Angle, Pembrokeshire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Angle
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 Saint Mary's Church, Angle |
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 Angle
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| Population | 337 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SM8602 |
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| Principal area | |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Pembroke |
| Postcode district | SA71 |
| Dialling code | 01646 |
| Police | Dyfed-Powys |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament |
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| Welsh Assembly |
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Angle (Welsh: Angl) is a small village and community located in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It sits on the southern side of the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway. While the village school and shop have closed, there is still a bus link to Pembroke railway station.
In Angle, you can find the historic Sailors' Chapel within the church graveyard. There's also a special old tower called a Pele tower at Castle Farm. High above Castle Bay, you can see the remains of an Iron Age fort, which is a very old defensive site. On the headland, you can even spot lines from medieval strip farming, showing how people farmed a long time ago.
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Discover Angle Bay
Angle Bay is a wide area of mud and sand. It's a great home for many small creatures and a popular spot for different kinds of birds. You might see birds like dunlin, grey plover, common redshank, Eurasian oystercatcher, and Eurasian curlew here. Nearby, Kilpaison Marsh is a place where Cetti's warbler birds have nested in the tall reeds.
West Angle Bay is a special area called a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Its rock pools are home to a rare type of cushion starfish. The bay also has a nice sandy beach.
The Angle Lifeboat Station has a brave history. In 1894, its crew received special RNLI silver medals for saving the crew of the Loch Shiel. This ship had crashed onto rocks near Thorn Island while carrying a cargo of whisky and beer.
St. Mary's Church
The church in the middle of Angle village is believed to have been built in the 1200s. Its tall tower was added later, in the 1400s. In the churchyard, there are graves for people who died when the Japanese ship Hirano Maru was sunk nearby during World War I. A memorial for them was rededicated in 2018. Inside the church, you can see memorials to local families like the Mirehouse, Ferrers, and Dawes families.
The Sailors' Chapel
The Sailors' Chapel, also known as St. Anthony's Chapel, is a very old building located in the church graveyard. It's a Grade I listed building, meaning it's very important historically. Below the chapel is a crypt, which was used until the early 1900s to prepare the bodies of unknown sailors found along the coast for burial.
This small, stone chapel was built in the 1400s by a knight named Edward de Shirburn. It has been repaired and rededicated several times over the years. Originally, it was a place to receive the bodies of drowned sailors. Later, in the 20th century, it became a chapel of rest. The chapel has beautiful Victorian stained glass windows, including one that shows the miracle of Christ walking on the sea.
Angle's History
A Pele tower was built here in the 1300s by Robert de Shirburn. You can still see it at Castle Farm. This tower might have been built during the time of Owain Glyndŵr, a Welsh leader. In 1405, a French army even landed at Angle to help Glyndŵr. Some people think the tower was part of a larger castle with a moat.
In the 1800s, about 388 people lived in Angle. The women often made straw bonnets and mats, while the men fished for oysters when they were in season.
In the 1860s, several forts were built around the Milford Haven Waterway to protect it. Angle has four of these forts: Thorne Island, East Blockhouse Battery, Chapel Bay, and Stack Rock Fort. These were part of a large project by Lord Palmerston to build defenses all along the British coast.
For many years, the Mirehouse family were the main landowners in Angle. They bought the Angle estate in the early 1800s and made The Hall their main home after improving it in the 1830s. The family helped improve the village, building places like the Globe Hotel, which was once the main hotel and is still a key building in the village.
During World War II, an airbase called RAF Angle was located on the Angle Peninsula Coast. It was used by both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy from 1941 into the 1950s.
West Angle Bay's sheltered beach is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Its rock pools are home to a tiny green starfish called Asterina phylactica, which was only officially identified in 1979.
In 1996, a large oil tanker called the Sea Empress ran aground at the entrance to the Milford Haven Waterway. It spilled a huge amount of crude oil, which caused serious damage to the coastline around Angle. The effects of this oil spill lasted for a long time.
Angle Lifeboat Station
A lifeboat station was set up in Angle in 1868 to help people in trouble at sea. Since then, there have been many different lifeboats and boathouses. The brave crew has received many awards, including seven silver and five bronze RNLI medals. In 2020, the station had two lifeboats: the Tamar-class class Mark Mason and a smaller D-class (IB1) inshore lifeboat called SuperG II.
One famous rescue happened in 1894. The crew saved 27 (or some say 33) people from the ship Loch Shiel, which had hit rocks near Thorn Island. The Loch Shiel was carrying gunpowder, beer, and thousands of cases of whisky from Scotland. Three RNLI silver medals were given for this rescue. Some of the cargo was recovered, but many bottles of whisky are still in the wreck and are not safe to drink. Bottles of beer from the wreck were even auctioned for a lot of money in 1999.
Over the years, Angle Lifeboat station has had many skilled coxswains (the person in charge of the lifeboat). James Watkins retired in 1946 after 24 years as coxswain, earning several medals. Later, Coxswain William John Rees Holmes and Coxswain Jeremy R. Rees also received bronze medals for their bravery.
In 2009, a new £2.2 million Tamar class lifeboat arrived. A large donation of £1.6 million from the Order of Mark Master Masons, a branch of the Free Masons in London, helped to buy the boat.
Notable People
- Geoffrey Wainwright (1937–2017) was a British archaeologist who studied prehistory. He was born in Angle.
