PWLLCROCHON (PWLL-CROCHAN), a parish, in the hundred of CASTLEMARTIN, union of PEMBROKE and county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH
WALES, 5. miles (W. by N.) from Pembroke; containing 212 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the south side of Milford
Haven, which encircles a considerable portion of it; and is bounded on the east and south-east by the parish of Monkton,
and on the west and southwest by that of Rhoscrowther. It contains by ad-measurement 1600 acres, of which about 1200 are
in pasture and meadow, 300 arable, and 100 under furze; the soil is of a red clayey quality, and the chief agricultural
produce consists of barley, wheat, and oats. Limestone is found, and two small quarries are worked, chiefly for private
use; a small creek of Milford Haven affords great facility for conveying the produce to its destination. The return made
of the rateable annual value of the parish amounts to £1119. 3. The living is a rectory, rated in the king's books at £9.
12. 11., and in the patronage of the Crown: the amount of rent-charge in lieu of tithes is £175; and there is a glebe of 9
acres, valued at £9. 9. per annum; also a glebe-house. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a venerable structure, in the
decorated style of English architecture, erected in the fourteenth century by Radulph Beneger, then incumbent of the
parish, who was interred in the south aisle, where his effigy is placed in a recess, with the inscription in old Norman
characters, Hic jacet Radulphus Beneger, Hu.* eccksie rector. On a tablet inserted in the wall is also a complimentary
tribute in Latin verse; and in the outer angle of the north transept is the inscription, also Norman, A. D. 1342, Erat
ista Ecclesia conatructa de novo, cum eapella ista, per Radulphum Beneger, qui rexit ecclesiam per annoy .... In the
churchyard a skirmish took place in 1648, during the civil war in the reign of Charles I., between the royalist and
parliamentary forces. There is a place of worship for Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. 'George Meares, Esq., of West Pennar,
in the parish, in 1765, endowed a day school with £12 per annum, payable out of the West Pennar estate, and a house, piece
of meadow land, and garden, rent-free, for the instruction of twelve children of the neighbourhood, in addition to which
number, a few are taught at their parents' expense; the school-house, containing two rooms below and two above, which had
been previously built by the above-named gentleman, is kept in repair by the present proprietor of West Penner, John
Mirehouse, Esq., the common-sergeant, London, who has the nomination of the master and children. Two pounds of the
endowment are reserved for providing books. There is also a Sunday school, in which are thirty males and females,
supported at the sole cost of the rector. PWL L HELL a borough, sea-port, and market-town, and the head of a union, in the
parish of DENio, hundred of GAFLOGION, county of CARNARVON, NORTH WALES, 20 miles (S. s.W.) from Carnarvon, and, through
that town, 271 (W. N. W.) from London: the population, amounting to 2355, is returned as that of the parish of Denio, with
the limits of which those of the ancient borough are co-extensive. This place derives its name, signifying literally the "
Salt Pool," from the small bay on the eastern side of the great promontory of Lleyn, on the shore of which it is situated,
and which forms the estuary of several streams, that pour their waters through it into the northern part of the wide and
stormy bay of Cardigan. Edward the Black Princeted this place, together with Nevin, to Nigel de granted in consideration
of his numerous services, particularly as a reward for his fidelity and valour at the battle of Poictiers; and by charter
dated at Carnarvon, in the fifteenth year after his accession to the principality of Wales, he incorporated the
inhabitants, upon whom he conferred all the privileges of a free borough, with exemption from toll in England and Wales,
and the right of a mercatorial guild, a market, and two annual fairs, stipulating that they should pay to Niel not less
than £14 per annum; all which immunities were subsequently confirmed by Edward III., in the 33rd year of his reign. The
TOWN is well built, amply supplied with water, paved, and lighted. The surrounding scenery comprehends many features of
grandeur and of beauty; and the view from the town, embracing the whole extent of the Snowdon mountains, the
Merionethshire hills, and Cardigan bay, is truly magnificent The waste lands in this and the adjoining parishes were
inclosed pursuant to an act of parliament obtained for that purpose in the 48th of George III., under the authority of
which two embankments were constructed, one on each side of the town, at an expense of £10,000, by means of which three
thousand acres have been recovered from the sea, and are now under cultivation. The situation of the town is well adapted
for carrying on an extensive commerce with Liverpool, South -Wales, and Dublin; but it has now only a small coasting
trade. The harbour, which is entered by a high round rock, called Carreg-yr-Imbill, or "the rock of the Gimlet," and
accessible to vessels of one hundred tons' burthen at all states of the tide, has been in some degree injured by the
embankments above noticed, and from neglect is nearly choked up. The commerce consists entirely in the importation of coal
and of shop goods from Liverpool, for the supply of which to the surrounding country Pwllheli forms a great depot, and is
thus, though small, rendered a flourishingplace. The market, on Wednesday, is well supplied with fish, poultry, eggs,
butchers' meat, and all other kinds of provisions, which are cheaper here than in any other town on the coast of North
Wales; and, there being no other market near, it is resorted to even by persons living at the furthest extremity of the
promontory of Lleyn, a distance of twenty miles. Fairs are held on March 5th, May lath, June 28th, Aug. 19th, Sept. 24th,
