Rocks and Ruins - 27th June

First stop was the ruin of Talley Abbey.
This Abbey of the White Cannons was built in 1185. The Abbey survived until Henry VIII dissolution of monasteries. The stones from the Abbey were then 'mined' by the locals to build the houses that are located around the Abbey ruins, also the neighboring Church.
There are two lakes near the abbey that were used for fish farming to support the Abbey Monks.
Steven met a nice Welsh man and went for a walk with him up the hill to get some good photo's. He was a tourism promoter out to take photo's for brochures, he was kind enough to give us one of his brochures for the area.  




 


Next stop was castle, as it was a 30 minute walk up a steep hill there were very few people there. The castle is called Dinefwr, this is because the Welsh insist on spelling everything in a way that is only decipherable by themselves. Then they laugh at the tourists pronunciation of their words. Steven said, actually it doesn't matter what he said.
The castle was built just prior to 1200. Amazing history, it was besieged a few times and survived. It was conquered by England and became theirs 1291. In 1531 the owner of the castle was executed for treason and it was taken over by the crown. The family were able to recover it in 1660. At this time Newton house was built and the castle became part of the estate. In true British fashion it was modified to become a summer house but burnt down a few years later.
Newton house was used as a hospital during WW2.
It fell into disrepair in 1956 when two owners died in a few years. The property was sold in 1974 and fell into disrepair and was occupied by squatters and thieves who stole beams and furniture. It is now owned by the National Trust. 
Newton House is the most haunted house in Wales with the ghost of 'Walter' the butler making a regular appearance. We heard Walters voice on our visit, although that may have been a recording....

We went to the ruin of Dryslwyn Castle, another steep climb. Tammy said 'why do they have to put castles on the tops of hills all the time?'
Anyway.



 




It was built in 1220's by one of the Welsh Chieftains. It is considered one of the most important structures built by a Welsh Chieftain. It changed hands several times in the struggles between the Welsh and the English. It was eventually besieged and captured by England in 1287 when 11,000 troops attacked it. many were killed when the wall they were undermining fell on them. A bit daft really. The English recaptured the castle in 1403, they removed the stair treads, hinges from the gatehouse door and blocked all the access ways. Eventually they burnt the entire structure to the ground, following that a lot of the stone was removed from the site.




Paxton's Tower.
This is what is referred to as a 'folly' meaning it served no real purpose. Lord Paxton built it in 1811 as a banqueting tower in memorial to Admiral Lord Nelson. He transpoted his guests to the tower by coach for special banquets. There are amazing 360 degree views from the tower. Steven tried to capture them with his camera but he could only get them in bits. 

 





We popped into Narberth for coffee because Steven was having an afternoon nap, that wouldn't have been a problem, except for the fact that he was driving. What a great town, lot's of incredibly narrow one way streets and great buildings. We had a wander around the shops and got our coffee.







 
Then off to St Davids and the amazing Abbey.
Just before St Davids we stopped off at a farm and dodged the tractors to get a look at the burial chamber known as Carreg Samson. It is a 4.7 metre long capstone perched on top of 6 stones, although it is only actually touching 3 of them. It was once covered by earth but a Welsh farmer removed the earth and some stones that it could be used as a shelter for sheep. How long has this capstone sat on the three stones?  5000 years...We stood under it, what chance is there that it could fall in those 10 minutes after 5000 years? Tammy did think it would be funny if the tractor accidentally bumped it on the way past and knocked the capstone off...

We found a caravan park and then went to a local pub for tea. Steven had cockle and bacon Linguine, it was good.
After tea we wandered down to St Davids Abbey. 
The original Cathedral was constructed around 600 AD. The community was attacked many times by raiders including the Vikings.
In 1081 the Cathedral was visited by William the Conqueror who came to pray. 

After many turbulent few decades Oliver Cromwell arrived and all but destroyed the Cathedral. He took all the lead from the roof, you can see the original roof line on the tower.
We had a good look around the ruins of the original Cathedral.

Another great day.







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