Puncheston

Puncheston (Welsh: Cas-mael or Casmael)[2] is a village, parish[3] and community in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales.

Puncheston

Puncheston churchyard and a farmhouse in 2008
Puncheston
Location within Pembrokeshire
Population568 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSN007297
Principal area
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townClarbeston Road
Postcode districtSA63 4
PoliceDyfed-Powys
FireMid and West Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
  • Preeli Pembrokeshire

It sits below the mountain known as Castlebythe (English: Cow Castle), one of the peaks in the Preseli Mountains, just outside the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.[4]

Parish history

A map of 1578 shows the parish as Castle Male, presumably a phonetic spelling of the Welsh name by the English mapmaker.[5] Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of 1844 gives 326 inhabitants (the 1849 edition gives 255)[6] for the parish, which includes the village and a number of outlying residences and farms. Lewis surmises that the original name was Castell Mael, deriving from an ancient encampment of which there are remains. A railway passed through the parish in the 19th and 20th centuries, with a halt at the village.[3][4]

Community

The Community of Puncheston consists of the villages of Puncheston, Henry's Moat, Little Newcastle, Castlebythe and Tufton. Henry's Moat Electoral Ward returns two councillors to Pembrokeshire County Council, and Puncheston Ward four.[7]

Education

Puncheston County Primary School is in the village.[7]

Notable people

Bishop John Gambold (1711-1771) was born in Puncheston, where his father was rector.[8] The pirate Bartholomew Roberts, known as 'Black Bart' (Welsh: Barti Ddu), was born in Casnewydd Bach near Puncheston in 1682.[9]

References
  1. "Community population 2011". Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  2. "RCAHMW Historic Place Names: Puncheston/Cas-mael". Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  3. "GENUKI: Puncheston". Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  4. "GENUKI: Parish map 39: Puncheston". Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  5. "Penbrok comitat". Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  6. Lewis, Samuel (1849). A Topographical Dictionary of Wales: Prestatyn - Pyle. London: British History Online. pp. 324–330. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  7. "Puncheston Community Council". Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  8. "Jenkins, R. T., (1959). GAMBOLD family". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  9. Yount, Lisa (2002). Pirates. p. 74. ISBN 9781560069553.
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