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St Thomas à Becket Chapel, Milford Haven

12th-century establishments in WalesArchaeological sites in PembrokeshireBuildings and structures in Milford HavenChapels in PembrokeshireGrade II listed churches in Pembrokeshire
History of Pembrokeshire
Thomas a Beckett Chapel
Thomas a Beckett Chapel

St Thomas à Becket Chapel is a Grade II listed building situated in the town of Milford Haven. It was constructed in 1180 and dedicated to St Thomas Becket. It commanded fine views of the Haven estuary, situated on the north bank in open space. Along with two other chapels, now disappeared, at Herbrandston and St Anne's Head, it functioned not only as a Catholic place of worship, but also as a Beacon Chapel, or lighthouse to sailors. The chapel enjoyed a dependent relationship with the nearby Pill Priory. By the 17th century the structure was in ruins, when it was occupied by Parliamentarian forces in 1644. It later acquired a function as storage for the battery located on the Rath. In the twentieth century, it had become used as a pigsty and stable. In 1930, £1,000 was raised, and the building was reconstructed, work completed in 1938. It was re-consecrated as an Anglican chapel of ease. It is built of rubble stone with a graded slate roof, small nave and chancel, both with pointed barrel vaults. The interior is simple with plastered vaults, small niches each side in chancel and a curved rood beam with rood. The nave south facing windows have stained glass of 1935 and 1939 to Sir Hugh Thomas of Castle Hall. In 2012 it was privately sold, in spite of local opposition.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article St Thomas à Becket Chapel, Milford Haven (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

St Thomas à Becket Chapel, Milford Haven
The Rath,

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N 51.710847 ° E -5.025639 °
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The Rath

The Rath
SA73 3JU , Hakin
Wales, United Kingdom
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Thomas a Beckett Chapel
Thomas a Beckett Chapel
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Pill Fort
Pill Fort

Pill Fort was a sconce fort located on the northern shore of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. It was built by Royalist forces in order to prevent Parliamentarian forces landing at Pembroke Castle, and to protect Royalist forces landing from Ireland. The site was chosen on the west side of the eastern inlet surrounding the site of the later town, known as a Pill. Construction was according to a plan by Richard Steel, an engineer from the King's headquarters in Oxford. It was built on raised headland at the junction of the Pill and the waterway, and at a cost of £400. Known locally as the Gunkle, it may have been the site of an Iron Age fort. It was the only fort built during the Civil War in Pembrokeshire. Although there is no definite description of the fort, similar structures consisted of four earthen bastions surrounded by a ditch. The walls were of palisade, and the canons sat on the bastions. Accommodation and catering facilities were contained in tented constructions in the middle of the enclosure. The bell tower at Steyton church was used as an observation post and musket tower. On 23 February 1644 a Parliamentary force of three ships arrived in the Haven, and Colonel Rowland Laugharne assumed command of all forces at Pembroke. Two Royalist ships took shelter in the Pill. Parliamentary forces moved canons into position on the eastern side of the Pill in addition to those on ships in the Haven, and a bombardment of the fort began. Land forces arrive from the north of the fort via Steynton, and a truce was called and the fort surrendered. It was manned by Parliamentarian forces for the remainder of the conflict, and dismantled prior to the outbreak of the Second Civil War in 1648. The earth embankments were noticeable until at least the 1930s, but in 1990 the area was bulldozed and is now built over.

Milford Haven
Milford Haven

Milford Haven (Welsh: Aberdaugleddau, lit. 'mouth of the two rivers Cleddau' ) is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 by Sir William Hamilton, who designed a grid street pattern. He intended it to be a whaling centre, but by 1800 it was developing as a Royal Navy dockyard which it remained until the dockyard was transferred to Pembroke in 1814. It then became a commercial dock, with the focus moving in the 1960s, after the construction of an oil refinery built by Esso, to logistics for fuel oil and liquid gas. By 2010, the town's port had become the fourth largest in the United Kingdom in terms of tonnage, and continues its important role in the United Kingdom's energy sector with several oil refineries and one of the biggest LNG terminals in the world. Milford Haven is the most populous community in the county, with a population of 13,907 within the community boundary at the 2011 census. When measured in terms of urban area the population was 13,582, making it the second largest urban area in the county after Haverfordwest (where the urban area extends beyond its community boundary). The natural harbour of the Haven was known as a safe port and was exploited for several historical military operations throughout the second millennium. Campaigns conducted from the Haven included part of the invasion of Ireland in 1171 by Henry II and by Cromwell in 1649. Forces which have disembarked at the point include Jean II de Rieux's 1405 reinforcement of the Glyndŵr Rising. In 1485, the future Henry VII landed close to his birthplace in Mill Bay before marching on to England.