Eglwyswrw

There is much of archaeological interest in and around Eglwyswrw community,^[3] and the village is recorded from Norman times; on the west side of the village is a small Norman motte, designated Castell Eglwyswrw by Coflein.^[4]

The sacred nature of the site where the church now stands (see also Worship, below) may date back to before the 8th century, but there was a later Norman church, the earliest record of which is in 1291.^[5] A 1578 map in the British Library shows Eglwyswrw parish as Eglosserrow, possibly an English phonetic rendering of the name.^[6]

The village hosted several important fairs, including Meigan Fair^[7] (Ffair Feigan) at least as early as 1794.^[8] A report in 1915 listed animal prices and noted a decline in horse prices.^[9]

In the mid-19th century, the parish of Eglwyswrw^[10] covered 3,664 acres (1,483 ha).^[11]

In 1895, following the death of local landowner W. Mathias, property and land covering nearly the whole of the village was auctioned in 16 lots for a total sum of nearly £7,000; some of the property, which included two pubs, the Butchers Arms and The Plough, was bought by tenants.^[12]

Villager Stephen Lewis celebrated his 102nd birthday in 1923. He had been a local schoolmaster at the age of 13, but spent most of his life as a farm worker.^[13] He died aged 103, reportedly never having seen a doctor.^[14]

Eglwyswrw War Memorial lists the names of 24 servicemen of the parish who lost their lives in World War 1, and one in World War 2.^[15] In 2014 a new War Memorial was erected in the churchyard.^[16]

The Serjeants Inn, now a private residence, was a Grade II-listed^[17] public house dating back to the 17th or 18th century, so named because the Cemais Assizes were held there. It closed in the 1990s. To the rear of the inn is a former meeting house which served as a chapel and a school in the 19th century.^[18] The coach house on the west side of the inn is also Grade II-listed,^[19] as is the Armoury, or former stables.^[20] The Butcher's Arms, the village's other pub, featured in a 2004 Canadian Visa campaign highlighting difficult-to-pronounce placenames around the world. There was irony in the fact that the pub did not accept Visa cards.^[21] The Butcher"s Arms closed in 2016.^[22] The village shop and Post Office closed in 2009.^[2]

In January 2016 Eglwyswrw was reported to be one of the wettest villages in Britain, having suffered freak rainfall on 85 consecutive days in 2015, five days short of the British record.^[23]

In 2022, Eglwyswrw became the first place in the UK to have an off-grid mobile phone mast.^[24]

The 2008 Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales listed 85 sites of importance within the community of Eglwyswrw.^[25] There are 19 listed buildings in the community.^[26]

The population has remained fairly constant in the mid-hundreds since the beginning of the 19th century (OPCS):

Eglwyswrw has its own elected community council and is part of the Cilgerran electoral ward for the purposes of elections to Pembrokeshire County Council. The community of Eglwyswrw includes the parish of Meline,^[27] the north part of Llanfair-Nant-Gwyn^[28] and the south-eastern part of Nevern, including Brynberian. Crymych ward was 60% Welsh-speaking in 2011, a small decrease from 63% in 2001.