Steynton

 Pubs/Bars in Steynton:
 Horse & Jockey
       Steynton
       Milford Haven
       Dyfed
       SA73 1AP
 01646 692166

Steynton, or Stainton - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849)
STEYNTON, or STAINTON, a parish, in the union of Haverfordwest, hundred of Rhôs, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Milford; containing 2903 inhabitants, of whom 1640 are in the town of Milford. This parish, which lies on the turnpike-road from Milford to Haverfordwest, extends to the shore of Milford Haven, on the south; and Hubberston Pill, an inlet from the Haven, is navigable for small craft, at high water, for a considerable distance. In the southern part of the parish is situated the market and sea-port town of Milford, described under its appropriate head. In the western part of it is St. Botolph's, the seat of A. I. Stokes, Esq., by one of whose relatives it was purchased, in 1826, from the representatives of General le Hunt, who bought it, in 1803, from the family of the Elliots, to whom it had belonged for many years. The present mansion was built in 1800, about a hundred yards to the west of the ancient edifice, and partly on the site of a monastery, supposed to have been a cell to the priory of Pill near the head of Hubberston Pill. In excavating the ground for the new building, several stone coffins containing bones were dug up; and part of the walls of the ancient monastery, which are still remaining, have been incorporated with the out-buildings of the modern mansion. Bolton Hill, an old seat formerly belonging to a family named Bolton, is in the northern part of the parish, near an abrupt and lofty eminence called Bolton Beacon. While Cromwell lay at Haverfordwest, two of his soldiers entered this mansion, with the intention of plundering it, and Bolton, who had concealed himself, was denied by his wife to the soldiers. They nevertheless suspected that he was in the house, and one of them took up his child, and pretended to throw it on the fire, on which the father rushed from his concealment, and killed the man on the spot. His comrade escaped; and Bolton, on reflection, deemed it prudent to inform Cromwell of all that had occurred, observing to that general that the man he had killed had only one eye: the latter replied, "The fellow was a great rascal, and you have saved me the trouble of having him executed." Castle Hall, in the south-eastern part of the parish, was originally built by John Zephaniah Holwell, whose sufferings in the Black Hole at Calcutta are well known; it is a spacious mansion, and the grounds are extensive and pleasingly laid out.

The parish is about six miles in length from north to south, and a mile and a half or two miles in breadth from east to west, and is wholly inclosed and in a good state of cultivation. Culm is found within its limits, and a mine which had been worked for many years, for the supply of the neighbourhood, was some time ago re-opened on Lord Kensington's estate. Great facilities are afforded for the conveyance of the produce by the navigable creek called Hubberston Pill, and by the main Haven. Besides the town of Milford and the village of Steynton, the small village of Pill, distant about a quarter of a mile from Milford, is within the parish.

The Living, a discharged vicarage united to the rectory of Johnston, is endowed with the whole of the great and small tithes of a portion of the parish; part of the remainder are impropriate in Mrs. Ann Wright, whose family, the Jordans, sold the other portion, which now forms part of the income of the living of St. Mary's, Haverfordwest. The vicar's tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £58. 10. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, or, as is stated in the Monasticon, to St. Kewel, and formerly dependent upon Pill Priory, is situated in the village of Steynton, and forms an ancient and venerable structure, with a lofty tower, which, from its elevated situation, is seen from every part of the surrounding country. The interior consists of a nave, chancel, and two aisles, separated by series of massive columns and pointed arches. This edifice was garrisoned with a small number of troops during the parliamentary war in the reign of Charles I. There are two or three places of worship for dissenters in the rural part of the parish; and at Milford are a district chapel in connexion with the Establishment, and several meeting-houses. In the village is a school endowed in 1832 by Martha, lady of George Devonald, Esq., of Sodston House, with £30 per annum, to be paid out of her estate of Studda, in this parish, for the education of children in the principles of the Established Church: the trusteeship and management are vested in the incumbent and churchwardens. There are eight Sunday schools in the parish, two of them in connexion with the Church; and poor children of the parish are eligible for admission to Tasker's school in Haverfordwest, where the scholars are clothed as well as instructed.

At the head of Prix Pill stood Pill Castle, the capture of which is recorded by Fenton: there are no remains of this fortress, but in digging near the site, about a century ago, at a place termed Cwm, a human skull with an iron ball in it was found; and a tradition is extant that a pond near the spot, now called Deadman's Lake, derived its name from having been deeply tinged with the blood of the slain on that occasion. Near the head of Hubberston Pill are the remains of Pill Priory, founded in the year 1200 by Adam de Rupe, for monks of the order of Tyrone, who afterwards became Benedictines. The priory was dedicated to St. Mary and St. Budock, and flourished till the Dissolution, at which time its revenue was estimated at £67. 15.: the site and buildings were granted, in the 38th of Henry VIII., to Roger and Thomas Barlow. The ruins are very small, consisting chiefly of some fragments of the walls; the low entrance gateway leading into the garden is still remaining, but the arch above it fell down in 1826. At Butter Hill, which was a grange belonging to the priory, live a family of the name of Roch, who are said to be descended from Adam de Rupe, founder of the priory. There are several ancient encampments, here called rhâths; one near the priory; another near the neat residence of Thornton House; and a third, called Old Castle, near the town of Milford: but not one of them is of sufficient importance to require particular notice. Near the ruins of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Catherine, a silver coin of Domitian was dug up, about half a century since. In 1818, a celt was found not far from St. Botolph's, where also are some remains of a Druidical altar, designated by the country-people the Long Stone. Sir William James, Bart., the celebrated naval commander in the East India Company's service, in commemoration of whose achievements the ornamental tower on Shooter's Hill, near London, was erected by his widow, was born at Bolton Hill mill, in the parish.