Hill Moor is approximately three and a half miles west of Haverfordwest. The first and second editions of the 1:2500 scale Ordnance maps, published in 1875 and 1907 respectively, show three separate, but very small, settlements which may have been cottages or modest small holdings. Although they are unnamed on both maps, modern editions of the OS maps depict farmsteads in roughly the same locations as these three original original buildings. They are labelled 'Upper Moor Farm,' 'Middle Hill Moor,' and Lower Hill Moor Farm.'
According to heritage consultancy Trysor, 'The area around Hill Moor is shown on the Ordnance Survey's Original Surveyors Drawings Harverfordwest map sheet, surveyed in 1810. This was the first detailed map series of the whole country. It did not map field boundaries but does differentiate between enclosed and unenclosed land. It shows the land around Hill Moor was a small parcel of unenclosed common land known as Lamber Common.'
'When the Ordnance Survey published their 1 inch to 1 mile scale Fist Series map for the area in 1819, based on the 1810 survey, Lamber Common is still shown.'
'The first detailed map of the field system of the area is the Steynton parish tithe map of 1839 (St Mary's Vicar's Portion). This shows that Lamber Common had been incorporated into a small farmstead, one of several small holdings in the area described as "Hill Lands." A cottage had appeared since the publication of the 1819 Ordnance Survey map, and the 76-acre holding was owned by one Charles Mathias Esq, and farmed by John Thomas.'
'The 1889 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map shows that the large parcel of land formerly known as Lamber Common, or Upper Mountain, had been subdivided into a series of five fields. This arrangement survived until the late 20th century. The most important boundaries laid down by this time still survive in the modern landscape and divide the area into three broad strips, defined by boundary banks running roughly east-northeast to west-southwest across the former common. The central and southern strip are now single fields, but from 1889 until 1979, Ordnance Survey maps show them as both being divided in two by internal boundaries which ran approximately north to south. These boundary lines are now only faintly visible on modern aerial photographs.'
Source: Trysor report entitled 'Hillmoor Field, Portfield Gate, Pembrokeshire Historic Environment Appraisal'
M. Ryder, RCAHMW, 11th March 2019