Carmarthenshire is steeped in history and wherever you are in the county, you’re never far away from discovering its fascinating past. Explore its many spectacular castles, historic market towns, gold mine, Iron Age hill fort, Roman remains, and museums…the list is endless. Carmarthenshire also has a rich, varied heritage and a living Welsh language that is widely spoken by the local people.

Step back in time and explore its many spectacular castles including Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Laugharne, Llansteffan, Dinefwr, Dryslwyn, Newcastle Emlyn, Llandovery and Carreg Cennen.

To many people, Carreg Cennen, found near Llandeilo stands head and shoulders above the rest. Poised high up on a sheer cliff overlooking the Brecon Beacons, this romantic castle also boasts a deep limestone cave deep beneath its foundations.

The influence of the Romans is evident throughout Carmarthenshire. See the remains of an amphitheatre on the outskirts of Carmarthen where a major base was established and visit Dolaucothi Goldmines at Pumpsaint – which is unique in Britain. The Romans who exploited the site almost 2000 years ago left behind a complex of pits, channels and tanks - and visitors can take a guided tour through the Roman and the more recent underground workings. Roman finds from the area can be also discovered at Carmarthenshire County Museum along with a number of artefacts from rural Wales, pottery and paintings.

Experience the fascinating story of one of Wales' most important industries in the heart of the beautiful and historic Teifi Valley at the National Woollen Museum of Wales; hear the stories of the people who worked at the mill and see textiles in production. Or visit Kidwelly Industrial Museum – set in a pretty, valley setting, this was once one of Britain's earliest tinplate works.

Carmarthenshire was also home to one of Wales’ greatest writers – Dylan Thomas. ‘The Boathouse’ in Laugharne - his home for the last four years of his life and where he wrote many of his major pieces including ‘Under Milk Wood’ - is today a tribute and memorial that is open to visitors.

These are just a few of the many sites and attractions that have been an important part of Carmarthenshire – and Wales – for centuries.

For more information on these and other historical places of interest in the county, go to the ‘Where to Go’ section of this site.

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Reach Out and Touch the Past
By Dorrinder McCann

It had been almost forty years since I visited what in my opinion is the most impressive castle in Wales: Carreg Cennen and I wanted to revisit it to see if time had made it seem less so. As soon as I saw it perched high on a crag overlooking the valley, I knew that the passing years had done nothing to diminish its grandeur. It's a bit of a hike but worth each gasping breath to look down on the farmland below. A tractor was working and from my vantage point it was like watching a computer game as it went around the field gobbling up the hay. On the far side of the castle there is a drop of some 300 feet and I stood jelly-legged looking down on the little river Cennen. It was dwarfed by the height and it looked more like someone had left a tap running than a river. Carreg Cennen is situated on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park and the views are spectacular. Beneath my feet on a tiny ledge a harebell grew, the pale blue flower nodding on a delicate stalk and I marvelled at its tenacity. Back down the lane, bordered by yarrow and ancient gnarled hawthorns, I took a good deep breath of the hay-scented air and looked back at the castle. To me it is the most evocative in Wales. It looks like something from the legend of King Arthur and I wouldn't have been at all surprised to hear the sound of chain mail and the clash of swords.

As well as being a land steeped in history the Welsh are great lovers of culture. I couldn't write about the area without mentioning Dylan Thomas-one of Carmarthenshire's most famous sons. No poet has been written about more than Dylan and his lifestyle has been well documented - like so many creative people he seemed sometimes to have been a tortured soul.

The town of Laugharne where he lived and wrote much of his work has yet another castle, an unusual mix of medieval and Tudor architecture. It stands near the shore and a paved path around it leads all the way to the Boat House where Dylan lived. The sun blazed down and sequinned the sea as I walked up the winding path to his 'Sea-shaken house'. I've travelled the world but never seen a view that suited me better and such was its beauty and peace, with just the plaintive cry of a curlew and the soft lapping of the sea on the shore, that it brought tears to my eyes. Among the artefacts in his house were some silver 3d pieces found down the side of a chair and some children's toys dug up in the garden - a poignant reminder that he was a father as well as a famous writer. In a glass case against the wall is a bronze death mask and it's a likeness that shows his face at peace, the features softened-the fire stilled. I went downstairs to his living room and looked through the window at a scene that must be forever changing with the caprices of the weather, a view to inspire poetry in the most prosaic heart.

