Dewisland (hundred)
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The Hundred of Dewisland (often written "Dewsland") was a hundred in the north of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 and was essentially identical to the pre-Norman cantref of Pebidiog[1]: one of the seven cantrefs of Dyfed. It means "Dewi's or Saint David's land. Most of the hundred was under the control of the Bishop of St David's. It was occupied by the Normans in the 12th century, and made part of the March, but remained exclusively Welsh-speaking, except for small English plantations in the City of St David's and at Abercastle and Letterston. These were extinct by the time of George Owen, who described the hundred as wholly Welsh-speaking[2].
The area was almost all part of the Marcher Lordship of the Bishop of St David's, and St David's was its civil and ecclesiastical headquarters. It was said to be divided into two commotes: Mynyw (Latin: Menevia) and Pencaer[3].
[edit] Notes
- ^ Charles, B. G., The Placenames of Pembrokeshire, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1992, ISBN 0-907158-58-7, p 197
- ^ Owen, George, The Description of Pembrokeshire, Dillwyn Miles (Ed), Gomer Press, Llandysul, 1994, ISBN 185902-120-4
- ^ Rees, W., An Historical Atlas of Wales, Faber & Faber, 1959, plate 28
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