page_title: Pembrokeshire
section_title: 18th and 19th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Pembrokeshire / History / 18th and 19th centuries
caption_attribution_description: Ordnance survey map sheets - various sources Maps may include library stamps (eg Britsh Library etc) and pencil marks Filename suffix refers to sheet number
context_page_description: Pembrokeshire is a county in the southwest of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the sea everywhere else.
  The county is home to Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the only national park in the United Kingdom established primarily because of the coastline; the Park occupies more than a third of the area of the county and includes the Preseli Hills in the north as well as the 190-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
  Industry is nowadays focused on agriculture, oil and gas, and tourism; Pembrokeshire's beaches have won many awards. Historically, mining and fishing were important activities. The county has a diverse geography with a wide range of geological features, habitats and wildlife. Its prehistory and modern history have been extensively studied, from tribal occupation, through Roman times, to Welsh, Irish, Norman, English, Scandinavian and Flemish influences.
  Pembrokeshire County Council's headquarters are in the county town of Haverfordwest. The council has a majority of Independent members, but the county's representatives in both the Welsh and Westminster Parliaments are Conservative.
context_section_description: In 1720, Emmanuel Bowen described Pembrokeshire as having five market towns, 45 parishes and about 4,329 houses, with an area of 420,000 acres (1,700 km²). In 1791 a petition was presented to the House of Commons concerning the poor state of many of the county's roads, pointing out that repairs could not be made compulsory by the law as it stood. The petition was referred to committee. People applying for poor relief were often put to work mending roads. Workhouses were poorly documented. Under the Poor Laws, costs and provisions were kept to a minimum, but the emphasis was often on helping people to be self-employed. While the Poor Laws provided a significant means of support, there were many charitable and benefit societies. After the Battle of Fishguard, the failed French invasion of 1797, 500 French prisoners were held at Golden Hill Farm, Pembroke. From 1820 to 1878 one of the county's prisons, with a capacity of 86, was in the grounds of Haverfordwest Castle. In 1831, the area of the county was calculated to be 345,600 acres (1,399 km²) with a population of 81,424.
  It was not until nearly the end of the 19th century that mains water was provided to rural south Pembrokeshire by means of a reservoir at Rosebush and cast iron water pipes being laid throughout the district.
caption: 1819 Ordnance Survey map of Pembrokeshire
exif: {}