The Norman Conquest of Pembrokeshire

S3 E3: William the Conqueror was reluctant to invade Wales but frontier raids drove him to it. The Normans built castles – some 50 in Pembrokeshire alone – to dominate the local populace and provide protection for the settlers who started arriving in the wake of the military. One group of incomers who came and stayed were the Flemings – initially mercenaries in Norman armies, later refugees from a great Flanders flood in 1108. Pembrokeshire, the very western edge of south Wales remained staunchly loyal to England despite years of Welsh rebellion. As the social, cultural and language gap remained over the centuries south Pembrokeshire was given a name ‘Little England beyond Wales’ and the border between English and Welsh speakers became known as the Landsker line – a boundary which has ebbed and flowed over the years but remains clearly identifiable today. Starting at St. David Cathedral on the West Pembrokeshire coast - visited by William in 1081 – Tony’s walk will follow the stunning Pembrokeshire coastal path southwards before heading inland to discover what made the area so attractive for Norman and Flemish settlers. Tony will discover the ghost border between the two cultures and the Norman castles that sought to pacify the rebellious Welsh. As the walk heads south, we will look at the differences between the fertile land to the south of the invisible border before heading again to the coast at Manorbier Castle.