Penally

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Village, parish and community in Wales

title: "Penally" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["villages-in-pembrokeshire", "communities-in-pembrokeshire"] description: "Village, parish and community in Wales" topic_path: "general/villages-in-pembrokeshire" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penally" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Village, parish and community in Wales ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox UK place"]

Field	Value
country	Wales
welsh_name	Penalun
static_image_name	Penally from the southwest.jpg
constituency_welsh_assembly	Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
official_name	Penally
unitary_wales	Pembrokeshire
lieutenancy_wales	Dyfed
constituency_westminster	Mid and South Pembrokeshire
post_town	TENBY
postcode_district	SA70
postcode_area	SA
os_grid_reference	SS1170099221
coordinates
population	848
population_ref	(2011)
module	[[File:2024 Wales Pembrokeshire Community Penally map.svg
Map of the community
::

Penally () is a coastal village, parish and community 1 mi southwest of Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The village is known for its Celtic Cross, Penally Abbey (a Gothic style country house), the neighbouring St. Deiniol's Well, WWI Practice trenches, and Penally Training Camp (World War I and World War II).

History

Archaeological investigations of nearby Hoyles Mouth Cave shows evidence of Paleolithic and Iron Age use. Artifacts found there can be seen at Tenby Museum.

Trefloyne (formerly Trellwyn) is an ancient manor, the seat of the Bowen family, and marked as a separate parish on a 1578 map, but little evidence of the original manor house remains; it was still standing at the beginning of the 19th century, but in ruins by the 1880s.

The community of Penally has three sites with hall/tower houses dating from the Middle Ages. Those at Whitewell to the south-west of the village, and at West Tarr Mediaeval House, near St Florence to the north, are Grade I listed buildings and Scheduled monuments, while the Carswell Medieval House, also near St Florence, is listed at Grade II*.

The Black Rock Quarry, between Penally and Tenby, provided heavy industry in the area during the nineteenth century, particularly after the Pembroke to Tenby railway arrived in 1863. Twelve large limekilns were built on a branch line 1865. They are the largest surviving limekilns in Pembrokeshire.

After World War II heavy industry made way for tourism, with the Kiln Park camping and caravan resort being developed near the old quarry site.

Notable people

Saint Teilo (ca.500 – ca. 560), a British Christian monk, bishop, and founder of monasteries and churches. He was from Penalun (Penally).

Governance

An electoral ward with the same name exists. This ward stretches towards Saundersfoot whilst avoiding Tenby. The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 1,710.

Amenities

The local parish church is dedicated to St Nicholas & St Teilo. It was originally called St Nicholas' but was changed at the end of the 19th century; it is suggested that Penally was the birthplace of St Teilo, a Christian leader in the 6th century. The church houses the Penally Celtic cross which was originally located in the graveyard but has since been restored and moved into the church. The village has two pubs, The Cross Inn and The Paddock and bus service 349.

Views overlook Tenby, Caldey Island, Giltar Point, and Tenby Golf Course, which runs alongside Tenby South Beach to the south of the village. Waymarked public footpaths allow people to walk through the links to the beach and to Tenby. Another golf course lies inland, to the west of the village, at Trefloyne.

Railway

Penally railway station on the Pembroke Dock branch of the West Wales Line is operated by Transport for Wales Rail, who also manage the station. Trains stop here on request every two hours in each direction, westwards to and eastwards to , , and .

Military installations

The Penally Training Camp was a military facility at the western edge of Penally. The camp was opened in 1860 to provide musketry training after the Crimean War and was extensively used in World War I and World War II. This is a Defence Training Establishment used by regular, reserve and cadet forces.

Penally Gallery Range is a small Ministry of Defence firing range adjacent to Giltar Point. The range, which was built in the middle of the 19th century, was used to train soldiers during World War I and World War II. When the firing range is being used, red flags are flown and there are sentries stationed at the two huts along the coastal perimeter line. If firing is taken from beyond the 100 meter firing points (which run adjacent to the pathway which runs from railway station towards the beach) then an additional sentry post at Penally station level crossing is staffed. Part of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path is diverted along the A4139 road when the firing range is in use. The firing range has its own byelaws, which are displayed on signs around the firing range perimeter. The remains of the World War I practice trenches may be found towards the east of Giltar Point along the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

In 2020 and 2021, the UK Home Office used the Penally Training Camp to house asylum seekers. The conditions in the camp were described as inadequate with some of the asylum seekers protesting that their human rights were being ignored and comparing the camp to a prison. The Welsh Government issued a statement: "The camp does not meet the basic human needs of people seeking a new life in the UK" and called for its use to end as quickly as possible. The use of the camp to house asylum seekers ended in March 2021.

The site was closed in 2022, and subsequently put up for sale.

Wildlife

In March 2014 several birdwatchers came to see a great spotted cuckoo, a bird species last seen in the UK in 2009. The inexperienced migrant came to Wales instead of Spain.

References

"Community population 2011".
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"Penbrok comitat". British Library.
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(2011). "Resorts and Ports: European Seaside Towns Since 1700". Channel View Publications.
{{Cite DNB. Lloyd. John Edward
"Ward population 2011".
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"The defence training estate".
(15 July 2016). "Warning notice of firing - Penally Gallery Range July 2016 Amendment". Defence Infrastructure Organisation.
(12 November 2020). "The unacceptable conditions inside the dilapidated army barracks being used to house asylum seekers which they call a prison". [[Wales Online]].
(11 November 2020). "'Human rights ignored' at asylum seeker camp". BBC News.
(15 October 2020). "Written Statement: Use of Penally army training camp for asylum seekers".
(20 September 2021). "£54,000 bill for Penally asylum seekers camp 'may have to be met by Pembrokeshire taxpayers'". [[Western Telegraph]].
(2 December 2022). "The MoD's Penally Training Camp closes after more than 160 years". The Western Telegraph.
(19 March 2014). "Twitchers flock to see great spotted cuckoo". BBC News.

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