RAISING AWARENESS OF PEMBROKE'S HERITAGE

Pembroke in WW1	Digital Storytelling	Statue Trail	Digital Town Trail	Researching our past	Pembroke Museum	Publications

STATUE OF WILLIAM MARSHAL - PROJECT COMPLETE!

On May 7th the long awaited statue of William Marshal was unveiled.  And what a great day it was - the community turned out in force to witness it. And they were not disappointed. HM Deputy Lord Lieutenant Mr Meurig Raymond did the honours. pulling away the covering sheet to reveal the magnificent, life size, bronze statue by Harriet Addyman. Following the unveiling ceremony, everyone made their way to the Castle for a community celebration which, thanks to the generosity of the Castle Trustees, was opened up with free entry for all.

A programme of entertainment, music and activities ran throughout the afternoon including a concert by Pembroke Male Voice Choir, Neil Thomas, stalls in the marquee, children’s activities organised by Messy Church and a competition for the best-dressed knight and princess . To add to the occasion, visitors were be able to find out more about William Marshal and his times from the Living History Society, Historia Normannis.After a couple of years of restrictions, it was lovely once more to be able to come together as a community. Around 2 ½ thousand people attended the event and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying themselves – young and old. Even the weather was perfect. It was a truly memorable day- a great day for a great knight. So proud to be Mayor of this amazing, historic town!

And thank you to Martin Caveney for providing us with these photographs,

MONKTON: HIDDEN HISTORY

:We had long felt that the history of Monkton has been neglected, being in the shadow of Pembroke, which is obviously one of the most historic towns in Wales.  But Monkton has a rich history in its own right dating back to prehistoric times and encompassing the rise and fall of Pembroke Priory, the Civil War when Cromwell located his cannons here, the building of the Victorian terraces of Priory Mains to house Dockyard workers and the restoration of the Priory Church.

Launched Christmas 2022, 'Monkton:a Hidden History' was so well received that it sold beyond all expectation and is now unfortunately out of print.  Publication costs having gone through the roof, we cannot affort a reprint. It can, however, be accessed on this website - see our MONTON page.

INSPIRATIONAL DRAGONS!

ASPIRING TO BUILD A DRAGON FOUNTAIN IN PEMBROKE MILLPOND

The idea originated from the need to improve the environment of Pembroke Millpond, a cause for public concern.  Reeds growing out of control and green algal bloom covering the waters of Pembroke Millpond are problems which Pembroke Town Council is seeking to resolve.  Last year a new Millpond Group was formed to find solutions to these problems.

Working alongside these organisations, we believe that a fountain would help aerate the waters of the Millpond to improve the water quality with a beneficial effect on the local landscape and pond life.

Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society has obtained funding from LEADER to explore this idea:

WHY A DRAGON?

It will be a fitting sculpture for a town branding itself as the birthplace of the Tudor Dynasty.  The supporters of the Tudor Coat of Arms are the Welsh Dragon and the White Greyhound.  The Henry Tudor statue on the Mill Bridge features the greyhound – we need the Welsh Dragon to complete the picture.

YOUR VIEWS MATTER TO US

The maquette of the dragon has been made by local sculptor Gideon Petersen.

We would like to organise a public consultation to invite community views but, because of COVID-19 restrictions, this is not possible at the present time.  However, we are exhibiting our Dragon in the shop window next to Brown's Cafe in Pembroke Main Street, by kind permission of Mrs Glynis Brown, so that he can be on public view - a practical demonstration of its workings will have to wait until our future meeting.

If you would like to offer any comment, please contact Pembroke Town Hall or email us on pembrokehistory@live.co.uk

Click here to donate via our publications page

PEMBROKE COMMEMORATES THE CENTENARY OF WW1:

in words, pictures, art and film.

A WORLD WAR ONE PROJECT FUNDED BY HERITAGE LOTTERY

The Centenary of WW1, 1914-18, served to focus all our minds on that traumatic period in our history and urged us to find out more about the men and women who lived through it.  As a result, members of Pembroke & Monkton Local History Society launched a multi media project with the title ‘Pembroke commemorates the WW1 Centenary: in words, pictures, art and film’ which was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and which commenced in February 2018 with a public event in Pembroke Town Hall. 

The Project aimed to raise awareness of the impact of the Great War on Pembroke and district, reaching out to the community by holding events, exhibitions, workshops, articles in the local press and talks to community groups.We wanted to engage both young and all and were able to fund professional artist Pauline Le Brittain to take the project into schools and community film maker Sharron Harries to capture memories on film. We were keen to develop the project into art. As well as the schools art project, a community workshop was held with the VC Gallery to develop an art installation in St Mary’s Church alongside our WW1 exhibition.

We have now completed our project with the publication of ‘Pembroke Remembers:  a Memorial Publication recalling the part played by Pembroke and District in The Great War and recording some of the local events marking the Centenary of the War'.

We have organised a Commemoration event in Pembroke Town Hall on Saturday, November 9th during to launch the book.  Dr Simon Hancock will give an illustrated talk on 'The Great Peace' and there will be an exhibition of work by the VC Gallery.

See our WW1 PROJECTS PAGE

OUR DIGITAL TOWN TRAIL - A BIG SUCCESS

The HLF grant just received is our 3rd successful application to the Heritage Lottery.  Thanks to a 'Sharing Your Heritage' grant from the HLF,last year we were able to create a Digital Town Trail. 

2015 saw the launch of the new Pembroke Town Trail, a project of Pembroke Town Council Regeneration Committee and match funded by Pembrokeshire County Council's Town Centre Support Programme. Originated by Pembroke Civic Trust, the Trail starts at Pembroke Town Hall which houses the Museum and the Pembroke Murals and is marked out in 30 bronze plaques set into the pavements along the route.  The attractive Town Trail booklet was produced by Society Chairman Linda Asman, on behalf of the Civic Trust, with illustrations and fold out map by local artist and Society President George Lewis. It can be obtained from Pembroke Town Hall, Castle, TIC and costs just £1.50. All proceeds in support of Pembroke Museum

Now with funding from the Heritage Lottery, last year we launched the Digital Town Trail.  Working with Modern Print, Pembroke Dock, a new website has been made which enables you to explore Pembroke digitally - it can be accessed via plaques bearing QR codes sited around the town. As an added plus, the Trail is bi-lingual in Welsh and English.  To find our more, go to https://www.pembroketowntrail.wales

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

Our first HLF grant enabled us to fund the publication of our digital storytelling project.  A community project in the true sense of the word, this impressive work involved collecting and recording stories from 45 Pembroke people, stories which, put together, form a social history of our times, a picture of life in Pembroke from many perspectives.  Digital stories are short films of around 3-4 minutes in length and, combining voice with photographs, are an effective way of conveying memories and social change - now available for all to share as a DVD.  The stories have also been printed in book format: the DVD is free with the purchase of the book - see publications page