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Kidwelly

This historic town, whose charter was granted by Henry I in the 12th century, boasts a fine 4th-century bridge over the River Gwendreath and the Parish Church of St Mary, originally built as the church of a Benedictine priory in 1320.

However, the most interesting and impressive building is undoubtedly the remarkably well-preserved Norman Kidwelly Castle (CADW), which stands on a steep bluff overlooking the river. The castle spans four centuries, but most of what remains today is attributed to Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, who founded the priory and died in 1139. He endeavoured to build a home from home from Sherborne Abbey in Dorset. One of Wales’ best kept secrets, Kidwelly Castle gives a fascinating insight into the evolution of a medieval castle into a domestic dwelling of more settled times.

For hundreds of years, the ghost of Gwenllian, daughter of the King of Gwynedd and the wife of the Prince of South Wales, was said to haunt the countryside around the castle. During an attack in 1136, which Gwenllian led, she was decapitated and legend has it that her headless ghost was unable to find rest until a man searched the battlefield and returned her skull to her. Princess Gwenllian was certainly a warrior, and she was perhaps also a writer. Some have attributed parts of The Mabinogion to her, and if the attribution is correct, she would be Britain’s earliest known woman writer.

On the outskirts of the town, marked by its 164ft redbrick chimney, lies the Kidwelly Industrial Museum - housed in an original tin-plate works dating from 1737. At one time, the area around Kidwelly produced half the world’s tinplate. Inside the museum, visitors have a unique opportunity to see how the plate was made, as well as learning something of the county’s industrial past. The museum contains Britain’s sole surviving pack mill.