Castellan, Pembrokeshire

Castellan is an ancient hamlet and, until 1974, was a parish in the Hundred of Kilgerran, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated in the north of the county on the slopes of Frenni Fawr, one mile (2 km) north of Crymych and included much of the village of Blaenffos. Origin of the nameThe placename is an archaic Welsh word meaning "little castle". HistoryThe parish had an area of 920acre. It was originally a chapelry of the parish of Penrydd (several alternate spellings), granted by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, to the Knights Hospitallers of Slebech c. 1130 and was returned in the Valor Ecclesiasticus (1291) as paying 13s 4d (two-thirds of a pound) per annum. In 1684 the rector and churchwardens of Penrith (sic) and Castellan declared the chapel to be "out of repair", the bier having been stolen some 28 years previously. It was annexed to Penrhudd Parish soon after the dissolution of the monasteries but was abandoned by c. 1700 and in ruins by 1833. The church is no longer marked on Ordnance Survey maps. The 1831 census lists the chapelry as having 26 families in as many homes with no uninhabited buildings; 17 of the families were chiefly involved in agriculture and 7 in trades, crafts or manufacture.

Castellan is an ancient hamlet and, until 1974, was a parish in the Hundred of Kilgerran, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated in the north of the county on the slopes of Frenni Fawr, one mile (2 km) north of Crymych and included much of the village of Blaenffos. Origin of the nameThe placename is an archaic Welsh word meaning "little castle". HistoryThe parish had an area of 920acre. It was originally a chapelry of the parish of Penrydd (several alternate spellings), granted by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, to the Knights Hospitallers of Slebech c. 1130 and was returned in the Valor Ecclesiasticus (1291) as paying 13s 4d (two-thirds of a pound) per annum. In 1684 the rector and churchwardens of Penrith (sic) and Castellan declared the chapel to be "out of repair", the bier having been stolen some 28 years previously. It was annexed to Penrhudd Parish soon after the dissolution of the monasteries but was abandoned by c. 1700 and in ruins by 1833. The church is no longer marked on Ordnance Survey maps. The 1831 census lists the chapelry as having 26 families in as many homes with no uninhabited buildings; 17 of the families were chiefly involved in agriculture and 7 in trades, crafts or manufacture.