The Local Area

Pembrokeshire, Wales is a beautiful and unique county surrounded by some of the finest coastline in Europe. A favourite location of artists, travellers, pilgrims and outdoor pursuits enthusiasts.

Pembrokeshire is an area of outstanding beauty with tremendous variety. From majestic cliffs to sand dunes, from broad river estuaries to cascading streams, from gently rolling arable land to rocky outcrop - all can be seen within a few miles of each other. To protect and preserve this beauty and the wildlife it supports we have the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, West Wales Trust and The National Trust.

The waterways were the ancient motorways allowing communication and trade from the earliest times. Pembrokeshire has the Atlantic Ocean on three sides. Its old Welsh name "Pen Fro" means ‘Land’s End’. And even inland you are never far from water - the yawning Milford Haven Estuary splits north from south then the twin Eastern and Western Cleddau rivers slice their way across the county, again the Welsh name is very descriptive - Cleddau means "Swords".

In modern times Pembrokeshire is seen as remote but this was not always so - St David got his wine direct from Constantinople! The Landsker line, a feature of the underlying geology also divides the county, into ‘the North’ and ‘Down Below’ or "Little England Beyond Wales". This division dates from Norman times when a series of castles were built along the Landsker to keep the Welsh out (or was it the ‘English’ in?). Pembrokeshire has a great number of fortifications from the ancient ring forts to the dramatic castles such as Pembroke, Manorbier, Carew and many others.