STEYNTON, or STAINTON, a parish, in the union of HAVERFORDWEST, hundred of RHOS, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 2 miles
(N. N. E.) from Milford; containing 2903 inhabitants. This parish, which is ou the turnpike-road from Milford to
Haverfordwest, extends to the shore of Milford Haven, by which it is bounded on the south; and Hubberston Pill, an inlet
from the haven, is navigable for small craft, at high water, for a considerable distance within its limits. In the
southern part of it is situated the borough, market, and seaport town of Milford, described under its approloriate head,
and comprising the chief portion of the population: in the western part of it is St. Botolph's, the seat of A. I. Stokes,
Esq., by one of whose relatives it was purchased, in 1826, from the representatives of General he Hunt, who bought it, in
1803, from the family of the Elliots, to whom it had belonged for many years. The present mansion was built in 1800, about
a hundred yards to the west of the an. dent edifice, and partly on the site of a monastery, supposed to have been a cell
to the priory of Pill, near the head of Hubberston Pill. In excavating the ground for the new building, several stone
coffins containing bones were dug up; and part of the walls of the ancient monastery, which are still remaining, have
been incorporated with the out-buildings of the modern mansion. Bolton Hill, an old seat formerly belonging to a family of
that name, is in the northern part of the parish, near an abrupt and lofty eminence called Bolton Beacon. While Cromwell
lay at Haverfordwest, two of his soldiers entered this mansion, with the intention of plundering it, and Bolton, who bad
concealed himself, was denied by his wife to the soldiers, who, nevertheless, suspecting that he was in the house, one of
them took up his child, and pretended to throw it on the fire, on which the father rushed, from his concealment, and
killed the ruffian on the spot; his comrade escaped, and Bolton on reflection, deemed it prudent to inform Cromwell of all
that had occurred, observing to that general, that the man he had killed had only one eye: the latter replied, " The
fellow was a great rascal, and you have saved me the trouble of having him executed." Castle Hall, in the south-eastern
part of the parish, originally built by John Zephaniah Holwell, whose sufferings in the black hole at Calcutta are well
known, is a spacious mansion, and the grounds are extensive and well laid out. The parish is about six miles in length
from north to south, and from a mile and a half to two miles in breadth from east to west, and is wholly inclosed and in a
good state of cultivation; its rateable annual value being returned at £4850. Cu/m is found within its limits, and a mine
which had been worked for many years, for the supply of the neighbourhood, has been re-opened on Lord Kensington's estate.
Great facilities are afforded for the conveyance of the produce by the navigable creek called Hubberston Pill, and by the
main haven. The small village of Pill, distant about a quarter of a mile from the town of Milford, is within the parish.
The LIVING, a discharged vicarage, united to the rectory of Johnston, is endowed with the whole of the great and small
tithes of a portion of the parish; the remainder are impropriate in Mrs. Ann Wright, whose family, the Jordans, sold
another portion, which now forms part of the income of the incumbent of St. Mary's, Haverfordwest. The vicarial tithes
have been commuted for a rent-charge of £58. 10., subject to rates, averaging £5. 12. 11. per annum. The church, dedicated
to St. Peter, or, as it is stated in the Monasticon, to St. Kewel, and formerly dependent upon Pill priory, is an ancient
and venerable structure, with a lofty tower, which, from its elevated situation, is seen from every part of the
surrounding country; the interior consists of a nave, chancel, and two aisles, separated by series of massive columns and
pointed arches: this edifice was garrisoned with a small number of troops during the parliamentary war in the reign of
Charles I. There is a place of worship for Presbyterians. Nine day schools afford instruction to about 300 children: one
of them, endowed, in 1832, by Martha, lady of George Devonald, Esq., of Sodston House, with £30 per annum, to be paid out
of her estate of Studda, in this parish, for the education of 40 children in the principles of the Established Church, is
at present taught in a room lent by Mrs. Devonald, and the trusteeship and management are vested in the incumbent and
churchwardens: in the other eight schools the instruction is at the cost of the parents. There are also four Sunday
schools, gratuitously conducted, in two of which are about 200 males and females, who attend the Established Church, and
the other two, belonging to dissenters, contain about 240: in an infants' school about 120 children are taught at their
parents' expense. The poor children of the parish are also eligible for admission to Tasker's endowed school in
Haverfordwest, where they are clothed as well as instructed. At the head of Prix Pill stood Pill Castle, the capture of
which is recorded by Fenton: there are no remains of this fortress, but in digging near the site, about 80 years, ago, at
a place termed Cwm, a human skull with an iron ball in it was found; and a tradition is extant that a pond near the spot,
now called Deadmin's Lake, derived that name from its having been deeply tinged with the blood of the slain on that
occasion. Near the head of Hubberston Pill are the remains of Pill priory, founded in the year 1200 by Adam de Rupe, for
monks of the order of Tyrone, who afterwards became Benedictines: the priory, which was dedicated to St. Mary and St.
Budoc, flourished till the dissolution, at which time its revenue was estimated at £67. 15.: the site and buildings were
granted, in the 38th of Henry VIII., to Roger and Thomas Barlow. The ruins, which are very small, consist chiefly of some
fragments of the walls; the low entrance gateway leading into the garden is still remaining, but the arch above it fell
down in 1826. At Butter bill, formerly a grange belonging to the priory, live a family of the name of Bock, who are said
to be descended from Adam de Rupe, founder of the priory. There are in the parish several ancient encampments, here.
called Rhdths; one near the priory; another near the neat residence named Thornton House; and a third, called Old
Castle, near the town of Milford; but not one of them is of sufficient irn:- portance to require particular notice. Close
to the ruins of an ancient 'chapel, dedicated to St. Catherine, a silver coin  of. Domitian wah dug up, about 40 years
since. In 1818, a cell wasfound not far from St. Botolph's, where also are some remains of a Druidical altar, designated
by the country people the Long Stone. Sir William James, Bart., the celebrated naval commander in the East India Company's
service, 'in  commemoration of whose achievments the ornamental tower on Shooter's Hill, near London, was erected by his
widow, was born at Bolton Hill mill, in the.parish.