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{{Short description|Village, parish and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales}}
{{for|the Manic Street Preachers song|Rewind the Film}}
{{Use Welsh English|date=April 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country                     = Wales
| welsh_name                  = Maenorbŷr
| official_name               = Manorbier
| constituency_welsh_assembly = [[Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Assembly constituency)|Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire]]
| constituency_westminster    = [[Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire]]
| coordinates                 = {{coord|51.6459|-4.7966|display=inline,title}}
| static_image_name           = The village street (B4585), Manorbier - geograph.org.uk - 928809.jpg
| static_image_caption        = The Village Street
| lieutenancy_wales           = [[Dyfed]]
| community_wales             = Manorbier
| unitary_wales               = [[Pembrokeshire]]
| population                  = 1327
| population_ref              = (2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126279&c=SA70+7SX&d=16&e=62&g=6491739&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1429536416516&enc=1|title=Community population 2011|access-date=20 April 2011}}</ref>
| post_town                   = TENBY
| postcode_district           = SA70
| postcode_area               = SA
| dial_code                   = 01834
| module= [[File:2024 Wales Pembrokeshire Community Manorbier map.svg|240px]]<br />Map of the community
}}

'''Manorbier''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|æ|n|ər|ˈ|b|ɪər}}; {{langx|cy|Maenorbŷr}} {{IPA|cy|mɑɨnɔrˈbɨːr|}}) is a village, [[Community (Wales)|community]] and [[parish]] on the south coast of [[Pembrokeshire]], Wales. The name means the '[[Manorialism|Manor]] of [[Saint Pyr|Pŷr]]'. The community includes [[Jameston]], [[Lydstep]] and [[Manorbier Newton]].

An [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] with the same name exists. It stretches inland to [[St Florence]] and at the 2011 Census, the population was 2,083.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukcensusdata.com/manorbier-w05000423#sthash.nNznGy2Z.dpbs|title=Ward population 2011|access-date=20 April 2015}}</ref> The area is served by the [[West Wales Line]] stopping at [[Manorbier railway station]].

Manorbier is within the [[Pembrokeshire Coast National Park]] and is a popular tourist attraction with [[Manorbier Castle]], St James's Church, the sandy beach, cliffs, and part of the [[Wales Coast Path]].

== History ==
[[File:Manorbierbeachcomposite.jpg|left|thumb|Manorbier beach]]
[[File:Manorbier Castle.jpg|thumb|left|Manorbier Castle]]
[[File:St James's Church, Manorbier - geograph.org.uk - 928738.jpg|thumb|left|St James's Church, Manorbier]]
Fossils can be found along the stream bed, although some are of poor quality, and along the cliffs to the side of the beach the rock formations are revealed as vertical beds. The evidence of early human habitation consists of many [[flint tools|flint]] [[microlith]]s from the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] ages, housed in local museums. The [[Dolmen|cromlech]] known as the [[King's Quoit]]  is south of Manorbier bay and beach.

Later evidence points to occupation of The Dak with the finding of a perforated [[mace (bludgeon)|mace]] head as well as [[Bronze Age]] [[burial mound]]s on the Ridgeway. Fortifications also seem to have been prominent including an [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] enclosure near Manorbier station and the site of a [[Hill fort#Types of hill fort|multivallate]], meaning multiple ditches, [[promontory fort]] at Old Castle Head where there are remains of hut platforms within the ditches. A well-restored [[lime kiln]] is in Mud Lane behind the castle. To the east of Manorbier, on the side of the road to Lydstep, is an area of [[strip lynchet]]s dating to early [[Anglo Saxon]] times and perhaps as early as the [[Bronze Age]].

The [[Normans|Norman]] knight Odo de Barri was granted the lands of Manorbier, [[Penally]] and [[Begelly]] in gratitude for his military help in conquering Pembrokeshire after 1103. The first [[Manorbier Castle]] was [[motte and bailey]] style, with the stone walls being added in the next century by later Normans.

[[St James's Church, Manorbier|St James's]] parish church dates from the 12th century and is a Grade I [[listed building]].<ref>{{cite web|title=British Listed Buildings: St James' Church, Manorbier|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-5975-https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manorbier&action=edit&section=1st-james-church-manorbier|access-date=28 March 2016}}</ref> A large number of other buildings and structures in the parish are listed.<ref>{{cite web|title=British Listed Buildings: Listed Buildings in Manorbier, Pembrokeshire, Wales|url=https://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wales/manorbier-pembrokeshire#.Wcoqn9FryM8|access-date=26 September 2017}}</ref>

From 1933 to 1 September 1946, a mixed [[Civil aviation|civil]] and [[Military aviation|military]] airfield  was operational. During [[World War II]] it was a  [[Royal Air Force]] airfield, [[RAF Manorbier]].<ref name="RAF">{{cite web |url=https://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/manorbier |title=Manorbier |publisher=Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust |access-date=26 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917121407/http://www.abct.org.uk/airfields/manorbier |archive-date=17 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The site is now a firing range employed by the [[Royal Artillery]] as a testing range for high-velocity missiles.

== Notable people ==
* [[Giraldus Cambrensis]] (ca. 1146 – ca. 1223), also known as ''Gerald of Wales'' was a Cambro-Norman priest, historian and son of William de Barri, was born in the village and called it "the pleasantest place in Wales".<ref>[http://www.castlewales.com/manor.html Manorbier Castle<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite DNB |wstitle= Giraldus de Barri | volume= 21 |last= Luard |first= Henry   |author-link= Henry Luard |pages = 389-393 |short=1}}</ref>

==Railway==
[[Manorbier 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 {{rws|Pembroke Dock}} and eastwards to {{rws|Tenby}}, {{rws|Whitland}}, {{rws|Carmarthen}} and {{rws|Swansea}}.

==Twinning==
Manorbier is [[town twinning|twinned]] with [[Vernou-la-Celle-sur-Seine]], France.

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite web |last1= Hughes |first1= Basil H.J. |year= 2014 |title= Pembrokeshire Parishes, Places & People. Castlemartin Hundred |website= archive.org |pages= 186-237 |url= https://archive.org/details/PembrokeshireParishesPlacesPeopleCastlemartinHundred/mode/2up }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Manorbier}}
* {{wikivoyage inline|Manorbier}}
* {{oscoor gbx|SS066978}}
* [https://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=6505368 Photos of Manorbier and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk]
* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/files/wal/PEM/Manorbier/index.html Historical information and sources on GENUKI]

{{Communities of Pembrokeshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Pembrokeshire]]
[[Category:Communities in Pembrokeshire]]
[[Category:Coast of Pembrokeshire]]