Pembroke is the traditional county town of Pembrokeshire in west Wales. However, the administrative centre and de facto county town is Haverfordwest.

History

One point of interest in the town is Pembroke Castle, the impressive remains of a mediæval castle which was the birthplace of King Henry VII of England. Pembroke and its surroundings are linked with the early Christian church. Later this was the site of the Knights of St John in the UK. Templeton, Pembrokeshire, the village in mid Pembs, Minwear Church has a window with a Knights cross. Monkton Priory has very early foundations and was renovated by the Knights in the last century. There was a Knights' Bath House on the foreshore in Neyland which was demolished unlawfully on Boxing Day 2005. The first stone building was a defensive tower, now known as the Medieval Chapel, 69a Main Street, built on the edge of a cliff edge between 950 and 100, there are the remains of a grand hall to the North and recently filled-in arched cellars. The building was used as an early church. The layout is the same as St Govans Chapel and it was used by John Wesley from 1764 to preach Methodism, after Westgate Chapel was built we do not know what it was used for after 1810, in 1866 it became the Brewery for the York Tavern which was Cromwells headquarters at the siege of Pembroke during the Civil War. On both banks of Pembroke River to the West of the Castle are many remains of early activities. The buildings of Catshole Quarry and the rare vegetation with the irreplaceable foreshore have recently been buried by dumped materials. The North Shore Quarries are relatively complete as are the remains of Medieval and Elizabethan slipways where wooden vessels were built before the industrial Dockyard and Admiralty town was built on the grid pattern of Pembroke Dock.
There is a very early graving dock complete in what was Hancocks Yard, about to be buried by a massive infill of the mud flats to the North. The reclaimed land will be used to build high rise flats. At Pennar flats the early submarine base used for experiments in submarine warfare has been recently bulldozed to allow speculative development by executive housing. Three of the houses on the then foreshore as part of the shipyard before the Admiralty Dock Yard was built are still standing but are heavily altered.
The ferry port of Pembroke Dock is a separate town, which was established in 1814, it lies three miles to the north of Pembroke. Within the MOD Moorings Depot there is a defensive tower later Pater Church.The Depot will be up for redevelopment. All the buildings surrounding the tower have been demolished or burnt down, the building is exposed, entry can be granted by application to the MOD.
The Western Martello Tower of dressed Portland Stone is in private hands and is substantialy complete. The Dockyard Wall is substantialy complete and has been recently repaired by experts with dressed stone and lime mortar. The two listed hangars built to house the Sunderland Flying boats used to guard the Western Approaches, are being rebuilt and have to find new uses.The Dockyard Church has been rebuilt using Objective One funding from the EU and has to find a new use. The dessed limestone buildings built to service the Dockyard, Coronation School a magnificent building which is used as a thriving Community Center among others are due for demolition for redevelopment by speculative housing.