SLEBECH, a parish, in the union of NARBERTH, hundred of DUNGLEDDY, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 4} miles (E.) from Haverfordwest; containing 294 inhabitants. This parish, which is delightfully situated on the northern bank of the Eastern Cleddy, and on the turnpike-road from Haverfordwest to Narberth, is bounded by the parish of Wiston on the north, by Lawhaden and Robeston-Wathen on the east, and by Uzmaston on the west; and comprises 4438 acres, whereof about 3000 are pasture, 1000 arable, and the remainder woodland, the timber consisting chiefly of oak, of which there is a great quantity of large growth. The surface is pleasingly varied, and the soil generally fertile, chiefly producing barley and oats: the annual value of the parish is £2532. 8.; the rates are collected by the ploughland. Limestone is found at a great depth, and quarries are worked to a limited extent; it is also procured at a small expense, in abundance, in the neighbourhood. On the Eastern Cleddy, at the eastern boundary of the parish, is a large mill and wharf, called Blackpool, where goods are landed for the town of Narberth and the surrounding country, as it is at this place the river becomes navigable for vessels of considerable burthen; about 4 miles below, the Eastern joins the Western Cleddy, and the two rivers, after flowing a short distance, combine to form the magnificent expanse of Milford Haven. In some parts the parish is enlivened with gentlemen's seats, the grounds attached to which form a fine contrast to the want of variety and embellishment observed in other portions of the county. Slebech Hall, the property of the Baron de Rutzen, by marriage with the heiress of the late Nathaniel Phillips, Esq., is an elegant, substantial, and comparatively modern mansion, forming a quadrangle of noble elevation, and containing a fine collection of paintings by the ancient masters, marble busts and bronzes, with every appendage of luxury. Near the house is an extensive and handsome garden, strikingly pleasing, with curious and ancient terraces, planted with the rarest fruit trees and choicest vines, forming a rich and ornamental vineyard, attached to a long range of hot-houses; the park has just been very considerably enlarged, and inclosed with a lofty wall. The house was erected by the late John Symmons, Esq., on the site of an old commandery of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, which at the dissolution was purchased by Roger and Thomas Barlow, the last representative of which family conveyed it by marriage to the late Mr. Symmons, from whom it was purchased by Nathaniel Phillips, Esq., whose daughter is the present Baroness de Rutzen. There are many peculiar rights and privileges belonging to the property, such as right of free warren, &c. Picton Castle, the seat of Sir Richard B. P. Phillips, Bait, partly in this parish and partly in that of Boulston, is a noble and spacious mansion of considerable antiquity; and though it has undergone some alterations and received several additions, to adapt it more for the purpose of modern residence, it still preserves much of its original character of a fortress. It was erected by William de Picton, one of the followers of Arnulph de Montgomery, and has been inhabited without intermission since that remote period. The greater portion of the building, to which the late Lord Milford made some splendid additions, is in the ancient style of baronial grandeur. During the parliamentary war, in the reign of Charles I., this castle was gallantly defended by Sir Richard Phillips for the king; but it had the good fortune to escape the destruction which so many other fortresses experienced. It came by marriage with a descendant of the Wogan family to Sir Thomas Phillips, of Cilsant, father of John, the first baronet, and, on the death of Lord Milford, descended to the present proprietor. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £800 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Baron de Rutzen, who is impropriator of the tithes; net income, £50. The church, formerly the conventual church of the commandery, and the only remaining portion of that establishment, is a venerable structure, in the Norman style of architecture, pleasantly situated near the bank of the river, and embosomed in the luxuriant groves which surround it. It contains some ancient monuments, and also a handsome one of modern erection to the memory of Sir William Hamilton, and his first wife, who was one of the coheiresses of the Wogans of Wiston. The building, however, is so much dilapidated that a new church is now in the course of erection about a mile distant, and in a more central part of the parish, entirely of hewn stone, at a very great expense to the patron of the living; when completed it will form an extremely handsome edifice, of most imposing effect; it was designed by H. Goode, jun., Esq., of London; and the cost is estimated at between £5000 and £6000. There is a place of worship for Baptists. A Sunday school, established by the curate, is conducted and supplied with books by a lady residing with the Slebech family; and another contains about 40 males and females, who are gratuitously taught by Baptists, books being obtained from the society at Haverfordwest. The commandery of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, according to Bishop Tanner, was established here prior to the year 1301, and endowed with lands by Wize and his son, Walter; it flourished till the dissolution, when its revenue was estimated at £211. 9.11.