WISTON, or WIZTON, a borough and parish, in the union of HAVERFORDWEST, hundred of DUNGLEDDY, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 5 miles (E. N. E.) from Haverfordwest, 15 (N. by E.) from Pembroke, and 259 (W.) from London; containing 773 inhabitants. This place, of which the Welsh name is Castell Gwys, derived that appellation from its earliest Norman or Flemish possessor, Gwys, or Wiz, who constituted it the head of his barony of Daugleddau: the daughter of his grandson, Sir Philip Gwys, married Gwrgan ab Bleddyn, a native chieftain, from whom descended the family of the Wogans, in whose possession this place remained till the present generation, when, in default of male issue,. the ample estates of this ancient family were divided among the coheiresses; and the castle and borough of Wiston were subsequently purchased by Earl Cawdor. The castle, founded by the original Norman proprietor, and a place of great strength, was frequently connected with the military events of which the ancient province of Pembroke was so often the scene, in the continual conflicts between the Welsh and the Norman invaders of their country. In 1146 the three sons of Grufydd ab RhSrs, joined by Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, having assaulted the fortress with stones thrown by machines invented for that purpose, and with battering-rams, succeeded, after an obstinate defence, in gaining possession of it. In 1193 it was attacked by Hywel ab Rhs, who took Philip de Gwys and his wife prisoners, and carried them off; and in 1220 Llewelyn, Prince of North Wales, in resentment of the violation of a treaty by which the settlers in this part of the country had sworn allegiance to him, attacked the castle, which he razed to the ground, and put the garrison to the sword. From this time the fortress never recovered its former strength, which, however, became unnecessary, as the Welsh, after the marriage of their countryman Gwrgan with the daughter of Philip de Gwys, appear to have left this chieftain and his family in the undisturbed possession of it, as part of their estates. The parish lies a short distance to the north of the main road from Narberth to Haverfordwest, and is of very considerable extent; but the land is generally poor, the only portion of tolerably good soil being about six hundred acres near the church: the return of the rateable annual value of the whole amounts, however, to as much as £3197. 2. The houses are scattered throughout, scarcely any where forming a group; a few in the vicinity of the church approach nearest to the character of a village and one of these is the old manor-house of the Wogans, a part of which, and the only part now occupied, is inhabited as a farm-house. A market formerly held here has long been discontinued; but a fair still occurs on October 20th. This place, supposed to have been once the county town, appears to be a BOROUGH by prescription, for no vestige or notice of any charter is now preserved. A mayor is still elected annually, being presented by the jury of the court leet of the manor and borough, which must consist of burgesses and suitors of the manor; but he is usually some poor man who is appointed, as a method of conferring relief, he being entitled to the tolls of the fair, amounting to £8, £10, or £12, per annum. For a year after the mayor has vacated his office he bears the title of alderman, and there is a tradition that the borough had once a more permanently constituted aldermanic body. There is still ir town-clerk. The burgesses are presented by the jury of the court leet, which is held once or twice a year, and in which the only business connected with the borough consists in the appointment and swearing in of the mayor, burgesses, and constables: the burgesses are at present five or six hundred in number, of whom from two to three hundred are resident in the borough, or within seven miles of its limits. The constables act only for the parish of Wiston, which circumstance tends to show that the borough is co-extensive with its limits, that being the more general opinion, though some consider that the borough is as large as the manor, which not only comprehends the whole parish, but extends a distance of two miles and a half to the north, and a quarter of a mile to the south, of its boundary. Wiston was once contributory with Pembroke and Tenby only, in the return of a parliamentary representative, the right of election being vested in all the burgesses, resident and non-resident, in whom it was confirmed by a resolution of the House of Commons, in 1712; but under the act of 1832, Milford was:idded to the district of boroughs, and the right of voting was restricted to the resident portion of the burgesses, and extended to the £10 householders, duly registered: the number of qualifying tenements is fifty-eight, but of these only eight are of the value of £10 per annum, exclusively of the land held with them. The LIVING is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £800 royal bounty; net income, £164; patron, Earl Cawdor: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £360, of which a sum of £275 is paid to his lordship, and £85 to the perpetual curate, the latter amount subject to rates, averaging £7. 15. per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a plain Norman edifice, with a small tower, and, from its retired situation in the bosom of a plantation, by which it is partly concealed, has a pleasing and picturesque appearance. There is a place of worship for Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. A school, containing 50 children daily and about 20 on Sundays, is supported partly by subscriptions amounting to XIS per annum, and partly by payments from the children; and a Sunday school, connected with the Methodists, affords gratuitous instruction to 20 males and females. The remains of the ancient castle, occupying an elevated site, are very inconsiderable, consisting chiefly of a portion of the keep, crowning the summit of a conical hill, surrounded by a deep moat. From the appearance of the site it seems to have been originally of great extent, and from the thickness of the walls in some parts of the family mansion of the Wogans, which, according to tradition, formed a part of the ancient fortress, it must have been a place of great strength. This mansion is at present let to a farmer, who, however, as already noticed, occupies only part of it; from its windows and from the ruined keep of the castle are obtained prospects of remarkable extent and beauty.