Nooks and Corners of PembrokeshireTimmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
History
Nooks and Corners of Pembrokeshire
Timmins, H. Thornhill (Henry Thornhill)
Pembrokeshire (Wales) -- Description and travel
It is market day in Haverfordwest. The big travel-stained waggons of the
wholesale traders, drawn by sturdy large-limbed horses, trundle slowly
through the crowded streets of the old town; while the distinctive tones
of the 'broad Harfat talk' greet the ear upon every side.
Wending our way down the steep High Street, we bear away to the right at
the bottom of the hill, and traverse one of the oldest quarters of the
town. Presently we descry a low-browed entrance opening upon the
footpath, the massive nail-studded door, with its quaint lion-head
knocker, being enframed by liberally-moulded jambs. Passing beneath this
ancient portal, we are admitted to an interior beautified by the rare
old oaken stairway shown in our sketch; this stairway gives access to
nicely panelled chambers, whose fireplaces retain their original blue
Dutch tiles, painted with scenes from Biblical history.
[Illustration: OLD STAIRCASE AT HAVERFORDWEST.]
To the rear of the dwelling-house stands a flour-mill of antiquated
type; yet driving, withal, a brisk trade in its green old age. A
well-trained old horse, the mainstay of the establishment, jogs round in
the mill and supplies the motive power.
Stepping out to the rear, we find ourselves upon the riverside quay,
along which we now take our way. Groups of bulky stone warehouses flank
the grass-grown wharf, which presently opening out, reveals the Bristol
Trader, a little semi-nautical inn, with its trim bit of garden-ground
abloom with hollyhocks and nasturtiums; an old-time spot frequented by
waterside gossips, and fraught with vague echoes from that wide outer
world where men 'go down to the sea in ships.'
Hence we push on past the ruined priory to the diminutive village of
Haroldstone, where some traces still exist of the ancient mansion that,
for three successive centuries, was the ancestral home of the Perrots,
one of the most notable old families of Pembrokeshire.
[Illustration: UZMASTON.]
_Vis-à-vis_ across the river Cleddau rises the parish church of
Uzmaston; a picturesque assemblage of roofs and gables, clustering
around a quaint old saddle-backed tower. Uzmaston Church has, within the
last few years, been rescued from decay, and conscientiously restored by
Mr. Lingen Barker, architect, of Hereford.
Skirting a bend of the river, we trudge through the woods to Freystrop,
and enter upon a district pitted here and there with old mine-shafts.
Over the water lies Boulston, where hard by the brink of the stream
(perhaps a bowshot east from the desecrated church) rises a jumble of
ivy-clad ruins, backed by a tangled thicket of old forest trees. Here
lived the Wogans, a well-known family in days of yore, who adopted a
wyvern as their crest from the following tradition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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