Step 3 - Monkton Priory
- Location : Pembroke
- Length : 2 miles
- Parking : Next to Pembroke Castle
- Picnics spots : There are benches and scenic views throughout the walk
- Accessibility : Generally quite a flat gentle stroll with one relatively steep incline
- Description of this walk : A circular walk around the town of Pembroke
More information
At the end of the path around the castle, cross Monkton Bridge, the site of another Norman quay and mill, and take the gently sloping hill into the suburb of Monkton.
Turn right up Church Terrace - a short but quite steep hill - and go past Monkton Old Hall. This is a privately owned house but was originally a guesthouse for the nearby Monkton Priory. Much of what is left today dates from the 14th century but a superb round Norman chimney still dominates the building.
Continue up Church Terrace to the top of the hill. Here you will find the Priory Church of St Nicholas and St John. The church was once part of Monkton Priory, a Benedictine Priory granted to The Abbey of Seez in Normandy in 1098. the site was already in use before the Normans arrived - a Celtic Christian community having existed here for many years.
The Priory fell into disuse after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 1530s but some arches and the Priory Farmhouse, which might have been the Prior's dwelling, can still be seen. Huge buttresses on the northern wall of the church date from the Victorian era but remain impressive pieces of architecture.
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Phil Carradice
Presenter and writer Phil Carradice is a regular blogger on the Wales History site.