Little England beyond Wales

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Little England beyond Wales is a name applied to an area of southern Pembrokeshire and southwestern Carmarthenshire in Wales. Despite its distance from England, it is one of the most anglicised areas of the principality.

[edit] Description

Although it is probably much older, the first known^[1] use of the term was in the sixteenth century, when Camden called the area Anglia Transwalliana. George Owen^[2] described it in 1603, and used the English term. A more modern description was given by Laws^[3].

The area first became distinct from the rest of Wales when it was settled by Vikings. This separation was reinforced after the Norman Conquest of England, when the area was also settled by Normans, who built a string of castles known as the Landsker Line to defend the region from the Welsh princes. During the Middle Ages, the colony was strengthened by immigrants / settlers from Devon, Cornwall and the Welsh Borders, and also by considerable numbers of refugees from Flanders. Some of the settlers were mercenaries in the armies of the Norman lords, rewarded later by becoming freeholders.

There is much debate about how many of the local Welsh people stayed behind in Little England, and how many fled to the north and east as the region became "anglicised". For whatever reason, the use of the Welsh language declined sharply. Many new villages were created in the colony and were worked according to the feudal system. Down through the centuries, a distinct English dialect evolved, incorporating many Flemish words. Castellated church towers, village greens, open fields and other "feudal system" features appeared in the landscape, helping to mark it out as distinct from the Welshry.

The region has kept its anglicised culture and sense of separation ever since. Until the nineteenth century, the region was the most distinct English-speaking area of Wales away from the English border. Other "Englishries" were in Gower and in parts of the Vale of Glamorgan.

The district is the most fertile area of south west Wales, and is still known for its high number of English migrants and visitors. Politically, Little England is quite volatile, switching allegiance from one party to another.

[edit] References

1. ^ Awbery, Gwenllian M, Cymraeg Sir Benfro/Pembrokeshire Welsh, Llanrwst, 1991, ISBN 0863811817
2. ^ Owen, George, The Description of Pembrokeshire Dillwyn Miles (Ed) (Gomer Press, Llandysul 1994) ISBN 185902-120-4
3. ^ Laws, E, The History of Little England Beyond Wales, Dyfed County Council, 1995, ISBN 0860750981)

[edit] See also

• South Pembrokeshire