Pembrokeshire's Cathedral and Castles

This is the centre of St Davids and that's City Hall over there, next to a delightful coffee shop where we stopped for refreshment.  The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park office and visitor information centre...

...is situated at one end of town ... opps, city; and the Celtic cross and well-kept war memorial garden (above) at the other.  From here St Davids Cathedral is a short walk down The Pebbles.

Of course St Davids, like any popular tourist destination, has its fair share of tourist trap shops, most of which were near the cathedral.

Soon we arrived at the 12th century St Davids Cathedral and ... uh-oh, on the June day we were there the place was teeming with the dreaded...

...school parties on a pilgrimage attending services being held inside.  This meant a lengthy wait for entry for 'normal' visitors so we grabbed an early lunch in the award-winning cathedral refectory (erm, it wasn't anything special), checked out the cloisters, roamed the ruins and courtyard of the medieval Bishop’s Palace (above) adjacent to the cathedral, and enjoyed a wander around...

...this scenic spot by the River Alun running between Bishop’s Palace and the cathedral.

So in at last!  Tours inside St Davids Cathedral can be guided or self-paced, entry is free but donations are encouraged and there's a £2 fee for photography.  For many centuries the cathedral has been a popular destination for pilgrimages, so of course with the...

...wait there were many other visitors (pilgrims?) looking around the nave, the font, the choir stalls, the Treasury and the chapels.  We also viewed the newly restored medieval Shrine of St David, with icons depicting local saints, within St Davids Cathedral.

We exited St Davids Cathedral via Tower Gate House, which houses a history and life exhibition, and the Bell Tower which has a royal ring of ten bells.

Carew Castle has evolved from an 11th century Norman fortification, through medieval fortress, to an Elizabethan country house.  Since 1983 it's...

...been run by the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority and has benefited from an extensive restoration programme to preserve the castle ruins.

Here's the courtyard just inside the castle proper, audio and guided tours were available but we made our own way around Carew Castle aided by...

...the very informative guide sheet provided.  Here we're exploring the Long Gallery.

This room at the base of the Old Tower felt a bit creepy as we read the plentiful information on the castle's history provided by the illuminated but non-interactive display panels.

Also at Carew Castle: an impressive 11th century Celtic cross, apparently the only one not just in Pembrokeshire but in Wales.

Some areas inside Carew Castle were set-up ready for character re-enactment for those dreaded 'educational visits'.  Mike decided to do his own re-enactment in the Lesser Hall here and, sitting at the table, banged his fists and bellowed: "serving wench, bring me my beer!"  Weyhey, our own medieval re-enactment at Carew Castle, how cool was that?

Heading higher up another narrow spiral staircase...

...we found the castle's kitchen prep area - and had some fun in here too!  We noticed it was laid out ready for those pesky school visits, no doubt to demonstrate medieval cooking by a character re-enactor.  Well, Belinda did some 'hands-on' playing with the dough and vegetable food props before ringing the hand bell - then we heard another school group approaching and quickly got outta there!

Those large windows overlooking...

...the 23-acre millpond were added by Sir John Perrot in the 16th century.  Can you see the tide mill at the end of the millpond?  Well that was where we next headed, included in the £4.75 adult entry cost.

To the right of Carew's restored tidal mill is the medieval bridge (part of a pleasant one-mile circular walk around the castle) leading to a lovely picnic area affording a wonderful castle view across the millpond.

No doubt the tide mill's water wheel is on the list of restoration projects at Carew Tidal Mill.  It's amazing to think our ancestors were harnessing renewable energy long before it became trendy, here...

...using tidal motion to power the mill's milling machinery which we explored over the three floors.  So, a very enjoyable visit to Carew Castle and Tidal Mill in south Pembrokeshire - five stars from us!

No, we're not still messing around with those food props at the castle, this is back at our own Pembrokeshire 'castle', namely our lovely rented self-catering holiday cottage...

...centrally located in Haverfordwest.  And the food wasn't medieval, here we're tucking in to a hearty breakfast before venturing out on another day of Pembrokeshire touring.  The cottage...

...didn't have any spiral staircases or ramparts but was very comfortable with a little courtyard to sit out in with a coffee in the week-long Wales sunshine - nice.

Carew Castle is but one of 51 castles and forts in Pembrokeshire, others include Tenby and Pembroke castles (also in the south), and Picton and Haverfordwest castles in mid Pembrokeshire.  Oh, there's also another Bishop's Palace: Lamphrey.  But only the one cathedral at St Davids.

Our Pembrokeshire holiday planning has added to our collection of UK tourism resources - please take a look if planning a visit!

Now please join us on our final Pembrokeshire holiday page with an enchanting trip to see the delightful puffins on Skomer Island >>>