Maenclochog

The origin of the name Maenclochog is unclear. It appears to be made up of two Welsh words, maen ("stone") and clochog ("noisy, clamorous").Y Geiriadur Mawr, Gwasg GomerGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru A local tale reports that there were stones near Ffynnon Fair ("Mary's Well"), to the south of the village, which rang like bells when struck, but these were blown up by treasure-hunters, in the mistaken belief that they concealed a golden treasure. This may represent nothing more than folk etymology. An alternative proposal is that the second part of the name comes from the Irish word, clochog, meaning a craggy place. This theory is supported by the fact that there was Irish migration to Pembrokeshire in the early Middle Ages, as attested to by the 5th or 6th century Ogham stones found in the locality and elsewhere, and certainly the name suits the topography of the area.Naws am Le/Sense of Place: PLANED leaflet 2010{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=6078 |desc=Church of St Mary |grade=II |access-date=26 July 2019 }}

File:Maenclochog Standing Stones H3b.jpg

File:Maenclochog fair (1893) NLW3363834.jpg

There is evidence of prehistoric occupation in the vicinity of the present village.{{cite web|title=Dyfed Archaeological Trust|url=http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/Preseli/area/area268.htm|access-date=24 March 2015}}

Researchers have found what are believed to be the remains of a 13th-century castle at Maenclochog.{{cite news |title= Castle wall find at car park dig

|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/7012061.stm |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=2007-09-25 |access-date=2007-09-28 }} Maenclochog (as Mancloghay) appears on a 1583 parish map of Pembrokeshire.{{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 |access-date=22 July 2024|archive-date=27 September 2021 }}

The village was served by the Maenclochog Railway, formally known as the Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway, which ran from Clynderwyn on the Great Western Railway via Maenclochog to Rosebush. The tunnel just outside Maenclochog was used during World War 2 as a bomb-test site for Barnes Wallis, creator of the bouncing bomb.{{cite web|url=http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/tunnels/gallery/castle.html|title=Castle (Maenclochog) Tunnel}}

Following the Second World War an attempt by the War Office to take over 16,000 acres of the Preselau slopes, as a permanent military training ground, was thwarted by a strong campaign led by local ministers of religion and headteachers. The acquisition would have meant a loss of farming livelihood, and Maenclochog might have become a garrison village.{{cite work|last=Wyn|first=Hefin|date=2008|title=Battle of the Preselau|publisher=Sacramento Heritage Press |isbn=978-0-9549931-3-9}}(editions in Welsh and English)

File:Eglwys Fair-St Mary's church - geograph.org.uk - 462841.jpg

The village has a local committee to discuss village affairs. There are two general stores and two petrol stations with a MOT service. In the centre of the village is St Mary's church (Welsh: Eglwys Fair), the park and the green on a small road island. In the village there are many businesses that include two electrical wholesalers and an art gallery. There is a school and a carpenter's situated about 50 metres northwest of the church. Opposite the green is a pub, The Globe.{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire County Council: Visit Pembrokeshire|url=http://www.visitpembrokeshire.com/explore-pembrokeshire/towns-and-villages/maenclochog-and-rosebush/|access-date=24 March 2015}}

Ysgol Gymunedol Maenclochog{{cite web|title=Ysgol Gymunedol Maenclochog|url=https://www.pgfl.org.uk/schools/pf/Maenclochog/about/default.aspx|access-date=24 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121224054450/https://www.pgfl.org.uk/schools/pf/Maenclochog/about/default.aspx|archive-date=24 December 2012}} is a Welsh-medium primary school built in 1878; it has roughly 100 pupils ranging from age 3 to 11.

Between Maenclochog and Llanycefn is Nant-y-Cwm School, an independent, co-educational Steiner Waldorf school,{{cite news|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4234766.stm|title=State funds call for new school|date=12 September 2005|access-date=8 March 2018}}{{cite news|work=Wales Online|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/06/08/steiner-waldorf-to-open-second-school-in-wales-91466-28839734/|date=22 March 2013|title=Steiner Waldorf to open second school in Wales|access-date=8 March 2018}} taking pupils from ages 3 to 14. It was founded in 1979 in a converted Victorian building that was originally the village school for Llanycefn,{{cite web| url = http://www.estyn.gov.uk/download/publication/92956.5/inspection-reportnant-y-cwm-schooleng2008/| title = Welcome to Estyn {{!}} Estyn}} a Board School that ran from 1877 to 1964.[http://anws.llgc.org.uk/cgi-bin/anw/fulldesc_nofr?inst_id=32&coll_id=76433&expand= Archives Network Wales - Primary School Records] The original school records are available to view at the Pembrokeshire Records Office in Haverfordwest.{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire County Council Records: Llanycefn Board School|url=http://records.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=SSR%2f1%2f17|access-date=8 March 2018}}

In the centre of the village green is the Anglican (Church in Wales) church of St Mary, of mediaeval origins but substantially restored in the 19th century. The architecture was fully described when the church was Grade II listed in 1971.{{cite web|title=British Listed Buildings|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-6078-church-of-saint-mary-maenclochog|access-date=26 March 2015}}

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{{commons category|Maenclochog}}

• [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=6506431 Photos of Maenclochog and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk]
• [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/Maenclochog/ Information on Maenclochog on GENUKI]
• [http://www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk/HLC/Preseli/area/area268.htm Information on Maenclochog from Dyfed Archaeological Trust]

{{Communities of Pembrokeshire}}

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Category:Villages in Pembrokeshire

Category:Communities in Pembrokeshire