Stackpole

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stackpole is a community and estate in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

It includes Stackpole Estate, a National Trust property, Stackpole Quay, Stackpole Head and a nature reserve. Stackpole has a spectacular maritime landscape with towering limestone cliffs providing nesting sites for many species of sea-birds.

Between Stackpole Quay and Stackpole Head is the sandy beach of Barafundle Bay voted by many publications including The Times and Country Life, as one of the top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world.

The Stackpole estate, once owned by the Earls Cawdor (the same Thanes of Cawdor mentioned in Shakespeare's Macbeth), consists of parkland centred on three beautiful lakes that lead down to the sea at Broad Haven South. The estate is a haven for rare species, including otters and rare butterflies.

810 hectares of outstanding countryside and coastal landscape set in the Pembrokeshire National Park. National Nature Reserve including the famous Bosherston Lily Ponds and the historic site of Stackpole Court, the home of the Cawdor family, Bronze and Iron age settlements and Stackpole Quay.

In 1883 the second earl had been one of 28 noblemen who owned more than 100,000 acres of land in the United Kingdom, 17,735 acres of which were in Pembrokeshire, and Stackpole Court was one of the greatest country houses in the kingdom. In February 1902 the third Earl entertained Edward VII there in circumstances of great splendour. The house was superbly sited and appointed, its grounds and gardens were renowned, and an army servants, domestic and outdoor, catered for the whims of the owner's family and guests. However, the tide of fortune was about to turn. Increasingly subject to penal taxation, the Cawdors, like many of the other great land-owning families of Britain, found it necessary to adapt to changing circumstances and to adopt economic strategies which involved radical and often unpalatable changes in land management. These affected Stackpole profoundly, and resulted in the demolition of Stackpole Court itself in 1963 and the subsequent alienation of most of the Campbell lands in the district.

The village of Stackpole is also served by a good pub (serving food) that is located in the village, and the National Trust tea room at Stackpole Quay.

The Welsh indie band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci are from Stackpole, and named their major label debut Barafundle after the bay.