Sacred - St Illtyd's, Pembrey, Carmarthenshire, Wales
N 51° 41.260 W 004° 16.504
30U E 411859 N 5727070
Sacred to the memory of the dead of 3 shipwrecks on Cefn Sidan Sands in the Nineteenth Century. One of whose victims was Adeline Coquelin, niece of Napoleon's consort Josephine. Located at St Illtyd's Church, Pembrey, South Wales.
Waymark Code: WMQCC1
Location: South Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/04/2016
Views: 1
St Illtyd's Church was probably constructed in the 11th Century. The Church was a landmark for shipping in the hazardous Burry Estuary, where many ships came to grief on the Cefn Sidan sands. Over 200 Sailors & Passengers, are buried in the churchyard.
The three ships that foundered on the Sands were;
The French vessel La Jeune Emma in 1828. Brothers of Liverpool in 1833. & Pickering Dodge of the USA, in 1839.
"La Jeune Emma" bound from the West Indies to France and blown badly off course in 1828. 13 of the 19 on board drowned, including Adeline Coquelin, the 12-year-old niece of Napoleon Bonaparte's divorced wife Josephine de Beauharnais. She is buried at St. Illtyds Church, Pembrey." Text Source; (
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"St Illtud's Church was a parish church during the medieval period, belonging to the Deqanery of Kidwelly. In 1120 it was granted to the Benedictines of Sherborne Abbey (Dorset), by Roger of Salisbury (Lord of Kidwelly). In 1353 Henry, Duke of Lancaster and the Bishop of st Davids granted the church, along with its two chapelrys, Llandury and Llancommowr, to the New College of Leicester. In 1366 the church was granted by the Bishop by John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster) to the Bishop of St Davids, on the condition that a chantry be founded within the church (to which the revenues of St Ishmael's church were appropraited). After the dissolution the advowson fell to the Crown, but subsequently found its way into private patronage. In 1853 it was in the patronage of the Earl of Ashburnham. This was purchased by the Elkington brothers in 1880, who later presented it to the Ecclesiastical Commission. In 1998 the church was once again a parish church." Text Source: (
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