CLEAR'S-ST (ST-CLARE'S), a parish, in the higher division of the hundred of DERLLYS, county of CARMARTHEN, SOUTH WALES,
on the road from Carmarthen to Haverfordwest, 9 miles (W. by s.) from Carmarthen, containing 1083 inhabitants. This place,
which is of considerable antiquity, is supposed to have derived its name from a pious lady, named Clara, who founded a
church here in the fifth or sixth century, and, after being canonized, became its tutelar saint. Some, however, are of
opinion that it owes its name to the assembly of the Welsh bards, which used to be held here, called in the Welsh language
Clair, pointing out, in support of this hypothesis, a lofty tumulus as the place of meeting. Soon after the Norman
invasion of this portion of the principality, a castle was erected here by some of the conquerors, the ruins of which are
noticed by Leland, who wrote in the time of Henry VIII., but have since entirely disappeared. It is frequently mentioned
in the Welsh annals, and was taken and partially demolished by Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales, in the year
1215: it afterwards shared the fate of nearly all the Welsh fortresses, until the struggle between the natives and the
Norman settlers was decided by the conquest of Wales by Edward I. A small Cluniac priory, for a prior and two monks, was
founded here before 1291, as a cell to the monastery of St. Martin de Cam-pis at Paris, which was dissolved with the other
Alien priories, in the reign of Henry V., and its possessions were given by Henry VI. to the Warden and Fellows of All
Souls' College, Oxford, to whom, together with two-thirds of the tithes of the parish, they still belong. The town is
situated at the confluence of the Guinning with the Tit which discharge their united waters into the bay of Carmarthen, at
the small town of Laugh-erne, a few miles to the south, and consists of one straggling street, nearly a mile in length,
neither lighted nor paved, but well supplied with water, and containing many good dwelling-houses: several respectable
shops are at present in progress of erection; the old houses are undergoing renovation, and other improvements are being
made. The surrounding district is highly productive of corn and butter, which are here shipped for Bristol, Cardiff,
Bridg-water, Southampton, and other ports; this trade at present affording constant employment to two vessels of fifty-
five tons' burden each: there are also eight small craft, each of about twenty-five tons' burden, engaged in the coal,
culm, and limestone trades between this place and Milford Haven; and there is a limited export trade in cheese and bark.
During the year 1830, four thousand five hundred quarters of grain, and about one hundred tons of butter, were shipped
from this small port, which is a creek within the limits of the port of Llanelly. A new quay, one hundred and fifty yards
in extent, has recently been completed, which will afford increased facility for loading and unloading. St. Clear's is
commonly reputed a market town; but it has no market for the sale of provisions, &c.; Tuesdays and Fridays being here
called the market-days, in consequence of the opening of the merchants' stores on those days, for the reception of the
staple commodities of the vicinity. It was formerly a borough of some note, and had its courts of session, and its gaol,
the latter of which was standing about fifty years ago. A portreeve, recorder, two common attorneys, and a cryer of the
court, are regularly appointed, but no court is held, except that of petty session by the county magistrates, once a
month. The freedom is acquired by birth for all the children of burgesses, and is also obtained by election. The living is
a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Carmarthen, and diocese of St. David's, rated in the king's books at £4. 17.
1., endowed with £200 private benefaction, £200 royal bounty, and £600 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of J.
Lewes Philipps, Esq. The church, which is situated on the bank of the Guinning, is an edifice of considerable antiquity.
There are two places of worship for Independents, and one each for Wesleyan Methodists and Unitarians. A school, in which
about sixty children of both sexes are instructed, is supported by subscription; and there is a donation of £8 per annum
to a schoolmaster, for educating a limited number of children, by Lady Mary Osborne, of Pencoed, in this parish, who also
gave, by deed in 1719, lands now producing 3615 per annum, for distribution among the poor. The tumulus mentioned as being
considered the place of meeting of the bards is now called Banc y Bailey, and is stated also to have been the site of the
castle; but it appears to be too small to have been occupied by the whole of that edifice, and is probably only the mount
on which the keep stood. The average annual expenditure for the support of the poor amounts to £268. 16.