18/05/2026
The Flemish influence in Pembrokeshire: castles, chimneys, place names and the making of “Little England beyond Wales
Pembrokeshire has never been shaped by one people, one language, or one culture.
Over thousands of years, this county has been influenced by prehistoric communities, early Welsh kingdoms, Irish links across the sea, Norse raiders and traders, Norman lords, English settlers, Flemish colonists, and later maritime, farming, military and industrial communities.
That is why Pembrokeshire feels different from one coast to the next. It is Welsh, coastal, agricultural, Norman, maritime, English-speaking in the south, Welsh-speaking in the north, and full of old place names that tell stories if you know how to read them.
One of the most fascinating chapters in that story is the arrival of the Flemings in the early 12th century.
The Flemings came from Flanders, an area now mainly in modern Belgium. In medieval Europe they were known for trade, farming, weaving, wool, military service and town life. Their connection with Britain had already been strengthened by the Norman Conquest of 1066, when Flemish soldiers and nobles fought alongside William the Conqueror.
Their arrival in Pembrokeshire was not random. It was part of a much bigger political and military plan.
After the Norman conquest of parts of south-west Wales, Pembrokeshire became a frontier zone. Castles such as Pembroke Castle, or Castell Penfro, helped secure Norman control, but the area was still contested. Native Welsh rulers and communities continued to resist Norman expansion, and the Crown needed loyal settlers who could hold land, defend territory and build lasting communities.
That is where the Flemings came in.
Around 1107 to 1112, during the reign of King Henry I, Flemish settlers were moved into south Pembrokeshire, especially into the old district of Rhos, around the Cleddau and the lands later associated with Haverfordwest, Wiston and surrounding settlements.
Some older accounts say the Flemings came directly from Flanders after major flooding. Flooding in Flanders did play a part in wider migration stories, but historians now treat this carefully. Many of the Flemings who came to Pembrokeshire had probably already been living elsewhere in Britain before being moved west by Henry I.
In plain English, Henry I was not simply offering them a charming coastal lifestyle and a nice view. He was using settlement as strategy.
The Flemings helped strengthen Norman control in south Pembrokeshire. They farmed land, defended castles, helped create new communities, and contributed to a more organised landscape of towns, villages, churches, enclosed fields and manorial estates.
One of the clearest local examples is Wiston, or Cas-wis. The village is linked to Wizo, a Flemish settler who was granted land in the early 12th century. Wizo built a castle there, and the settlement that grew around it became Wiston, often understood as “Wizo’s town”. Wiston Castle remains one of the best surviving motte-and-bailey castles in Wales.
Haverfordwest, or Hwlffordd, also has strong Flemish associations. The early castle there is often linked with Tancard, a Flemish figure, and the town grew into one of the most important medieval centres in Pembrokeshire.
Pembroke, or Penfro, also developed rapidly under Norman and royal control, with its castle, charter, burgesses, trading rights and growing medieval town.
Other places often discussed in connection with Flemish, Norman or Anglo-Norman settlement include Llangwm, Carew or Caeriw, Manorbier or Maenorbŷr, Tenby or Dinbych-y-pysgod, Lamphey or Llandyfái, Penally or Penalun, and St Florence, which has the same standard Welsh and English form.
The Flemish influence was not just military. It was social, economic and cultural. Medieval Flanders was famous for wool and cloth, and the Flemings brought experience in farming, trade, craft and settlement. Over time, they blended with Norman, English, Welsh and other communities, helping to create the distinctive culture of south Pembrokeshire.
This is where the famous term “Little England beyond Wales” comes in.
South Pembrokeshire became increasingly English-speaking, while north Pembrokeshire remained much more Welsh-speaking. The boundary between these two cultural zones later became known as the Landsker Line. It was never a hard wall, and people, goods, customs and words crossed it constantly, but it did mark a real cultural difference.
South Pembrokeshire developed its own identity: Welsh by geography, but with strong English, Norman and Flemish influences in language, settlement and local custom.
