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Contrary to what many people believe, the west wales town of was never a naval town like Plymouth or Portsmouth. It was a dockyard town, a place that built ships, launched them into the waters of Milford Haven - and never saw them again once they had sailed off to duties in many other parts of the world.

Pembroke Dock at Sunset (Photo:William Hart)

Dockyards have to be protected, however, and if it was anything, Pembroke Dock was a military town. Barracks, forts and gun towers proliferated in and around the place, many of them being still in existence although, these days, long out of use.

Chief amongst these military fortifications were the Defensible Barracks, a huge renaissance style fortification based on an early 16th century design. The barracks still sit - although now in a deplorable state of disrepair - on the top of what is known locally as the Barracks Hill, dominating the town and the site of the old dockyard that they were originally built to protect.

The barracks covered an area of some 6,000 square yards, offering fields of fire to landward and out to sea. Its walls were many feet thick. The purpose of the barracks and fort was the defend the dockyard from landward attack and to this end there were rifle loops in the walls for nearly 700 muskets. In addition, the barracks were equipped with 16 24-pounder cannon. It was originally designed to be garrisoned by eight officers, seven NCOs and 240 other ranks.

Local legend - possibly an urban myth - declares that the Defensible Barracks were completed in just 12 months. Certainly the contractor, Thomas Jackson, handed over the finished product to the military on 25 November 1845, having begun work on them in the late summer of 1844. As official records state:

"Possession was taken at three o'clock in the afternoon and was officially indicated by the hoisting of Her Majesty's flag amidst deafening cheers from the hundreds of spectators. A substantial dinner with a liberal quantity of double strength Welsh ale was given to the workmen."
Vernon Scott : PD Days

Given the size of the barracks, the workmen certainly deserved their "double strength Welsh ale" and if the work really was completed in just one year then it was an amazing feat of engineering and human enterprise. Other sources, however, state that work began in 1841.

It is likely that preparation work, digging out footings and so on, did commence in 1841 leaving just the construction of the walls and buildings to be completed in 12 months. Even so, the mammoth effort required to bring building material to the site and then erect it in such a short space of time was nothing short of miraculous.

The place was first known as Treowen Barracks, after the nearby road, although the original intention was to call them The Prince Albert Barracks, in honour of Queen Victoria's husband. In the end, the name Defensible Barracks was adopted and it stuck.

The first occupants of the Defensible Barracks were the , transferring from their cramped and draughty quarters on the old woodenwall 'Dragon' which had served as their base for many years. They were soon joined by two companies from the West Yorkshire Regiment.

Over the years many fine and famous regiments were based in the barracks. These ranged from the Pembrokeshire Artillery to the Royal North Gloucestershire Regiment - and, in particular, the 24th Foot, better known as the South Wales Borderers.

In the early days the deep moat surrounding the Barracks was not fenced in. Several soldiers, returning from a night in one of the town's many beer houses, fell into the open moat and were either seriously injured or killed.

It was a fate that also befell Dr Sumpter from the town - returning home late one night after treating a patient in nearby Pennar, he plunged into the darkened moat. The shock to his nervous system and several physical injuries were sufficient to kill him within a few days of the accident.

The most renowned victim of the unprotected moat, however, was an otherwise unremarkable Private in the Royal Marines, one John Harding. He pitched head first into the chasm in October 1850, his gravestone in the town cemetery recording his demise with the following words:

"Except the Lord direct our feet
And guide with gracious care;
At every step we danger meet,
In every path a snare.

Then reader pause, who e'er thou art,
As thus my grave you view;
Remember, thou from life must part -
Perhaps as quickly, too."

The twice daily firing of a blank charge from the barracks cannon became an essential part of the town's customs, alerting those residents without watches when it was noon or 9.30 at night. The 9.30pm gun soon became a signal marking the curfew for those local girls "out courting."

Over the years many famous soldiers served at the Defensible Barracks. None of them was more renowned than the famous Gordon of Khartoum who, although stationed at the barracks, was afforded the privilege of living out "in digs" in the town.

When he left Pembroke Dock to serve in the Crimea it was 1855 and he apparently remarked "I have received my death warrant." In fact Gordon did not die in the Crimean War but had to wait another dozen or so years before meeting his maker at the defence of Khartoum.

Arthur Lowe as Captain Mannering

Another famous resident of the Barracks was the actor Arthur Lowe who later found immortality as Captain Mainwaring in the TV show Dad's Army. He served there during the World War Two with the Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry.

The barracks were the scene of a major tragedy on 28 April 1942. Nineteen men were killed while practicing to disarm mines, four of them from the Royal Engineers, four from the King's Own Scottish Borderers and four serving with the Pioneer Corps. An officer who had been in the room moments before escaped death when he left the room to answer a telephone call.

When the military left Pembroke Dock in the mid 1960s, the Defensible Barracks were abandoned to their fate. They have subsequently served as a Council Depot and as the clubhouse for the South Pembs Golf Club.

Now, however, they are empty and forlorn. Although they are officially classified as a Grade II listed building, they are privately owned and are slowly crumbling into dust. It is a tragic state of affairs for a wonderful and historic old building.