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COSHESTON

GRID REFERENCE: SN 005037
AREA IN HECTARES: 166

Historic Background
This small character area, comprising the settlement and enclosed strip-field system of Cosheston, lies at the head of Cosheston Pill. It is within the parish, and medieval manor, of Cosheston. Cosheston manor, recorded in the 13th century, was a castle-guard fee of the Lordship of Pembroke, the ward-rent being assessed at 8s in 1307. It comprised 2 knight’s fees, held by Walter Benegar and others, in 1247, and by the Wogans of Picton and Boulston in 1324. A ‘tenement called the Hall of Cosheston’ was acquired by the Rossant family in 1556 and was assessed for two hearths in 1670. The hall was not on the present Cosheston Hall, which was established in a neighbouring character area in the 19th century under the Allens of Cresselly. The enclosed strips of the former open field system associated with the medieval vill surround the settlement of Cosheston, which now stretches east of the parish church. When the tithe map for Cosheston parish was surveyed in 1841 all the main elements of the present historic landscape were in place. The village is shown as a linear nucleation surrounded by an extensive, enclosed strip field system. Over the past 160 years the strip fields outside this character area have been converted to large, regular fields. This process is still continuing.

Base map reproduced from the OS map with the permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, © Crown Copyright 2001.
All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. Licence Number: GD272221

 

Description and essential historic landscape components
This is a small historic landscape character area centred on the village of Cosheston, and situated on the upper reaches of Cosheston Pill on undulating land that varies in height from sea level to over 60m. The village consists of a clustering of dwellings spread along an east – west aligned street, rather that a tight nucleation. There is a mixture of house styles in the village. Older houses are 19th century, stone-built, generally quite small, of two storeys and in the Georgian vernacular tradition, but with a few larger examples in the polite Georgian style. Three of the houses are Grade II listed. Most are detached, but short terraces are also present. Individual late 20th century houses lie intermixed with the older dwellings. Small modern housing developments are located in, and on the fringes, of the village. The former agricultural function of the village has been substituted by a residential function. This is exemplified by 19th century stone built farm outbuildings that have been converted to dwellings. The Grade II listed medieval church of St Michael’s (with a Grade II listed cross), the rectory and the school are situated at the western end of the village and probably indicate its historic core. A dense scatter of 20th century houses, with a few older but modernised dwellings lies to the south of the village on the opposite side of Cosheston Pill. A landscape of narrow strip fields surrounds the village. Hedges on banks are the main boundary type. In the southern section the hedges are very overgrown, but elsewhere they are well maintained. Most of the fields are under improved pasture. Archaeological sites are few and do not form an important component of the historic landscape.

The village of Cosheston and its enclosed strip field system provides a distinctive historic landscape character area, but one that has rather vague borders. Therefore, there is a zone of change between this area and its neighbours, rather than a hard-edged boundary.

Sources: Cosheston Parish tithe map 1841; Jones 1996; Ludlow 1998; Owen 1918; NLW MAP 7529; Walker 1950