NARBERTH, a parish and market-town and borough (newly-created), and the head of a union, comprising the North and South divisions, in the hundred of NARBERTH, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 144- miles (n. E.) from Pembroke, and 254 (W.) from London; containing 2620 inhabitants, of which number 580 are in the North, 744 in the South, division, and 1287 in the borough. This place, in ancient records " Arberth," and still called so by the Welsh, appears to have been distinguished at a very early period as the residence of some of the chieftains of the country; and mention occurs, in the earlier periods of its history, of Pwyll Pendevig, of the royal house of Dyved, setting out from his palace of Narberth to hunt in the Vale of " Cych." On the conquest of Pembrokeshire by Arnuiph de Montgomery, in the reign of William Rufus, the place became the head of a considerable lordship, which was allotted by Arnulph to Ste Perrot, who had accompanied him in his expedition into this part of the principality, and who is said to have erected, for the security of his territories, a fortress on the summit of a hill (stilt designated Camp hill) between the village of Templetcfn, in the parish, and the present town. This spot was well adapted to the purposes of observation and defence, and was at that time covered with a thick forest; and the remains of military works, which, according to the Welsh chronicles, were destroyed by Grufydd ab Rhjs, may yet be traced. Sir Andrew Perrot, grandson of the first knight, subsequently erected the castle, of which the remains form so prominent and picturesque a feature in the foreground of the town. For this purpose he selected a very eligible site, commanding the pass of the valley through which the high road through the county passes; and having completed the building, he garrisoned it with a party of Flemings, whom Henry I. had settled in this part of the principality, and for whom and his dependents, under the immediate protection of the castle, Sir Andrew built habitations, which formed the origin of the present town. Little is recorded of the history of the castle, which, in 1256, was taken, and the fortifications destroyed, by Liewelyn ab Grufydd, Prince of North Wales; but it appears to have recovered from the injury it received upon that occasion. The lordship and castle were generally the property of the crown, or of some distinguished member of the English peerage, till the reign of Henry VIII., who gave them to Sir Rhks ab Thomas, at which time the castle was in a good state of repair, according to the testimony of Leland, who describes it as "a praty pile of old Sir Rees," The castle suffered material injury during the usurpation of Cromwell; but it appears, notwithstanding, to have remained in a habitable state till the year 1657, when it formed part of the immense possessions of the Barlows, of Slebech, who, in the 4th of James II., obtained permission to hold here a market and fair, and to receive the tolls and customs arising from them. The TOWN is pleasantly situated on an eminence above a narrow valley, two miles and a half to the eastward of the Eastern Cleddy river, and in the northern division of the parish; it consists principally of three narrow streets diverging obliquely from the market-place, which is in the centre. The houses are irregularly built and of mean appearance; and the town, which is neither paved nor lighted, and is indifferently supplied with water, fails in realizing the expectations which the distant view of it excites. As seen from the adjacent heights, with its church, and the picturesque remains of its ancient castle, mantled with ivy, it forms a prominent and highly interesting object; but on a nearer approach, its want of regularity in the order, and of beauty in the form, of its buildings, destroys the effect of its distant appearance. The surrounding scenery is richly varied and beautifully picturesque. The southern portion of the parish produces abundance of excellent limestone, of which great quantities are burnt for the supply of the surrounding neighbourhood, and a considerable portion is quarried for building, some of which, from its being susceptible of a fine polish, is manufactured into mantel-pieces of great beauty. The town has lost much of its importance, and sustained a diminution of its inhabitants, owing to the diversion of the great western road, which now runs four miles at the south of the town to Hobbs' Point, near Her Majesty's dockyard. A lock-up house, having over it a room in which magisterial and parochial meetings are held, has recently been built by a grant from the county rates and by subscription; and a new market-house, considered to be one of the-most commodious in South Wales, has been completed, at the sole expense of the Baron de Rutzen or Slebech Hall, the proprietor of the castle and lord of the manor, which he obtained by marriage with the heiress of the late Nathaniel Philipps, Esq. Hats are manufactured to a limited extent; and the shoe trade is considerable. The market is on Thursday, and is abundantly supplied with provisions of every kind, at an extremely moderate price. Fairs are held on March 21st, June 2nd and 29th, August 10th, September 23, October 26th, and December 11th: they are all noted cattle fairs, and are much resorted to by graziers and drovers from England. The rateable annual value of the parish has been returned at £7141. 10. 7i., of which £5-204. O. 11. are for the northern, and £1937. 9. 8i. for the southern, division. By the act of 1832, for " Amending the representation of the People," Natiferth was created a borough, contributory, with Fishguard, to that of Hsverfordwest in the return of a member to parliament: the number of registered voters within the limits of the borough is fifty-five. It is also a polling-place in the election of a knight for the shire. The petty-sessions for the hundred are held here. The LIVING is a rectory, with Robeston-Wathen annexed, rated in the king's books at £25. 10. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; present net income, £417: the tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £550; and there is a glebe of 60 acres, valued at £60 per annuni. The church, dedicated to St- Andrew, and supposed to have been originally erected by Sir Andrew Perrot, the founder. of the castle, has been lately rebuilt, partly by subscription, aided by a grant of £150 from the lacerporated Society for promoting the building and eiilargement of churches and chapels, and partly by it rateupon the inhabitants, amounting to one-third of the whole expense. It is a very neat edifice, in the later style of English architecture, and, in consideration of the gift from the Society, contains a hundred and fifty free sittings, in addition to fifty which were previously unappropriated. Prior to 1829 both the church and parsonage-house were in a very dilapidated condition; but a new rectory-house and commodious out-buildings have been ,erected, at a cost of £913, raised by a mortgage on the living, under Gilbert's Act. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists. A free school for poor children was founded in 1832, by George Devonald, Esq., of Sodaton House, who endowed it by deed enrolled in chancery, with a rent-charge of £30, issuing out of the farm of Rush. Acre, consisting of 80 acres; directing that the children to be admitted should not be less than six, nor remain after attaining 12, years of age; and bestowing the future selection of the master and mistress on the incumbent and churchwardens, with the proprietor of Sodston House, for the time being: there are now 100 children regularly taught on the National plan in the schools, and measures are in progress to add to the building sufficient room for 70. girls. About 65 boys and 65 girls are educatedin seven day schools, at the expense of their parents; and there are also three Sunday schools gratuitously conducted, two of which, belonging to Independents, contain about 100 males and females; the other, connected with Baptists, about 80. The poor law union, of which this town is the head, was formed January 6th, 1837, and comprises the following 48 parishes and townships; namely, Amroath, Begelly, Bletherston, Clarbeston, Coedcanlais, Crinow, Cronwere, St. Issel's, Jeffreston, LampeterVelvrey, Lawhaden, Llandewi - Velvrey, Llandilo, part of Llandissilio, Llangolman, part of Llanvalteg, Llanycevn, Loveston, Ludchurch, Martletwy, St. Mary's or Maenclochog, Mounton, MynachlogdA, Mynwere, North and South Narberth, Newton, New Mote, Reynoldston, Robeston-Wathen, Slebech, East Williamston, and Yerbeston, in the county of Pembroke; Castel-Dauyran, Egremont, Eglwys-Cummin, Eglwys-Vair-yChyrig, Henllan-Amgoed, Kifig, Llanboidy, part of Llandissilio, Llanglydwen, part of Llanvalteg, Marros, and Pendine, in the county of Carmarthen; and Killymaenllwyd and Llangan, in the counties of Pembroke and Carmarthen. It is under the superintendence of 50 guardians, and contains a population of 21,753. The union workhouse, capable of accommodating 150 classified paupers, is on an elevated spot, midway between Narberth and Templeton, in the south division of the parish, and commands a most extensive view of the country from north-east to south-west. It cost £3700, including £240 paid to Sir R. Philipps, Bart., for three acres of land: of this amount £2200 were borrowed from the Exchequer Loan Commissioners, and £1000 from the Economic Life Assurance Society; and five per cent. of the principal is to be paid annually, until the whole be redeemed. The remains of the ancient castle, which appears to have been a structure of considerable extent, consist principally of the grand gateway between two circular towers, partly clothed with ivy, and some small portions of the walls; though inconsiderable in their extent, they possess a very pleasing and interesting character, and from their situation have a highly picturesque appearance. On the eastern verge of Canaston wood, but within this parish, are vestiges of a fine old British iutrenchment, nearly triangular in form, and comprising an area of two acres and a half in extent, with the longest side towards the river Cleddy; it is defended on all sides, except on the east, where it is protected by a natural ravine, by a lofty rampart of great breadth, and has only one entrance, at the south-eastern angle. About a mile to the south of the town is the anoint village of Templeton, so wiled from its having been the resort of the Knights Templars of Slebech, who were accustomed to pursue the diversion of hunting at this place; the cottages in this village have an appearance 52 of great age; and the remains of numerous ruined buildings, together with the tradition that there was once a church or chapel of ease here, on the site of which is a building, subsequently used by a congregation of Unitarian dissenters, but now in ruins, afford evidence of its having been a place of greater importance: a large cattle fair is held in the village on the 12th of November. Grove in the parish, is chiefly remarkable as having been the patrimonial inheritance of the celebrated Colonel Poyer, who so gallantly defended Pembroke Castle during the parliamentary war, and who, together with Colonels Laugharne and Powell, was tried by Cromwell for high treason, and sentenced to suffer death. Cromwell being prevailed upon to spare the lives of two, three papers were folded up, on two of which was written " Life given by God," and the third, which was blank, having fallen by lot to Colonel Poyer, he was shot in Covent Garden, on the 25th of April, 1649: from this circumstance, the family motto, "Sore est contra me," has been taken. A field on the estate commands a most extensive prospect over the counties of Cardigan, Carmarthen, Glamorgan, and Pembroke, in Wales, and over those of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, in England.