Castles and Heritage in Pembrokeshire
At Canaston Oaks, you are centrally located to explore the wealth of castles, walled towns, churches and, of course, our own cathedral at St David’s making it Britain’s smallest city!
You are also practically astride the Landsker Line at Canaston Oaks. The Landsker line was a line of over 50 castles and strongholds built by the Normans and Flemish to ‘protect’ south Pembrokeshire from the indigenous Welsh who had been forced to move to the hilly country in the north of the county. ‘Landsker’ comes from the Norse for ‘divide’ so it was aptly named! Its theoretical route is from Newgale in the west of the county down to Amroth, south of us.
We have outlined some of the castles for you to visit, but there are many more – please ask us for more information
The closest castle to us is at LLawhaden Castle, just the other side of the main A40. This castle was at the centre of the bishops of St David's estates. Destroyed by Welsh insurrection in 1192, it was then rebuilt in stone in the 1200's and further reconstructed in 14th century into a fortified mansion for the bishops. The ruins include a gatehouse, remains of a great hall, chapel, and prison surrounded by a ditch.
Other castles in the area include:
Pembroke Castle: A Norman castle built by William Marshall, the pre-eminent English knight of the Middle Ages, around 1300. The great keep is still standing to a height of 80 feet and overlooks the picturesque Pembroke River. Pembroke Castle is the reputed birthplace of Henry VII.
Carew Castle: The ruins of Carew Castle stand in majestic splendour on the low banks of the river Carew, near Pembroke. Gerald of Windsor erected a Norman motte and bailey castle here about 1100, building on a still earlier Iron Age fort. The lovely present castle is based on a 13th century structure begun by Sir Nicholas de Carew. Three towers and the chapel survive from Carew's time, but more obvious are the early Tudor additions of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, including the gatehouse.
St David’s Cathedral is well worth a visit and the coastal road approach offers panoramic views of St Bride’s Bay (another saint!). The cathedral dates back to before 589AD when St David (our patron saint in Wales) died having founded a monastery on the current site of the cathedral. You will see that the site is intentionally low-lying, this is to offer some protection from being seen from the sea by marauding Vikings! From 645-1097, it was attacked and destroyed many times, indeed Bishop Moregenau was killed by Vikings in 999AD and Bishop Abraham was similarly killed in 1080.
In 1181, work on the present cathedral began but faced several set-backs over the next 500 years, not least the collapse of the ‘new tower’ in 1220, earthquake damage in 1247 and Bishop Barlow stripping the St David’s shrine of its jewels in 1538, and confiscating the relics of St David and St Justinian in order to counteract ‘superstition’!
In 1648, the building faired even worse when it was destroyed by Parliamentary soldiers, but Nash started the building of the West front in 1793 which heralded the gradual restoration of the cathedral that we see today. In 1995 Queen Elizabeth II conferred city status to St David’s.
Other sites well worth visiting include:
Manorbier Castle
Roch Castle
Haverfordwest Castle
Narberth Castle
Picton Castle
Tenby walled town & castle
