The remains of Haverfordwest Priory (the priory Of St Mary and St Thomas The Martyr, nprn 94103) are located on the south-east edge of the modern town, above the west bank of the Cleddau river. They are notable for the exceptionally rare and outstandingly important survival of medieval monastic gardens, set within and around the priory buildings in a layout discovered during archaeological excavations in the 1980s and 1990s and subsequently preserved.

There are two areas of garden: an extensive area of raised beds to the east of the priory buildings (700101), and the cloister garden on the west side. The thirteenth-century cloister, remodelled in the fifteenth century, was fully excavated. It has a small square garden area in the centre, surrounded by alleys protected by pent roofs. These were floored with a pavement, tiled on all but the stone-slabbed west side. Between the alleys and the garden ran a substantial drain, for both utilitarian and ornamental functions. In the middle of the east side was a lower section of walling and stone supports, probably the remains of a bridge giving access to the garden. Around its edge ran a stone-slabbed path, along the inner side of which was a narrow trench, perhaps a planting trench for a hedge. A gap on its west side perhaps indicates a formal planting design. In the garden centre was an octagonal depression, interpreted as the footprint of a stone plinth to support a decorative object. No formal beds were discovered and the rest of the garden may have been grassed. Deeper areas of subsoil within the area may represent informal tree planting.

Source:
Cadw 2002: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire, 224-6 (ref: PGW(Dy)62(PEM)).

RCAHMW, 20 April 2022

Site Record

Haverfordwest Priory Cloister Garden