St Mary's church, Haverfordwest is a substantial building the earliest part dating from the end of the 12th century. The nave, south porch and chancel are 13th century, possibly incorporating older fabric. In the 15th century the north aisle and the north-east chapel were combined and enlarged, the north-west tower was added and the nave heightened. The tower had a lead-clad timber spire, removed in 1802 as a danger to Kensington House in Tower Hill. The interior was said to have been damaged by prisoners after the French invasion of Fishguard. The decorated arcades and chancel arch are of stone from Caen, and have been described as cathedral quality. Among the many the stone carvings are portrait heads and figures directed at the 'foreign Welsh', for example an ape playing a Welsh harp. A bench end near the chancel arch depicts St Michael slaying the dragon, originally carved abroad, it may be from the Priory by the quay. Blackletter inscriptions in English are located on the spandrels of the nave roof, and there was a now lost Royal Arms of 1635.

Sources include:
CADW listed buildings database
T.J. Hughes, Wales's Best One Hundred Churches, 2006.
Richard Suggett, Painted Temples: Wallpaintings and Rood-screens in Welsh Churches, 1200–1800, (RCAHMW 2021), pp. 13, 35, 226.

RCAHMW 2021