St Florence
St Florence
St Florence is a village of immense charm and a past winner of the coveted Wales in Bloom trophy. There are many pretty cottages, one with a well known architectural feature known as a Flemish chimney – the last surviving example of its kind in the area. It also has an interesting 13th century church.
The nearest train station is in Tenby.
A decent bus service with 6 or 7 buses a day connects St Florence with Carew and Tenby.
After the Norman annexation of south Pembrokeshire in the 12th Century, the king brought in Flemish settlers whose lands had been inundated by the sea. They were meant to act as a buffer between the Welsh peoples in north Pembrokeshire and the Normans in the south. Evidence of Flemish settlement in St Florence still exists in the form of a Flemish chimney on one of the older buildings. The population at that time would likely be a mix of Normans, Irish, Scandinavians and anglicised Flemings, together with Anglo-Saxons and some of Welsh origin.
There was a walled deer park belonging to the Earls of Pembroke. Wall Park Farm still occupies the site.
Activities
Ritec Valley Quadbikes is nearby as is Trefloyne Manor Golf Course.
Attractions
St Florence is 3 miles inland from Tenby on the road towards Carew Castle. On the edge of the village are three of Pembrokeshire’s biggest attractions; Manor House Wildlife Park, Heatherton Activity Park and Tenby Dinosaur Park. Heatherton Activity Park
Heatherton offers an enormous range of activities including archery, bumper boats, baseball, Go-Karts, a Pitch & Putt golf course, horseriding, laser clay pigeon shooting, paintball, A Pirates of the Caribbean fun golf course, pistol shooting, Robot Wars, indoor bowls, a play area and a maize maze in the summer.
The Dinosaur Park is a dinosaur theme park with 30 dinosaurs on a mile-long trail with many indoor and outdoor attractions including activity centre and events programme such as fossil hunt, puppet show, pat-a-pet etc. There’s an adventure playground with golf, trampolines, astra slide, bubble ride, disco boats, off-roaders, tractors etc and Dino’s Play Den for younger children. There are a dinosaur-themed restaurant, a sun terrace café and snack bar too.
Manor House Wildlife Park has 35 acres of parkland to walk through, there is plenty to see with reindeer, tapir, bison, zebra, camels, monkeys, meerkats and raccoons. Also play areas for children. It was bought by TV Changing Rooms presenter Anna Ryder Richardson in 2008. Her and her team have worked hard to change it into an “uncaged” wildlife attraction where traditional pens are replaced with walk-through areas.
In the village is Grandiflora garden centre. It is Wales’ only specialist semi-mature plant centre and they have thousands of containerised British native trees and shrubs, palms, bamboo, Mediterranean, coastal, jungle and unusual plants. You’ll also find Bramley’s Tea Rooms here.
Nearby is Carew Castle and Tide Mill. Carew Castle was built by the Normans on the site of a Celtic fort in the 12th Century. It was later converted into a grand Edwardian manor house. There’s more detail on the Carew page.
Food and Drink
The Parsonage Farm Inn in St Florence is a grade II listed Georgian property which until the early 1930’s was the ‘Glebe Farm’ of this ancient Norman community and farmed by the Rector of St Florence. The pub has large well planted gardens and serves meals in the evening during the winter and at lunchtime and in the evening during the summer.
The Sun Inn in the centre of the village has a good eat-in or takeaway menu with many pub favourites including some vegetarian and children’s options.
Bramley’s Tea Rooms is at the Grandiflora Garden Centre. This award winning tearoom within the garden centre specialises in home cooking using local produce whenever possible. Morning coffee, light meals, lunches and afternoon tea are served daily. Traditional three course lunch served on Sundays.
The well stocked shop, The St Florence Stores, also has a delivery service if you want to pre-order some groceries before you arrive.
Accommodation
There is one small hotel, a Country House, a guesthouse and a B&B in St Florence. There are also some B&Bs in neighbouring villages such as Lydstep.
There are several camp sites and touring caravan parks plus several holiday parks on the edge of the village. Numerous self catering cottages are available all along this part of south Pembrokeshire including in St Florence.