England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Prendergast St David

The Parish

The parish of Prendergast is situated in central Pembrokeshire about a half mile north of the market town of Haverfordwest. Prendergast is, today, just a suburb of that town linked by the bridges over the Western Cleddau river, modern housing developments have expanded Prendergast notably. At the time of this transcript Prendergast would have been a separate settlement exploiting the river flood plain and the crossing to its larger neighbour. Prendergast sits on a high ridge of land forming a constriction of the river valley, the A40- road which links Haverfordwest with Fishguard formerly passed through the lower part of the village but now bypasses to the east. At the time of this transcript Prendergast's economy would have been mixed, pastoral farming in the river valleys and slopes but the village folk could also enjoy the market town benefits of proximity to Haverfordwest. The Western Cleddau river drains the parish southwards to reach the Irish Sea through Milford Haven, just a few miles to the south. Prendergast is sited at between 5 metres (by the Western Cleddau bridge) to the higher residences at 35 metres above the sea, the landscape is undulating to local heights of around 50 metres or so. Pembrokeshire parishes are quite small on a Welsh scale and Prendergast was one of the smaller, it covered just over 1,100 acres and would have supported a population of about 1,500 parishioners. In common with most of Wales Prendergast is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover the area.

The Church

St David's church stands on the western slopes of the ridge on which Prendergast sits between the former route of the A40 (now the B4329) and the valley running road from the bridge to the A40. The mediaeval church would have had its origins in the early English Gothic period of the 13th century but little of that building remains, the tapering western tower being the only notable piece showing traces of that period. Much else of the building dates from the restoration (better stated as a rebuild) of 1866 - 1868 which Pevsner describes as lavish. The church is sited at the end of Church Lane, which runs down from the B4329 to the church gates. The churchyard is enclosed within head height local stone walls with metal gates to grant access to the churchyard, the site is relatively open with few restrictions to photographic angles.