England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Llanstadwell St Tudwal

The Parish

The parish of Llanstadwell lies in southern Pembrokeshire forming part of the county's coastline, here highly convoluted, with the natural harbour which is Milford Haven. Llanstadwell is roughly 3 miles northwest of the port of Pembroke, across the Haven and sits just west of the B4325 road which connects Milford Haven with Neyland. Llanstadwell is a coastal parish, most properties line the banks of Milford Haven but the parish extends inland to higher ground too. At the time of this transcript Llanstadwell would have been largely a farming community with a mixed farming regime augmented by the assets of its coastal position, fishing, shell-fishing and coastal transportation would have supplemented farm incomes. Modern developments have now come to Llanstadwell, just to the west of the village lies the vast refineries of Milford Haven, the jetties at Wear Point bringing in oil for processing and distribution, rail links, albeit freight only connect the refinery to the the Haverfordwest to Milford Haven branch-line. More gentile is the Pembrokeshire Coast Trail which passes through the parish passing St Tudwal's church on its way and bringing some tourism trade to Llanstadwell. As a coastal settlement Llanstadwell has numerous small streams linking into the nearby Milford Haven. Llanstadwell is sited at sea level but land rises inland to local heights of 81 metres at nearby Scoveston Fort where a 19th century port defense lies. Llanstadwell parish was towards the larger end of the scale for its area, covering 3,300 acres it would have supported a population of close to 800 parishioners. Like most of Wales Llanstadwell is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

St Tudwal's church sits almost on the beach to the south of Church Road which deliberately meanders away from the shore around the churchyard. Whilst the church has medieval origins it is one that has been much altered over the centuries receiving particular effort from the Victorians. The core of the church, nave & chancel, shows signs of a 12th century origin, Norman Romanesque in style, a round-headed chancel arch is believed to indicate this early date. The first major change came with the Perpendicular era of the 15th century when the northern transept was added and today's western tower was added or replaced an earlier version, it was built in two distinct phases. The Victorian & later work began in 1863 when a matching southern transept was added, the church was re-roofed in 1876 and a southern porch also added in 1888 along with a general restoration of the chancel. Finally and more recently the tower was restored in 1924 to complete today's church. Church Road is very narrow but parking for a single car is just about possible by the western entrance. Whilst the churchyard is open and uncluttered from the north, the church sits close to the shore with trees and limited space to access the favoured southeastern aspects without getting one's feet wet and making for a slightly tricky subject on a sunny day.