The Pembrokeshire English dialect also reflects this mixture. It was shaped by Welsh, Anglo-Norman English, West Country English, Norse traces and possibly some Flemish influence. Some local words are sometimes linked with Flemish roots, although historians warn that these claims need care. Local history is brilliant, but now and again it does put on a flat cap and wander off confidently in the wrong direction.
Then there are the famous “Flemish chimneys”.
These are one of the most recognisable old features of south Pembrokeshire. They are large, striking chimneys, often rounded, conical or heavily built, usually attached to older houses, cottages or former farm buildings. They look ancient, solid and slightly dramatic, like they have been standing there judging the weather since the Middle Ages.
You can still see examples, or strong local associations with them, in places such as:
St Florence, near Tenby, where “Flemish chimneys” are one of the best-known local features.
Carew, or Caeriw, where examples of this south Pembrokeshire chimney style are associated with the older village landscape.
Lamphey, or Llandyfái, another area where the old chimney tradition is often noted.
Penally, or Penalun, near Tenby, where the style is also part of the wider south Pembrokeshire vernacular tradition.
Tenby, or Dinbych-y-pysgod, where older buildings such as the Tudor Merchant’s House have long been discussed in connection with large hearths and the wider “Flemish” tradition.
The important point, though, is this: despite the name, these chimneys are probably not actually Flemish in origin.
Local heritage sources describe the so-called Flemish chimneys as a feature of south Pembrokeshire’s own local architectural style, rather than a direct import from Flanders. In many cases, they were later additions to larger houses, often from the post-medieval period. Some were large because they served big hearths, ovens or bakehouses.
So why call them Flemish chimneys?
Most likely because they are found in the part of Pembrokeshire long associated with Flemish settlement. The name stuck because it sounded right locally, even if the architectural evidence is more complicated. Very Pembrokeshire, really: half history, half nickname, all character.
Still, they matter.
Whether or not they came from Flanders, they are part of the look and feel of old south Pembrokeshire: limestone walls, village lanes, large hearths, farmhouses, churches, castles and long-settled communities. They are part of what makes places such as St Florence, Carew, Lamphey, Penally and Tenby feel so deeply rooted.
The Flemings were only one part of Pembrokeshire’s wider story.
Long before them, prehistoric communities left burial chambers, standing stones and hillforts across the county. The Preseli Hills, or Mynydd Preseli, are famously linked with the bluestones of Stonehenge.
Early Welsh kingdoms shaped the region’s language, law, landholding and religious life. St Davids, or Tyddewi, became one of the great spiritual centres of medieval Wales.
Irish influence crossed the sea through trade, migration and Christianity. Wales and Ireland were closely linked in the early medieval period, especially around the western seaways.
Norse influence came through Viking raids, seafaring and coastal settlement. Island names such as Skomer and Skokholm are often linked with Old Norse origins, and Pembrokeshire’s coast still carries the mark of a sea-facing world.
Then came the Normans, who changed the county dramatically through castles, lordships, boroughs, churches and new systems of landholding. The Flemings arrived within that Norman world and helped secure and settle south Pembrokeshire.
Later centuries added more layers again: farming, fishing, coal and limestone working, shipbuilding, military activity, tourism, and the modern port communities around Milford Haven, or Aberdaugleddau, and Pembroke Dock, or Doc Penfro.
So when we look at Pembrokeshire today, we are not looking at one simple story.
We are looking at a county made from layers.
Welsh. Irish. Norse. Norman. Flemish. English. Maritime. Agricultural. Industrial. Military. Religious. Rural. Coastal.
The Flemish influence is one of the strongest and most distinctive of those layers. It helped shape south Pembrokeshire’s castles, villages, farms, language, settlement patterns and identity. It contributed to the development of the Landsker divide and the long-standing cultural difference between north and south Pembrokeshire.
But the real story is not that Pembrokeshire became “Flemish”.
It is that Pembrokeshire became Pembrokeshire: a place where different peoples arrived, clashed, settled, traded, married, built, farmed and left traces behind.
Some of those traces are written in documents. Some are in place names. Some are in castle mounds and churchyards. Some are in the way people speak. Some are in the old chimneys still standing proudly in south Pembrokeshire villages.
And some are simply in the strange, stubborn, brilliant character of the county itself.
