St. Florence

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.