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Llandovery

Visiting in the 19th century, the author George Borrow called Landovery “the pleasantest little town in which I have halted”. Still an attractive place, this busy market town is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Bran, Gwennol and Tywi, so Llandovery’s Welsh name, Llanymddyfri (meaning the church amid the waters), seems particularly apt.

The Romans were here and built a fort within whose ramparts a church was later built. The Parish Church of St Mary on the Hill still has some Roman tiles within its walls. Also of note are the barrel-vaulted chancel and tie-beam roof.

Llandovery Castle, the remains of which overlook the cattle market (held every other Tuesday), was the most easterly Norman castle within Carmarthenshire, constructed in 1116 by Richard Fitzpons, only to be captured and destroyed some 42 years later. Henry IV used the castle as his base during his campaign against Owain Glyndwr. The king witnessed the hanging, drawing and quartering of Llewelyn ap Gruffydd Fychan of Ceao who, in 1401, was executed for refusing to betray Glyndwr. Llewellyn is commemorated by an imposing monument on the castle mound. After 1403, the castle was left to decay and only the tumbledown remains are visible today.

The history of this town, which delighted many people before and since George Borrow, is told at the Llandovery Heritage Centre where the legends surrounding the hero Twm Sion Cati - the Welsh Robin Hood - and the local Physicians of Myddfai are also explored. The legend concerning the physicians is that a lady appeared one day from a lake in the Black Mountain. A local farmer’s son fell in love with her and she agreed to marry him on condition that he did not hit her three times without cause. Over the years he had given her three light taps for what he thought was poor behaviour and sure enough she returned to the lake. But before disappearing she passed on her herbal healing secrets to her three sons, who became the first of the famous Physicians of Myddfai, a line of healers who practised from the 12th to the 18th centuries. A recent venture among a group of farmers in Myddfai (a short drive south of Llandovery) was bringing together this age-old legend and the growing modern interest in the properties of herbs. In 2010 they launched a range of herbal remedies and other branded goods, which they hope will revive a place renowned across Europe in medieval times.

Llandovery boasts two famous sons. Rhys Pritchard, known as a preacher and the author of the collection of verses The Welshman’s Candle, was vicar here from about 1602. In the following century the renowned Methodist poet and hymn writer William Williams (1717-1791) was born in Llandovery. Amongst his many hymns, the best-known in English is Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer.

The attractive Dolauhirion Bridge spanning the River Tywi was built in 1173 by William Edwards. North of Llandovery, near Rhandir-mwyn, is all that remains of Twm Sion Cati’s Cave, the hideout of the 16th century Robin Hood of Wales. A poet whose youthful escapades earned him the title, Twn Sion later curtailed his activities and settled down after marrying the heiress of Ystradffin and even became a magistrate. He died in 1620.