Pupils still learn in village hall as Pembrokeshire council weighs Manorbier school closure
Family petitions grow as community battles to rebuild the fire-damaged school and officials consider its future
Pupils at Manorbier VC School in Pembrokeshire are still learning in Jameston Village Hall nearly three years after a fire destroyed their building, and the prospect of a return to the original school appears distant as council leaders weigh closure.
An October 2022 blaze damaged the school’s roof space, forcing the move to a temporary site at Jameston Village Hall. Manorbier VC School is a voluntary controlled school, funded by the local authority but affiliated with the Church in Wales. Today 28 pupils are educated at the temporary site, with staff converting the village hall into makeshift classrooms.
Local families say the village hall arrangement is not a long-term solution. In May, a majority of Pembrokeshire County Council councillors voted to hold a consultation with St David's Diocesan on the possible closure of Manorbier and Ysgol Clydau in North Pembrokeshire. Since then, more than 1,000 people have signed a petition urging the council to honour its promise to rebuild the school. The petition remains on the council’s website as the consultation proceeds.
The St Davids Diocesan board of finance has said it “always required that the school be reinstated” and, until May, officials had led communities to believe the school would be reinstated by Pembrokeshire County Council. The fire occurred almost exactly three years ago, and the community has watched the building deteriorate while debates over funding, demographics, and pupil numbers intensify.
In the interim, the council has argued that the community faces a combination of a shrinking pupil base, a high level of surplus spaces, and the financial burden of rebuilding. In May, the council cited a falling demographic over several years, significant surplus places, and only 18.5% of children living in the catchment as factors. The capital cost of rebuilding Manorbier VC School is estimated at about £2.6 million, and Pembrokeshire council has estimated the rebuilding cost could exceed £2 million, framing the project as financially challenging for the authority and the community.
Sam Kurtz, Conservative MS for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, accused the council of breaking promises and said it was unacceptable that the matter had advanced to a consultation rather than a decision to rebuild. He asked whether the school would have been earmarked for closure if the fire had not occurred, arguing the community felt forgotten and that the fire was being used as a pretext to close the school.
The cabinet has said it cannot comment on specifics while the consultation is underway, but released a statement that all views will be considered before any decision on discontinuing schools is made. The council acknowledged the community’s strong feelings and noted that the petition would be discussed in due course.
Manorbier VC School opened in 1873 and would have marked its 150th anniversary in January 2023 had the fire not interrupted its history. Officials say the temporary arrangement has kept the school open for students while the broader decisions about its future are debated. The school’s fate sits at the center of a wider conversation about rural education and resilience in Pembrokeshire, where communities have faced disruptions and changing demographic patterns in recent years.
