Explore West Wales

Set in a peaceful location overlooking East Angle Bay, this property is one of 4 former lifeboat cottages, situated on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. The extensive front garden leads directly on to the Path, with the East Angle Bay immediately beyond; an ideal spot for boating enthusiasts (the property has a mooring). During the season a ferry service runs twice daily from The Point to other coastal village resorts (weather permitting). The many beaches in the area are excellent places for swimming, sailing and watersports.

Angle is a calm and attractive coastal village of pretty traditional colour-washed stone cottages. There is a village church, a small village school, a well stocked village shop and two excellent pubs. A walk through the village takes you to West Angle Bay which has a golden sandy beach, dotted with rock pools and flanked by low cliffs. A short walk from the property leads to The Old Point House pub, where one can enjoy a drink while watching the abundant wildlife or the local boats bobbling about on the water. Over the headland is the RNLI lifeboat station.

There are two excellent pubs in Angle, The Hibernia Inn is a quiet pub with log fire in the bar in winter and serves good food at reasonable prices; The Old Point House at East Angle Bay with its old beams, flag floors, sea views and a well deserved reputation for excellent food.

Location

The village of Angle is located on a narrow peninsula on the very southwest tip of Wales in Pembrokeshire. It has two public houses, a school, post office, a castle, St Mary's church[1] and a sandy beach to the west of the village. The nearest viable rail station is Pembroke, from where there is a bus link. The Angle lifeboat received silver medals in 1878 rescuing the crew of the Loch Shiel on rocks near Thorn Island which carried cases of whisky. The rescue is particularly noteworthy as it is described as Wales' "Whisky Galore". The Loch Shiel was carrying goods from Scotland to Adelaide and included gunpowder, beer and 7,500 (some say 7,000) cases of Glasgow whisky. Much of this was never recovered. Some of the bottles are still amongst the wreck which are described as "undrinkable", but much of the cargo was only partially recovered by the customs men. It was said that one local drank himself to death on the 100 proof whiskey. In 1999, bottles of beer from the wreck were auctioned for £1000 per bottle.

The sheltered beach at West Angle bay has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The rockpools in the bay are home to a small green starfish with the scientific name Asterina phylactica.The starfish was only formally identified in 1979. The "castle" in the village is a single pele tower that was built by Robert de Shirburn in the 14th century. It is within Castle Farm but can be easily accessed. The castle may have been built by the Shirburn family during the time of Owain Glyndwr. A French army landed at Angle in 1405 to assist Glyndwr . Some sources see this as a tower but others see evidence of a moat and another tower and see this ruin as the remains of a castle.

In the nineteenth century it was reported that 388 people lived in the village with the women involved in plaiting straw for bonnets and mats, whilst the men would trawl for oysters when they were in season. In the same century a large number of forts were constructed around Pembroke Dock and Milford Haven. Three of these are on the coast around Angle, the East Blockhouse Battery, Thorn Island Fort and the Chapel Bay Battery.