Cresswell Castle is a castle half a mile north of the village of Cresswell Quay. It is situated on the banks of the River Cresswell in what is currently private land. The buildings were originally a 13th-century stone fortified manorial complex, founded by the Augustinian Priory of Haverfordwest.
Cresswell Castle is thought to date back to the thirteenth century but has seen many alterations since, particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It originally had some defensive adaptations but in its later guise had a more domestic function. It seems to have been abandoned in the latter part of the seventeenth century.
Cresswell Castle consists of a range of three buildings set along the perimeter of a courtyard. It was originally a fortified manorial complex and has undergone substantial alterations over the years. The castle overlooks the River Cresswell at its highest navigable point. The courtyard is rectangular in shape, about 30 by 20 m, and is surrounded by a curtain wall with a small circular tower at each corner. The largest of these towers was built as a dovecote. During the sixteenth century, the Barlows of Slebech converted the castle into a manor house with stables, gardens and fishponds.
The castle is located inside the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, three miles north of Carew Castle and eight miles south of Llawhaden Castle. It can be approached by Millway Lane, a turning off the A4075, the Canaston Bridge to Pembroke road. The property is close to the minor road on private land beside the River Cresswell, but is visible from the road where there is room for a few cars to park.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.