Lawrenny

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Lawrenny is a small village and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It sits on a peninsula at the River Cleddau estuary, upriver from Milford Haven, inside the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. About 100 people lived there in 2020.

The village reaches Lawrenny Quay, half a mile from the centre, where there is a busy yacht station and a caravan park. Lawrenny has many local facilities, including a mobile post office, cricket and football clubs, a village hall, and a church. The community runs a Millennium Youth Hostel and a village shop that has a 24‑hour automated service for essentials.

The Quayside Tearooms and the Lawrenny Arms are popular with boaters and walkers. Lawrenny also runs its own broadband service for the village and nearby communities across the estuary. The village has been featured on TV, including ITV Wales News in 2016 and Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages in 2016.

History: Lawrenny grew from fishing, boat building and limestone quarrying upriver. In the 1830s the village had 422 people and a ferry over the Cresswell River. Its racing stables produced Wales’ first Grand National winner, Kirkland, in 1905. In World War II it was a base for Supermarine Walrus seaplanes and a training centre, known as RNAS Lawrenny Ferry (HMS Daedalus II). In 2007 it was voted best village in Wales by Calor.

Lawrenny House has gardens that are Grade II listed. The parish church, Saint Caradoc, is Grade II* listed. It was founded in the 12th century; its tower was added in the 15th century, with major changes in the 19th century.