I walked up the narrow lane to the writing shed where he is said to have written Under Mild Wood. Many towns have laid claim to being the setting for the book but as I walked back to the town and looked at the dark woods on the water's edge and the field of cows that lay beneath it, I had no doubt in my mind that I was looking at Llarregub. I went in search of his grave and found it more by accident than design. It's a simple affair- just a plain white cross that bears his name on one side and Caitlin's on the other, but there were some fresh flowers on his grave and I was glad that he'd been buried in the town he loved so well, the town where he 'Got off the bus and forgot to go home' and who could blame him. I was more than reluctant to leave the charming little place myself.

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GREEN FINGERS ANCIENT FACES

Carmarthenshire has a world-class attraction in the National Botanic Garden. Based around an 18th-century Regency estate in the Vale ofTywi, it's an ambitious combination of high-tech and historic. At its heart is Sir Norman Foster's Great Glasshouse, an architectural wonder with a computer-controlled Mediterranean climate that nurtures plants from the four corners of the world.The garden's international scope is balanced by many home-rooted influences, including an exhibition dedicated to the Physicians of Myddfai, legendary medieval healers and herbalists.

As a counterpoint to the National Botanic's grand scale, just across the valley at Llangathen there's intimate Aberglasney. Within just 9 acres Aberglasney manages to create a magical, self-contained little world which offers an authentic glimpse into the gardens of yesterday. An extremely rare survival of a 16th/17th century garden, it gained national fame when it became the subject of the popular BBC TV series 'A Garden Lost in Time'. Its rectangular pool, cloister, parapet walks, formal beds and wilder areas never fail to enchant.

Dinewfr, in contrast, is a large, bold landscape, the work of celebrated 18th-century landscape artist 'Capability' Brown. His creation of sweeping open spaces, oaks and beechwoods spreads itself across a bluff on the outskirts of Llandeilo. Also close to Llandeilo is Gelli Aur, or Golden Grove, a country park of formal terraces with a magnificent arboretum and far-reaching views across the Tywi. Llyn Llech Owain near Llandybie is another beautiful country park, a mix of woodland, wetland and lakeland.

Norwood Gardens at Llanllwni near Llandysul in the Vale ofTeifi is a green space of individual gardens. There are seven in all, each with its own inspiration - themes include 'Alpine', 'American Colonial', 'Lights and Dark' and 'Bamboo'.

Carmarthenshire's gardens occupy a landscape that has witnessed the ebb and flow of history for thousands of years - and have the monuments to show for it. One of the earliest is to be found amongst the stones and bracken of Garn Goch, a massive Iron Age hillfort above the hamlet of Bethlehem in the Vale ofTywi.

Next came the Romans, though they never ventured further than Carmarthen.They established a major base here, and built an amphitheatre for entertainment -its remains can be seen on the outskirts of town.The Romans came in search of gold, and found it at Pumsaint where their mines, unique in Britain, are open to visitors.

Carmarthen was also the legendary home of Merlin the Magician.You can visit the Iron Age fort steeped in Arthurian legend from Merlin's Hill Centre, Abergwili, near Carmarthen.

The county's most celebrated legacies are its castles, and one -Carreg Cennen - stands head and shoulders above the rest. Carreg Cennen, near Llandeilo, is the ultimate romantic ruin, a weather beaten shell poised on a sheer cliff overlooking the Black Mountain.The views across Carmarthenshire from this 'eagle's nest' are unsurpassed. And it offers underground spectacle too, for a pathway carved into the cliff leads to a cave deep beneath its / foundations.

Kidwelly Castle has weathered the storms much better than Carreg Cennen.This well-preserved fortress is a perfect example of the concentric 'walls within walls' system of defence. And it still echoes to the cries of battle, for Kidwelly nowadays provides a ready-made set for film and TV companies. Close by there's Llansteffan, another evocative ruin built on the site of an Iron Age promontory fort with breathtaking views across Carmarthen Bay.

Historic sites and heritage centres are thick on the ground throughout the county. At Talley there's a lakeside abbey founded in the 12th century. Museums at Carmarthen and Llanelli are filled with artefacts from Roman and rural Wales, pottery and paintings.You can dip into local folklore and legend at Llandovery's excellent Heritage Centre.The National Woollen Museum near Newcastle Emlyn recalls the Vale ofTeifi's historic role as a thriving textile centre, while the Kidwelly Industrial Museum reminds us that this most rural of counties was once known worldwide for its tinplate production.There's even a Museum of Speed at Pendine dedicated to the heroes who raced across the sands to break the land speed record in the 1920s.

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