THE days when a clifftop amphitheatre near Tenby was the regular setting for Shakespearean drama are recalled in this year’s edition of the Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society.

It was Miss Jessie Allen who was the driving force behind the unique open-air theatre on the North Cliff. A granddaughter of Charles Bird Allen, one of the founders of Tenby Museum, Miss Allen was born in Tenby in 1885 and returned to live in the town following a career spent teaching English and drama at a teacher training college in Cheltenham.

She built a small bungalow for herself on the North Cliff called ‘Clovers’ with stunning views across the bay. In the 1930s, her love of drama led her to create an open-air theatre below the bungalow to which she would invite her former students from Cheltenham to perform summer ‘entertainments’. A graceful little folly, ‘The Temple to the Winds’, completed the scene.

Temple to the Winds at Clovers - seen from the shore at low tide
Temple to the Winds at Clovers - seen from the shore at low tide (Observer photo)

As local historian Linda Asman reveals, it was in the early 1950s that the theatre really came into its own, with regular Shakespearean performances set against the backdrop of Carmarthen Bay, usually featuring Miss Allen in a prominent role with a supporting cast of talented local actors.

As well as telling the full history of the theatre at ‘Clovers’, complete with illustrations, the 128-page Journal contains many other fascinating articles on various aspects of Pembrokeshire’s colourful past. Of particular interest is a beautifully-illustrated history of the printed maps of Pembrokeshire, 1578-1900, by Huw Thomas, keeper of maps at the National Library in Aberystwyth.

Terry John tells the remarkable story of the Hawaiian chief from Hubberston, while Milford Haven is prominently featured with a feature on the early history of pilotage on the waterway as well as an article by Canadian historian Harry Holman on a doomed attempt to establish a steamship line between that country and Milford town.

Meanwhile society chairman Simon Hancock tells the story of two murderous events near Narberth, crimes so vicious that after being executed the murderers’ bodies were placed on public display in iron gibbets!

Non-members of the PHS can obtain a copy of the 2025 Journal from Society treasurer David Norris via email: [email protected] .