Marloes

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For other uses, see Marloes (disambiguation).

View from the Pembrokeshire Coast Path on Marloes peninsula.

Marloes is a village and civil parish in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.

It is situated on the Marloes Peninsula 11 km west of the port of Milford Haven and forms the westernmost tip of the southern shore of St Brides Bay. It is within part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The parish has 10 km of mainland coastline accessible throughout by the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

It also includes the island of Skomer, accessible from Martin's Haven at the tip of the peninsula, and the small islands of Grassholm and Gateholm. The parish, together with St Brides, constitutes the community of Marloes and St Brides (population 323 in 2001).

The name appears to derive from Old Welsh mail = "bare" and ros = "moor" or "promontory", identical to Melrose in Scotland. It is locally pronounced "Marlas"^[1]. Part of Little England beyond Wales, it has been essentially English-speaking for 900 years.

The beach (on Marloes Bay south of the village) is rated as one of the best beaches in Britain but involves a fairly long walk to reach it. There is excellent car parking that is free to National Trust Members. The National Trust owns the western half of the peninsula, including the open-access deer park on its western tip, which is a favourite area for picnicking and viewing the wildlife of Skomer Sound, including seals, choughs and puffins. The deer park was originally part of the Kensington estate of St Brides.