:Trefasser
{{Short description|Village in Pembrokeshire, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
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| coordinates = {{coord|52|-5.07|display=inline,title}}
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| unitary_wales = Pembrokeshire
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Trefasser (variations: Tref-Asser, or Trêf Asser, or Asserton; translation: "town" of "Asser"){{cite book|last=Charnock|first=Richard Stephen |title=Local etymology: a derivative dictionary of geographical names|url=https://archive.org/details/localetymologya00chargoog|year=1859|publisher=Houlston and Wright|page=[https://archive.org/details/localetymologya00chargoog/page/n576 276]}}{{cite book|last=Carlisle|first=Nicholas |title=A topographical dictionary of ... Wales, a continuation of the topography of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATITAAAAQAAJ&dq=Tref-asser+&pg=PT418|year=1811|page=4D}}{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Thomas |title=Handbook of the origin of place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog|year=1887|publisher=H.W. Southey|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog/page/n218 208]}} is a hamlet, located to the west of Fishguard in western Wales. Historically, it is part of the parish of Llanwnda. It lies on the coast of St George's Channel within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. A stream named Cledde Goch runs close by.{{cite book|title=The Transactions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAkiAQAAIAAJ&q=Trefasser|year=1970|publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion|location=London|page=113}}
Trefasser's farms, houses and cottages are the only settled area of Pen Caer.{{cite web|url=http://www.cambria.org.uk/HLC/pencaer/pencaer.htm|title=Pen Caer|work=cambria.org.uk|access-date=4 October 2010}} David Tress has painted the place in an abstract painting.
History
Trefasser was mentioned in the survey of episcopal lands in 1326. It at one time belonged to Major Thomas Askwith Jenkins (1809–1877) of Trevigin.
In July 2009, the body of a 47-year-old man from Stourbridge in the West Midlands was found at the bottom of the cliffs of Trefasser.{{cite news|url=http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/4506033.Man_found_dead_on_Trefasser_cliff_named/|title=Man found dead on Trefasser cliff named by HM Coroner for Pembrokeshire|publisher=Western Telegraph|date=July 22, 2009|access-date=October 3, 2010}}
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Etymology
The general consensus is that Trefasser is named after Bishop Asser, a Welsh churchman who was friend and biographer of King Alfred in the 9th century and may have been his birthplace.{{cite book|last=Laws|first=Edward|title=The History of Little England Beyond Wales|publisher=Bell, London|date=1888|pages=107–119|url=https://archive.org/details/b21781023/page/107|access-date=26 February 2023}}{{cite book |last=Nicholas|first=Thomas |title=Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales: containing a record of all ranks of the gentry ... with many ancient pedigrees and memorials of old and extinct families|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1IBAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22TREF+ASSER%22&pg=PA903|year=1872 |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green, Reader|page=903}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5BCAAAAYAAJ&dq=trefasser&pg=PA626|author=Gorton, John|author-link=John Gorton (writer)|title=A topographical dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland: compiled from local information, and the most recent and official authorities: Volume 3 of A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland|publisher=Chapman and Hall|year=1833|page=626}}{{cite book|last=Gronow|first=J. |title=A review of England and Wales, in which the historical events of every town, village, and place are briefly expressed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwoHAAAAQAAJ&dq=Trefasser+wales&pg=PA321|year=1849|publisher=Simpkin and Marshall|location=London|page=321}}An alternative explation is that it is named for Asser's nephew, Asser Meneventsis, as Trefasser is said to be his birthplace. Meneventsis was a Benedictine monk, as well as scribe and chancellor to Asser. {{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Thomas |title=Handbook of the origin of place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog|year=1887|publisher=H.W. Southey|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog/page/n218 208]}}
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Castell Poeth
A tumulus named Castell Poeth ("the Hot Castle") is located nearby. It is an exploratory castelet with an occasional beacon.{{cite book|last=Nicholson|first=George |title=The Cambrian traveller's guide, and pocket companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z70HAAAAQAAJ&dq=trefasser&pg=PA666|year=1840|publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans|location=London|page=263}} Described as a ditched, raised enclosure, oval in shape, and measuring {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}} across, it has an attached second oval measuring {{convert|46|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|54|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/305291/details/CASTELL+POETH/|title=CASTELL POETH|last=Wiles|first=J.|date=2004|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|access-date=4 October 2010}}