PENBREY, otherwise PEMBREY (PENBRE), a parish, in the union of LLANELLY, formerly in the hundred of KIDWELLY, but now annexed to CARNAWLLON, county of CARMARTHEN, SOUTH WALES, 5 miles (W.) from Llanelly; containing 2849 inhabitants. The name of this place, signifying literally the head of a hill or promontory, is derived from its situation at the extremity of a mountainous ridge. The parish is bounded on the east by Llanelly, on the north by Llangendeirn, on the north-west by Kidwelly, and on the south by the river Burry, and a wide tract of sands dividing it from Gower, in Glamorganshire; and comprises by admeasurement 7000 acres. The surface presents rather a barren appearance, with a few fertile spots interspersed, partly arable and partly pasture; the soil is of a clayey and sandy quality, producing chiefly wheat and barley; and there is a small portion of woodland, the prevailing timber consisting of elm and oak. Very little picturesque-beauty is displayed, but the views that some parts command of sea and land are extensive and delightful, on a tolerably clear day Tenby, and Lundy and Caldey islands being discernible; the parish is intersected by the Achddu stream, and separated from Kidwelly by the Gwendraeth Vawr. On the south a very ex.- tensive sandy common is overflowed occasionally by the tide, but it affords good grazing land to numerous flocks of sheep, which the tenants of several farms in this and the adjoining parishes have the right of de-pasturing. The substrata contain some mineral wealth, and are thought to be rich in bituminous and hard coal, both being wrought, though to a limited extent, in three collieries, where a few hands are employed. The quality of the soft coal is peculiarly adapted to the production of gas, the working of iron, and other manufacturing purposes; and vast quantities of both sorts were formerly exported to various parts of the kingdom. To facilitate the conveyance of the mineral produce of the district, a capacious harbour was constructed, in 1819, by the Penbrey Harbour Company, formed for the purpose, with a pier extending to a distance of four hundred yards from the shore; but this harbour has fallen into disuse, being private property, and has been superseded by another constructed to the north-east of it, under the provisions of an act of parliament, obtained in 1825, by a new company. A canal has also been formed, connecting this port with the Kidwelly and Llanelly canal, and pursuing hence a northerly course; and Penbrey, in consequence of these and other advantages, promises to become a place of great trade. This part of the coast, however, is of difficult navigation, and, to mariners unacquainted with it, the most fatal on the shores of the Bristol Channel: in November 1828, a French West Indiaman from Martinique was wrecked off this place, and nearly all the crew and passengers perished, among the latter of whom were Colonel Coquelin and his daughter Adeline, niece of Josephine, ci-devant empress of France, who, with the other unfortunate sufferers, were buried in the churchyard of Penbrey, where a very handsome slab has been erected to their memory, at the suggestion and under the auspices of John Hughes Rees, Esq. The living is a discharged vicarage, with Liendury benefice annexed, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and £1400 parliamentary grant; present net income, £69, with a glebe-house; patron and impropriator, Earl of Ashburnham; whose tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £700. The church, dedicated to St. Illtyd, is a spacious and handsome edifice in the later English style, containing sixty pews, all appropriated, with a small gallery, the seats in which are free: the register bears date 1725, and the sacramental cup 1574. At Llandury, a hamlet, in the parish, is a commodious chapel of ease, where divine service is performed regularly in the afternoon; and in the hamlet of Pendryn, or more properly, Penrhyn, was a chapel, called Cynnor, which is now in ruins, and the site is used as a coal-yard. There are places of worship for Independents and Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. A day school was endowed with £5 per annum, and a house and garden for the master, given by the late Rev. Mr. Pemberton, but the endowment has been withdrawn; several Sunday schools are conducted gratuitously. A rent-charge of £1, by Hector Morris, in 1775, is distributed on Good Friday among the poor, but a similar sum bequeathed by Hugh Thomas, in 1726, has been discontinued since 1816. A peculiar custom prevails among many in the parish, of not allowing females to enter their houses on New Year's-day.