The Butler coat of arms

The Butlers had obligations to their Kidwelly overlords; for instance, in times of war they had to provide 5 archers to the Lord of Kidwelly. The Butlers also had to provide one knight to attend 'At the Court of Foreignry of Kidwelly'. There were other duties, which the humbler inhabitants of Pembrey had to perform; for example, the men of the parish had to give a day's ploughing and help with the hay.

The manor of Penbre was granted to Sir Arnold Butler by Maurice de Londres, lord of Kidwelly, in about 1128. The last known reference to the Pembrey Butlers was in c.1500. Ann Butler, heiress of estates at Pembrey and Dunraven, married Sir Richard Vaughan of Bredwardine in Herefordshire, High Sheriff of that county in 1530. During the Civil War period, Cwrt was the home of Sir George Vaughan, an ardent Royalist. This crippling fine led him to return to live at Cwrt, and to sell off his estates at Dunraven and Fallersdon.

John Ashburnham wrote of Cwrt in 1677: ' I saw Pembrey House (Court), an old stone house, large enough and kept in good repair', 10 years after he had married Bridget and had moved to Ashburnham Place in Sussex.

John and Bridget didn't ever live in Pembrey. So the great, grand manor house now became Cwrt Farm, the home of estate stewards and tenant farmers. In 1923, their 8,000-acre Carms estate was divided and sold. Cwrt Farm was again later sold to the Bonnell brothers,who used it for storage until their deaths in the 1970's.

The roof tiles and lead was subsequently stolen and decay set in.

In Janury 2010 ownership of Cwrt farm was transferred to The Camarthenshire Building Preservation Trust. The Trust and the Friends are working towards its restoration.