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Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has been used as a port since the Middle Ages.
The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name. Designed to a grid pattern, it was originally intended by the founder, Sir William Hamilton, to be a whaling centre, though by 1800 it was developing as a Royal Navy dockyard which it remained until the dockyard was transferred to Pembroke in 1814. It then became a commercial dock, with the focus moving in the 1960s, after the construction of an oil refinery built by the Esso Company, to logistics for fuel oil and liquid gas. By 2010 the town's port has become the fourth largest in the United Kingdom in terms of tonnage, and plays an important role in the United Kingdom's energy sector with several oil refineries and one of the biggest LNG terminals in the world.
Milford is the second largest settlement in Pembrokeshire, with a population of 12,830; while the 13,086 people in its community boundaries make it the most populous in the county. As a Welsh local government community, Milford takes in the town of Milford itself and its suburbs, including Hakin, Hubberston, Liddeston, and Steynton.
The natural harbour of the Haven was known as a safe port and was exploited for several historical military operations throughout the second millennium. Campaigns conducted from the Haven included part of Henry II's Invasion of Ireland in 1171 and Cromwell's own attack on Ireland in 1649, while forces which have disembarked at the point include Jean II de Rieux's 1405 reinforcement of the Glyndwr Rising. In 1485, Henry VII landed at the Milford Haven Waterway before marching on to England.
Milford Haven - mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau.
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