Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Pembroke Dock (Doc Penfro) is a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, 3 miles (4.8 km) north-west of Pembroke on the banks of the River Cleddau. Originally Paterchurch, a small fishing village, Pembroke Dock town expanded rapidly following the construction of the Royal Navy Dockyard in 1814. The Cleddau Bridge links Pembroke Dock with Neyland.

Pembroke Dock is the third-largest town in Pembrokeshire.

The natural harbour (now the Milford Haven Waterway) offering shelter from the prevailing south-westerly winds, has probably been used for many thousands of years. From maps, the first evidence of settlement is the name of the Carr Rocks at the entrance, derived from the Norse-language Skare for rock.

From 790 until the Norman Invasion (1066) the estuary was used by the Vikings. During one visit, either in 854 or in 878, maybe on his way to the Battle of Cynuit, the Viking chieftain Hubba wintered in the haven with 23 ships.

In 1172, King Henry II's fleet and army were prepared in the mouth of the Pembroke River and sailed to Ireland during the Norman Invasion of Ireland.

Prior to 1814, the area was mostly farmland and known as Paterchurch. The first recorded mention of Paterchurch was in 1289. A medieval tower was built and like nearby 18th century and 19th century fortifications, it may have served as a lookout post. By the 17th century, additional domestic and farm buildings stood close to the tower and the isolated settlement had its own cemetery, whose last recorded burial is that of a Roger Adams, in 1731. The ruin of the tower now lies within the walls of the dockyard.

Paterchurch Tower was the centre of an estate said to stretch from Pennar Point to Cosheston. This changed hands in 1422 when Ellen de Paterchurch married a John Adams. Prior to the building of the town and before the dockyard was thought of, various sales and exchanges took place between the principal local landowners – the Adams, Owen and Meyrick families. These exchanges left the Meyricks in control of most of the land on which the dockyard and new town were to develop. By 1802 the Paterchurch buildings were mostly ruins.

Pembroke Dock is served by the A477 trunk road which runs from the A40 at St. Clears. At Waterloo the A477 road crosses the Daugleddau estuary on the Cleddau Bridge and continues towards Haverfordwest. It has a ferry terminal from which ferries sail twice-daily to Rosslare in Ireland. The service is operated by Irish Ferries. There is also a deep water cargo port (Pembroke Port) adjacent to the ferry terminal which is operated by the Port of Milford Haven. Pembroke Dock railway station connects with Carmarthen via Tenby.

The two Martello towers remain: one was a local museum but is for sale by auction in July 2019, while the other is in private hands and has been converted for residential use and is largely intact. The dockyard wall is substantially complete and has been recently repaired by experts with dressed stone and lime mortar. The dry dock also remains, along with two out of ten building slips. The two listed hangars built to house the Sunderland flying boats used to guard the Western Approaches have been rebuilt and are now used for other purposes. Among several surviving Georgian and Victorian buildings on the site is the Terrace, a row of houses for the Dockyard officers. The Dockyard Chapel at the end of the Terrace has been rebuilt using Objective One funding from the European Union and now serves as the Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre run by Pembroke Dock Sunderland Trust.

A few buildings on the site of the old Llanion Barracks still stand. The Officers' and Sergeants' Mess once used as council offices is now occupied by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The original guardroom remains and is now residential accommodation and a listed Victoria Powder Magazine remains set into the coastal slope which is accessible from Connacht Way. The old parade square has recently been converted for housing.

Two cemeteries in the town both hold many service graves. Pembroke Dock (Llanion) Cemetery contains the war graves of 23 Commonwealth service personnel, including two unidentified Royal Navy sailors, of the First World War and 51 of the Second, including four unidentified Royal Navy sailors and an unidentified airman. Pembroke Dock Military Cemetery contains the war graves of 40 Commonwealth service personnel of the First World War and 33 of the Second, and is believed to be the only dedicated military cemetery in Wales.

Han Solo's iconic craft The Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, was constructed at an aircraft hangar in Pembroke Dock in 1979. The forty local builders were sworn to work in secrecy on the project known as "The Magic Roundabout".

The Pembrokeshire Technium was built and opened in 2006. Although the initial interest was slow the first major uptake on this facility began in 2009 when Infinergy built a wind farm in the local area and based its local office in the centre. There has been approval given by Pembrokeshire County Council for a new yacht marina to be built alongside Front Street but work has yet to begin.