News & events

Sunday 19 April at 2pm

Llawhaden Castle & St Aidan’s Church followed by buffet tea at Plas Hotel

The afternoon will start at Llawhaden Castle, a ruined C14 fortified mansion which was designed as a residence for the wealthy bishops of St Davids who liked their home comforts. We will then continue to St Aidan’s Church which is located below the castle on the bank of the Cleddau. Parts of the church are C12 with much rebuilding having taken place in the C13 and C14. This includes the unusual feature of a second tower fused to the original smaller tower.
We have booked an afternoon buffet tea in the front room at Plas in Narberth at around 4pm where we will also hold a brief AGM – the menu is shown below. The cost of the buffet would normally be £17.95 each but will be available at a reduced price of £10 to all PHBT members. The remainder of the cost will be covered by PHBT.
Please contact martin@phbt.wales if you would like to attend the visit and/or tea.

 

Previous Events held in 2026

St David’s Cathedral

Guided Tour

Many thanks to Rev. Richard Davies who stepped in at the last minute in place of Bishop Wyn and took us on a guided tour of the cathedral. His talk was very informative as well as entertaining and gave us a special insight into the cathedral’s history. The tour was followed by a delicious Welsh cake (or two) in Mamgu’s cafe in the Refectory.

Previous Events held in 2025

Five events and an annual lunch were held in 2025.

 

Annual lunch at Plas Hotel, Narberth

Thanks to everyone who attended the lunch and in particular to our guest speaker, Bishop Wyn, who gave a fascinating talk on St David’s Cathedral.


The difficulties that the bishops had in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in trying to keep the fabric of the building intact can only be imagined. However, the surprise was that the exterior of the building, medieval in appearance, was so altered and renovated by the Victorians. In particular the description of the works carried out to protect and maintain the west front of the building, although in Nash’s case causing more problems than it solved, showed the skill and ingenuity of the Victorian engineers to whom we owe a debt of thanks in preserving the building for the future.

 

Pembroke History Walk & St Mary’s Church

This very enjoyable walk and talk was led by young local historian, Owain Williams, who took us on a fascinating stroll around Pembroke. We started at the Henry VII statue and walked along the north wall by the Mill Pond as far as Barnard’s Tower then returned via Main Street, East Back and Chain Back. His fascinating talk took us all the way from the pre-Normans to Cromwell, via Henry VII, and up to more recent times. During the walk, Martin Bell described the restoration work that has recently been carried out by the Pembroke Town Walls Trust and plans for future work.

We ended the afternoon with a visit to the beautiful St Mary’s Church, where a talk was given by Ian Jones on the history of the building, followed by a tea – the meringues were amazing.

 

Freestone Hall, Cresselly

We  had a brilliant visit to Freestone Hall with an interesting talk by Tom Lloyd on the history of the house.

We were told that in the mid C18th, Roger Allen, a younger son of the Allens of nearby Cresselly settled here and built a new house in 1768. Internally there is a surviving beautiful Chinese Chippendale staircase balustrade which was highly fashionable in the south of the county.

The house was remodelled by his grandson James Allen a London barrister but also a keen antiquary, who was first treasurer of the newly formed Cambrian Archaeological Association in 1846. In the later C19th the house was often let out while Thomas Allen worked in London. In 1910, it was purchased with its surrounding land by the Cresselly estate, whereafter it became a farmhouse until c.1980 when it returned to purely residential occupation.

Thanks to Martine Erussard, the current tenant of Freestone Hall, who prepared a lovely tea for us all.

Cilwendeg Shell House & Manordeifi Old Church

The Shell House is a remarkable ornamental grotto which was originally built in the 1820s as a fashionable garden retreat by the owners of the Cilwendeg Mansion at the time. This Grade II* listed building, along with an area of woodland is now owned by The Temple Trust, an historic building preservation charity.​ David Ellis gave a fascinating talk on the history of the building that was enjoyed by all our members as well as a couple of other visitors. This was followed by a visit to Manordeifi Old Church which is another remarkable building on the edge of the Teifi river valley. The day was rounded off at the Newport Memorial Hall where Sue prepared a fantastic tea which included individual alcoholic trifles. The tea bar has been raised!

 

 

Whitchurch House and Walled Garden & St David’s Church

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon hosted by John and Sara Manners-Bell at their house in Whitchurch on 11 May 2025. The work that has been completed at the old rectory is truly amazing with original features either kept or replicated by skilled craftsmen, including all of the Georgian-style windows in this early Victorian era building. John provided an excellent slide show of the history of the house, which was designed and built around 1843, and its remarkable survival when the adjacent St David’s Airfield was constructed during WWII. Sara showed us around the walled garden which has had a new wall built on one side, although it’s hard to tell which wall is the new one as the workmanship is so good! The planting of the garden is a work in progress and we hope to be invited back for a re-visit when it has matured. Thanks to Sara for the tea which was excellent.

Thanks also to Brenda, the church warden, and the Rev. Belinda Roberts for letting us visit the beautiful church of St David’s in Whitchurch and for their telling of the fascinating history of the building. We hope that the Church of Wales has a change of heart and allows the church to remain open as place for community activities, if not for religious services.

 

 

Annual General Meeting at Little Newcastle

The AGM was held at St Peter’s Church Little Newcastle on 23 March 2025. A big thank you to the Rev. Richard Davies for his fascinating talk on the history of the church, which dates back to the medieval period, and on the current building which this year marks its 150th anniversary.  The collection of modern stained glass windows that were installed in the church in the 1990s are stunning.

Thanks also to the ladies of the church for the fantastic tea.

News

 As part of our mission to help in the restoration of significant historical buildings in Pembrokeshire, we are pleased to announce that PHBT has been able to make significant donations to two local projects:

The Pembroke Town Walls Trust, working with a wide range of partners is undertaking the repair and consolidation of the remains of the town walls. In doing so, they are aiming to protect and conserve the archaeology, promote understanding and access, and realise the potential of the historic site. More details can be found on their website:

https://pembroketownwallstrust.org.uk

The Shell House is owned by The Temple Trust, an historic building preservation charity. The restoration works were completed in 2007. However, water ingress has caused more damage to the building and further costly remedial work is required, hence the need for additional funding. More details can be found on their website:

 https://shellhouse.org.uk