Coordinates: 51°40′34″N 4°54′57″W / 51.67604°N 4.9158°W / 51.67604; -4.9158

Pembroke (/ˈpɛmbrʊk/; Welsh: Penfro pronounced [pɛnˈvroː]) is an historic settlement and former county town of Pembrokeshire in West Wales. The town features a number of historic buildings and complexes and is one of the major population centres in the county. It was the birthplace of Henry Tudor, later Henry VII of England.

History

Pembroke Castle, the remains of a stone mediæval castle was the birthplace of King Henry VII of England. Gerald de Windsor was Constable of Pembroke. Pembroke town and castle and its surroundings are linked with the early Christian church. Later this was the site of the Knights of St John in the UK.

Monkton Priory has very early foundations and was renovated by the Knights in the last century. The first stone building was a defensive tower, now known as the Medieval Chapel, 69a Main Street, built on a cliff edge between 950 AD and 1000 AD. There are the remains of a great hall to the north and recently filled-in arched cellars. The building was used as an early church. The layout is the same as St. Govan's Chapel and it was used by John Wesley from 1764 to preach Methodism. In 1866 it became the brewery for the York Tavern which was Oliver Cromwell's headquarters at the Siege of Pembroke during the English Civil War.

Pembrokeshire (/ˈpɛmbrʊkʃɪər/, /ˈpɛmbrʊkʃər/, or /ˈpɛmbroʊkʃɪər/; Welsh: Sir Benfro [ˈsiːr ˈbɛnvrɔ]) is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. Pembrokeshire County Council's headquarters are in the county town of Haverfordwest.

The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the only coastal national park of its kind in the United Kingdom and one of three national parks in Wales, the others being Snowdonia and Brecon Beacons national parks. Over the years Pembrokeshire's beaches have been awarded many International Blue Flag Awards, Green Coast Awards and Seaside Awards. In 2011 it had 39 beaches recommended by the Marine Conservation Society.

Pembrokeshire's population, according to the UK Census, was 114,131 in 2001 rising to 122,400 by the following census in 2011, an increase of 8.2%.

Much of Pembrokeshire has been speaking English for many centuries. The boundary between the English and Welsh speakers is known as the Landsker Line and southern Pembrokeshire is occasionally referred to as Little England beyond Wales.

Pembrokeshire (Welsh: Sir Benfro) was a parliamentary constituency based on the county of Pembrokeshire in Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

History

The Laws in Wales Act 1535 (26 Hen. VIII, c. 26) provided for a single county seat in the House of Commons for each of twelve historic Welsh counties (including Pembrokeshire) and two for Monmouthshire. Using the modern year, starting on 1 January, these parliamentary constituencies were authorised in 1536. In practice, the first known Knights of the Shire from Wales (as Members of Parliament from county constituencies were known before the nineteenth century) may not have been elected until 1545.

The Act contains the following provision, which had the effect of enfranchising the shire of Pembroke.

And that for this present Parliament, and all other Parliaments to be holden and kept for this Realm, one Knight shall be chosen and elected to the same Parliaments for every of the Shires of Brecknock, Radnor, Mountgomery and Denbigh, and for every other Shire within the said Country of Dominion of Wales;