Editing Tenby (section)

===Tudors and the Civil War===
[[File:St Mary's Street, Tenby - geograph.org.uk - 873512.jpg|thumb|St Mary's Street, a typical old town street in Tenby]]
In the mid-16th century, the large D-shaped tower formerly known as the "Five Arches tavern" was built following fears of a second [[Spanish Armada]]. Tenby was formally incorporated as a borough by [[Elizabeth I]] in 1581.<ref>{{cite web |title=Tenby Borough Records |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/9e1d660d-4ee7-3cbb-affe-6e80d028d727 |website=Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) |access-date=7 August 2022}}</ref> 

Two key events caused the town to undergo rapid and permanent decline in importance. First, Tenby declared for [[Roundhead|Parliament]] in the [[English Civil War]]. It resisted two attempts by the [[Cavalier|Royalists]] forces of [[Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield|Charles Gerard]], who took most of the rest of South Wales.  However in the [[Second English Civil War]] the commander of Tenby Castle declared for [[Charles I of England|the King]] in 1648, although ten weeks later the shattered town was surrendered to the parliamentarian [[Thomas Horton (soldier)|Colonel Thomas Horton]], who welcomed [[Oliver Cromwell]] shortly afterwards.<ref name="castlewales.com"/><ref name=Penmar/> Second, a plague outbreak killed half of the town's remaining population in 1650.

With limited infrastructure, resources and people, the town's economy fell into decline. Most of the merchant and business class left, resulting in the town's decay and ruin. By the end of the 18th century, [[John Wesley]] noted during his visit how: "Two-thirds of the old town is in ruins or has entirely vanished. Pigs roam among the abandoned houses and Tenby presents a dismal spectacle."<ref name=Kuiters>{{cite web|url=http://kuiters.org/wgj/history/botgardpaxton.html|title=Sir William Paxton|publisher=kuiters.org|access-date=16 September 2011}}</ref>