{{Short description|Village in Pembrokeshire, Wales}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | country = Wales | static_image = | static_image_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|52|-5.07|display=inline,title}} | official_name = | population = | shire_district = | unitary_wales = Pembrokeshire | metropolitan_borough = | metropolitan_county = | region = | constituency_westminster = | post_town = | postcode_district = | postcode_area = | dial_code = | os_grid_reference = }} '''Trefasser''' (variations: '''Tref-Asser''', or '''Trêf Asser''', or '''Asserton'''; translation: "town" of "Asser")<ref name="Charnock">{{cite book|last=Charnock|first=Richard Stephen|authorlink=Richard Stephen Charnock |title=Local etymology: a derivative dictionary of geographical names|url=https://archive.org/details/localetymologya00chargoog|year=1859|publisher=Houlston and Wright|page=[https://archive.org/details/localetymologya00chargoog/page/n576 276]}}</ref><ref name="Carlisle">{{cite book|last=Carlisle|first=Nicholas |title=A topographical dictionary of ... Wales, a continuation of the topography of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ATITAAAAQAAJ&dq=Tref-asser+&pg=PT418|year=1811|page=4D}}</ref><ref name="Morgan">{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Thomas |title=Handbook of the origin of place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog|year=1887|publisher=H.W. Southey|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog/page/n218 208]}}</ref> is a hamlet, located to the west of Fishguard in western Wales. Historically, it is part of the parish of Llanwnda. It lies on the coast of St George's Channel<ref name="Carlisle" /> within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. A stream named Cledde Goch runs close by.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Transactions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAkiAQAAIAAJ&q=Trefasser|year=1970|publisher=Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion|location=London|page=113}}</ref>
Trefasser's farms, houses and cottages are the only settled area of Pen Caer.<ref name="cambriaorguk">{{cite web|url=http://www.cambria.org.uk/HLC/pencaer/pencaer.htm|title=Pen Caer|work=cambria.org.uk|access-date=4 October 2010}}</ref> David Tress has painted the place in an abstract painting.
==History== thumb|left|Trefasser Isaf Trefasser was mentioned in the survey of episcopal lands in 1326.<ref name="cambriaorguk" /> It at one time belonged to Major Thomas Askwith Jenkins (1809–1877) of Trevigin.<ref name="Nicholas" />
In July 2009, the body of a 47-year-old man from Stourbridge in the West Midlands was found at the bottom of the cliffs of Trefasser.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/news/4506033.Man_found_dead_on_Trefasser_cliff_named/|title=Man found dead on Trefasser cliff named by HM Coroner for Pembrokeshire|publisher=Western Telegraph|date=July 22, 2009|access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref> {{clear}}
==Etymology== The general consensus is that Trefasser is named after Bishop Asser, a Welsh churchman who was friend and biographer of King Alfred in the 9th century and may have been his birthplace.<ref name=Laws>{{cite book|last=Laws|first=Edward|title=The History of Little England Beyond Wales|publisher=Bell, London|date=1888|pages=107–119|url=https://archive.org/details/b21781023/page/107|access-date=26 February 2023}}</ref><ref name="Nicholas">{{cite book |last=Nicholas|first=Thomas |title=Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of Wales: containing a record of all ranks of the gentry ... with many ancient pedigrees and memorials of old and extinct families|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1IBAAAAQAAJ&dq=%22TREF+ASSER%22&pg=PA903|year=1872 |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green, Reader|page=903}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n5BCAAAAYAAJ&dq=trefasser&pg=PA626|author=Gorton, John|author-link=John Gorton (writer)|title=A topographical dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland: compiled from local information, and the most recent and official authorities: Volume 3 of A Topographical Dictionary of Great Britain and Ireland|publisher=Chapman and Hall|year=1833|page=626}}</ref><ref name="Gronow">{{cite book|last=Gronow|first=J. |title=A review of England and Wales, in which the historical events of every town, village, and place are briefly expressed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwoHAAAAQAAJ&dq=Trefasser+wales&pg=PA321|year=1849|publisher=Simpkin and Marshall|location=London|page=321}}</ref><ref name="alt">An alternative explation is that it is named for Asser's nephew, Asser Meneventsis, as Trefasser is said to be his birthplace. Meneventsis was a Benedictine monk, as well as scribe and chancellor to Asser. {{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Thomas |title=Handbook of the origin of place-names in Wales and Monmouthshire|url=https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog|year=1887|publisher=H.W. Southey|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookoriginp01morggoog/page/n218 208]}}</ref>
thumb|left|840px|Coastline from nearby Pwll Deri. Trefasser is located inland from the cliffs towards the left, nearby. {{clear}}
==Castell Poeth== A tumulus named Castell Poeth ("the Hot Castle") is located nearby. It is an exploratory castelet with an occasional beacon.<ref name="Nicholson">{{cite book|last=Nicholson|first=George |title=The Cambrian traveller's guide, and pocket companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z70HAAAAQAAJ&dq=trefasser&pg=PA666|year=1840|publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans|location=London|page=263}}</ref> Described as a ditched, raised enclosure, oval in shape, and measuring {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}} across, it has an attached second oval measuring {{convert|46|m|ft|abbr=on}} by {{convert|54|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Wiles">{{cite web|url=http://www.coflein.gov.uk/en/site/305291/details/CASTELL+POETH/|title=CASTELL POETH|last=Wiles|first=J.|date=2004|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales|access-date=4 October 2010}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
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Category:Villages in Pembrokeshire