Pater Fort
Pater Fort and battery stood in what is now the northwestern corner of the Dockyard, near the Carr Jetty. Building work began in the 1750s, to defend the Haven at the time of the Seven Years' War, but the fort was left unfinished.
Richard Fenton, viewing this uncompleted, isolated structure in 1810, thought it "a scandalous waste of public money". Fortifications were rebuilt here several times as part of the Dockyard's seaward defences "Pater Battery", Mrs Peters notes, was constructed in 1840-42.
Dockyard volunteers and other units trained and drilled here, the artillerymen firing at targets such as a barrel surmounted by a flagstaff, moored in the haven about a mile off. Most of the battery was demolished in 1903. Some of its masonry was carried off by horse and cart, without charge, by Thomas Brown and Joseph Gibby. They carted the stones from one end of town to the other, to build St. Teilo's church.
(Sources: Fenton 151; CADW 62; Peters 81; HMT 24 May 1871; Mason 213)Picture by courtesy of Pembrokeshire County Council Museum Service