Nolton - From 'A Topographical Dictionary of Wales' (1849) NOLTON, a parish, in the union of Haverfordwest, hundred of Rhôs, county of Pembroke, South Wales, 6 miles (W. by N.) from Haverfordwest; containing 227 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the eastern shore of St. Bride's bay, and comprises a moderate portion of arable and pasture land, which was inclosed under the provisions of an act of parliament in 1759. The surface is varied, and in some parts hilly; the soil is in general productive, and the inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture. Stone, of a quality not inferior to that of Portland, abounds in the parish; and some quarries were opened, that might have been worked to great advantage, had due care been taken to find out the proper stratum. The repairs and alterations of the cathedral church of St. David's, towards the close of the last century, were to have been wholly executed with this stone; but the contractor for the buttresses having taken the stratum which lay nearest the surface, instead of sinking lower for that of the best quality, the intention was abandoned. The small haven near the village of Drewson, in the parish, afforded a facility for conveying the produce of the quarries to its destination; and probably, when further trial has been made of the quality of the stone from the proper stratum, it may again become a shipping-place for that material.
The living is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £4. 2. 11., endowed with £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £118, and there is a glebe of 29a. 2r. 20p., valued at £40 per annum; also a glebe-house. The church is dedicated to St. Madoc: there was formerly a chapel of ease at the village of Drewson, but it has been for some time in ruins. A school is chiefly supported by an endowment of £18 a year, arising from a bequest by the late John Grant, Esq., of Waltham Place, county of Berks, who left funds for a similar purpose to the parish of Roch. A house consisting of a schoolroom on the first floor, and two rooms below for the residence of the master, was erected principally at the expense of the late Rev. Moses Grant. The master is appointed by the rector and churchwardens. At Drewson, properly Druidston, were some Druidical remains, from which that small hamlet originally derived its name; the stones that composed the circle were removed in 1740, and have been used for building purposes.
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