Saundersfoot
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Saundersfoot harbour and village |
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Saundersfoot shown within Pembrokeshire | |
Population | 2,628 (2011) |
OS grid reference | SN136048 |
Principal area | |
Ceremonial county | |
Country | Wales |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Saundersfoot |
Postcode district | SA69 |
Dialling code | 01834 |
Police | Dyfed-Powys |
Fire | Mid and West Wales |
Ambulance | Welsh |
EU Parliament | Wales |
UK Parliament | |
Saundersfoot (Welsh: Llanussyllt) is a large village and community in Pembrokeshire, west Wales, near Tenby—they are two of the most visited Welsh holiday destinations. Saundersfoot lies in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.
Saundersfoot was known in medieval Wales as Llanussyllt and after the Norman conquest as St Issels (sometimes Issells), both after the parish church dedicated to the Welsh Saint Issel. Its bishop or abbot was considered one of the seven principal clerics of Dyfed under medieval Welsh law. It was a substantial parish in 1833 with 1,226 inhabitants.John Marius Wilson described the village and parish as St Issells in his 1870-72 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales.
The present church lies in a dingle to the north of Saundersfoot and is a grade II* listed building.
Permission to build the harbour was granted by Parliament in 1829 to the Saundersfoot Railway and Harbour Company for the export of anthracite coal from the many mines in the area, although coal was exported from the beach for centuries before this. The village grew up to serve the port which by 1837 had five jetties handling coal and iron ore and subsequently pig iron and firebricks from local sources. The course of the tramway from Bonville's Court mine bisects the village and ends at the jetty. The tramway from Stepaside forms the sea front. The industry finally faded away in the early years of the twentieth century, and the village took advantage of the nearby Saundersfoot railway station to attract tourists from eastern Wales and England.