, and amazing arches. The arch shown here is at the top of the Darklin or Northgate Street and there is another at the East End. The date of their visit was 1882. If anyone has any information, please contact me.

We have photographs of subsequent royal visits taking the story up to the present day and many of you have contributed to the exhibition.

For our part in the jubilee celebrations, we will be showing this in the Henry VII Tower in the Castle - it does take a lot of time and effort to mount an exhibition and it is good to be able to exhibit these lovely photographs in a place where many more people can see and enjoy them. (Please note, as we will be in the castle in June, we will not be holding the usual monthly coffee morning in Monkton Priory Church Hall. There is so much going on then, the castle has a really exciting programme).

Path to Honour

One of the highlights of the morning was a film show provided by our own Dilys Hanmer MBE. Called 'Path to Honour', it gave a fascinating 'behind the scenes' look at the Honour's Ceremony in Buckingham Palace and showed Dilys receiving her award from the Queen. We all applauded at the end and I asked Dilys for some memories of the occasion.

Said Dilys: "The interior of the Palace was quite overwhelming with the most beautiful paintings ... but despite the splendour of it all the Queen was so natural, really delightful. She recognised that I had worked with Macmillan for 40 years and commented that I lived in one of the most beautiful areas of Britain. She was also amused that we were dressed in identical colours! It really was one of the most memorable days of my life."

Next Event

On Friday, May 18, at Monkton Priory Church Hall, at 7.30 pm, Ann Lankshear will be presenting 'Castlemartin: life after the military requisition' with contributions by some of those affected.  Free entry/all welcome.

Contact

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