Ambleston
{{Short description|Village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = Wales
| static_image_name = Ambleston1.jpg
| static_image_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|51.8948|-4.9067|display=inline,title}}
| official_name = Ambleston
| welsh_name = Treamlod
| population = 382
| unitary_wales = Pembrokeshire
| constituency_westminster = Preseli Pembrokeshire
| constituency_welsh_assembly = Preseli Pembrokeshire
| post_town = HAVERFORDWEST
| postcode_district = SA62
| postcode_area = SA
| post_town1 = CLARBESTON ROAD
| postcode_district1 = SA63
| postcode_area1 = SA
| dial_code =
| os_grid_reference = SN000257
| module = 240px
Map of the community
}}
Ambleston ({{langx|cy|Treamlod}}) is a village, parish, and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying {{convert|7|mi|km|spell=in}} north-north-east of Haverfordwest. The parish includes the hamlets of Wallis and Woodstock ({{langx|cy|Wstog}}).
Name
The English and Welsh placenames both mean "Amlot's farm", Amlot being a Norman-French personal name.Charles, B. G., The Placenames of Pembrokeshire, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1992, {{ISBN|0-907158-58-7}}, pp 395
Location and demographics
The northern border of the parish is an ancient trackway leading towards St David's, which crosses through a Roman farmstead called "Castell Fflemish".{{Watprn|DAT|1278|title=Castle Fleming}} This line is also the northern boundary of the cantref of Daugleddau, and was described by George Owen in 1602 as the language frontier, placing Ambleston in Little England beyond Wales.
Ambleston was one of the parishes Owen described as bilingual, and in modern times it was predominantly Welsh-speaking. The 2011 census showed 34.3 per cent of Ambleston community's population could speak Welsh, a fall from 39.4 per cent in 2001.{{cite web|title=2011 Census results by Community |url=http://www.comisiynyddygymraeg.cymru/English/Assistance/Dataandstatisitcs/Pages/2011CensusresultsbyCommunity.aspx |publisher=Welsh Language Commissioner |year=2015 |access-date=8 August 2015 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Historically, the percentage of Welsh speakers was 86 (1891): 79 (1931): 57 (1971).
In 1934, a small part of the parish was transferred to the parish of St Dogmells. The pre-1934 parish had an area of {{convert|3850|acre|ha}}. Its census populations were: 421 (1801): 598 (1851): 386 (1901): 358 (1951): 309 (1981).
The community had a population of 367 in 2001 increasing to 382 at the 2011 census.
Governance
Archaeology and history
A kilometer north of the village is a four-sided low bank enclosing an area some 80m across, at {{coord|51.904|-4.8981|name=Castle Flemish|region:GB_type:landmark}}, SN007267. The feature had been presumed to relate to Roman military activity, and became known as Castle Flemish, or Castell Ffleming. It also came to be associated with the name 'Ad Vigessimum', a fort described by Richard of Cirencester, but this is now thought spurious.{{Watprn|coflein|304464|title=Castell Fleming}} An excavation in 1922 by Mortimer Wheeler found Roman brick and flue tiles, along with various Roman ceramics and roof tiles. These indicate a compound including a bathhouse and living area, and is considered to be a late first-century farmstead or villa. In the nineteenth century there were rumours of a 'golden table' being found here but these remain unsubstantiated. The site is a Scheduled ancient monument.
File:Parc-y-Llyn burial chamber - geograph.org.uk - 618664.jpg
A second ancient monument is also in Ambleston Community. Parc-y-Llyn Burial Chamber is at {{coord|51.9012|-4.9343|name=Parc-y-Llyn Burial Chamber|region:GB_type:landmark}}, SM982265. Potentially a Neolithic chambered tomb, this feature has a capstone 2.0 m across resting on four low uprights.{{Watprn|DAT|2416|title=Parc-y-Llyn Burial Chamber}} It was first noted in 1871 and scheduled in 1938, and a Neolithic origin would date it to 4400 to 2900 BC.{{Watprn|Cadw|3699|title=Parc-y-Llyn Burial Chamber }} However an absence of substantiating finds mean questions have been raised about its authenticity.{{Watprn|coflein|305210|title=Parc-Llyn Chambered Tomb}}
A 1578 map in the British Library shows the parish.{{cite web|title=Penbrok comitat|publisher=British Library|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/001map00000c7c1u00035000.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927183108/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/p/001map00000c7c1u00035000.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2021-09-27|access-date=22 July 2024}}
There are seven listed buildings and other structures in the community.{{cite web|title=British Listed Buildings: Ambleston|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wales/ambleston-pembrokeshire|access-date=18 March 2025}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Genuki|county=PEM|Ambleston}}
- [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=6507776 Photographs of Ambleston and surrounding area on Geograph]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180323031451/https://www.wwwmp.co.uk/pembrokeshire-war-memorials/ambleston-war-memorial/ Ambleston War Memorial]
- [http://www.pembstcc.co.uk/ambleston-community-council Ambleston Community Council]
{{Communities of Pembrokeshire}}
{{authority control}}