Rosebush, Pembrokeshire
| Rosebush | |
|---|---|
 Terrace of quarrymen's cottages |
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 Rosebush
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| Rosebush shown within Pembrokeshire | |
| Community | |
| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Maenclochog |
| Postcode district | SA66 |
| Dialling code | 01437 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | |
| Welsh Assembly | |
Rosebush is a small village in Maenclochog community, north Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies in the southern slopes of the Preseli Hills, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north west of the village of Maenclochog. Slate was extensively quarried nearby, its export facilitated by the railway in the 19th century. Today, Rosebush is a centre for exploring the Preseli Hills.
The name Rosebush is probably an Anglicisation of Rhosbwlch (meaning moor gap) or Rhos y Bwlch (moor in the gap). A number of other nearby places include Bwlch.
Rosebush as a village did not exist before slate began to be quarried nearby in the early 19th century. The village took its name from Rosebush Quarry when houses were built for quarry workers. To the north, there had been quarrying at Prescelly Quarry (later called Bellstone) since 1825. Rosebush may have been the first Welsh village to have piped water.
Quarrying was an industrially modest but locally significant mining operation in the Welsh slate industry. Quarrying at Rosebush began in 1842 and was worked until the end of the century. The quarry supplied slate for the roof of Westminster Palace. Slate was ferried around the county by the old railway; some was taken to Fishguard via the Rosebush and Fishguard Railway to be shipped abroad.
Rosebush slate was not of a very good standard for roofing but made good blocks for buildings. An example of the qualities of Rosebush slate can be seen in the construction of Rosebush House, now the old Post Office Bistro and Bar, in the village. It was built in 1872 by the owners of Rosebush Quarry. The front of the building is constructed of fine faced slate block from the quarry in Rosebush and has some nice details in the block edging and particularly around the porch. To the side of the building the slates are not so tidy.
Inside the old post office bistro can be found a slate quarry apprentice piece of work, cut to the shape of a Welsh plank for cooking Welshcakes. This slate comes from Llangolman.
In 1876 a railway line from Clynderwen to Rosebush was opened by the Narberth Road and Maenclochog Railway company which facilitated the export of slate from the quarries. The line closed in 1882 and the name changed to North Pembrokeshire and Fishguard Railway in 1884 but was not reopened until 1895 with an extension from Rosebush to Letterston. An early passenger was a Western Mail reporter who travelled from Newport into the mountains to interview the husband of Margaret Rees who was being tried for murdering her child at Tyr-Bwlch. At the end of the report, he wrote that he drove "...to Rosebush Station to return, by the new North Pembrokeshire Railway, to more civilised haunts."
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Wikipedia