and Nov. 1 lth. The GOVERNMENT, by the charter of Edward the Black Prince, confirmed by Edward III., Henry IV., V., and
VI., Edward IV., Richard III., Henry VIL and VIII., Edward VI., and by Mary, and Elizabeth, was vested in a mayor,
recorder, two bailiffs, and an indefinite number of burgesses, assisted by a town steward, a sergeant-at-mace, and other
officers. The mayor, who held his office for life, and the senior bailiff, who was chosen annually on the 29th of
Septeinber, were appointed by the burgesses at large, who also nominated the junior bailiff, elected annually to all the
other offices; but the nomination of the junior bailiff was subject to the approval of the mayor, who also chose the
recorder. By the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., c. 76, the corporation is now styled the " Mayor, Aldermen, and
Burgesses," and consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, forming the council of the borough, of which
the municipal and parliamentary boundaries are the same. The council elect the mayor annually on November 9th from among
the aldermen or councillors; and the aldermen triennially out of the councillors, or persons qualified as such, one-third
going out of office every three Years, but re-eligible: the councillors are chosen, on November 1st, by and out of the
enrolled burgesses. The aldermen and councillors must have each a P"- perty qualification of £500, or be rated at £15 an"
nual value. The bur	consist of the occupiers of houses and shopswirtsave been rated for three years to the relief of
the poor, if resident householders within seven miles; and a valid title to be a burgess is acquirable by descent,
marriage, marriage-settlement, devise, or promotion to any benefice or office, in which case the occupancy and payment of
rates by the predecessor may be reckoned. Two auditors and two assessors are elected annually on March 1st by and from
among the burgesses;  and the council appoint a town-clerk, treasurer, and other officers on November 9th. This is one of
the contributory boroughs which, with Carnarvon, return a member to parliament; the elective franchise was conferred in
the 27th of Henry VIII. The right of election was formerly in the burgesses at large, a hundred in number, but is now
vested in the resident ones only (of whom there are seventy within a distance of seven miles), if duly qualified according
to the provisions of the act; and in every person of full age occupying, either as owner or as tenant under the same
landlord, a house or other premises of the annual value of at least ten pounds, provided he be capable of registering as
the act directs: the number of tenements of this value, within the limits of the borough, which have been altered by the
late act, and are minutely detailed in the Appendix, is a hundred and fifteen. A court is held every alternate Saturday,
for the determination of all pleas and recovery of debts under 40s.; and petty-sessions are held here by the county
magistrates. By the act of 1832, for "Amending the Representation," Pwllheli has been constituted a polling-place for the
election of the knight of the shire. The town-hall, erected in 1818, is a neat substantial edifice, the lower part
appropriated on the market days as shambles, and the upper part containing an excellent assembly-room, and a room in which
the petty-sessions are held. The borough and county prison, with two cells, was built a few years since at an expense of
about £240, of which £200 were contributed by the shire, and £40 by the corporation, on whose ground the house stands.
Previously to the passing of the enclosure act already noticed, the corporation possessed a very valuable tract of land,
their private property, which, however, being waste, was under that act taken by the commissioners and sold, the borough
receiving in lieu only a trifling allotment called the Gimlet rock. The land thus inclosed, designated the Great Marsh,
was used by the inhabitants for depasturing sheep, cows, horses, &c., and was of much advantage to the poorer classes; and
that it was the legitimate possession of the corporation is evident from the fact that leases have been granted by them of
parts of it at various periods, as the old books of the town clearly show. The parochial church, situated about half a
mile to the north of the town, being very small and much dilapidated, a new edifice has been erected in the town, at an
expense of £1800, though funerals nevertheless continue to be solemnized at the old church of Denio. There are places of
worship for Independents, Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists, and Presbyterians. The Rev. Hugh Jones, in 1695, bequeathed
to Griffith Vaughan £1000 in trust, to appropriate £200 of that sum to the erection of a house in such place in either of
the counties of Anglesey, Carnarvon, or Merioneth, as he should think fit, and to vest the remaining £800 in the purchase
of land for the endowment of a school for the gratuitous instruction of all poor boys of either of those counties. The
school-house was built at Pwllheli; but the money, never having been applied to the purchase of land, still remains in the
hands of his descendant, the Hon. Edward Mostyn Lloyd Mostyn, who appoints the master, and pays the interest of the sum as
a salary; there are at present 45 boys in the establishment. The rent of some land in the parish, which was bequeathed to
the poor, is annually distributed among them at Christmas. The poor law union, of which this town is the head, was formed
June 3rd, 1837, and comprises the following 32 parishes and townships; namely, Aber. daron, B6dverin, BrS^ncroes,
Llandegwining, Llanen- Llanvaelrhys, Llangwnadl, Meylltyrn, Penllech, Rhiw, Abereirch, BOdvaen, Ceidio, Edern, Liendudwen,
Llaniestyn, Llannor, Nevin, Tydweiliog, Criccietb, Llanarmon, Llangybi, Llanystymiwy, Bottwnog, Carngiwch, Denio,
Llanbedrog, Llanvihangel-Bfichelleth, Llangian, PenrhOs, and Llanelhaiarn. It is under the superintendence of 41
guardians, and contains a population of 21,609.