Stackpole Estate

The Stackpole Estate lies between the villages of Stackpole and Bosherston in Pembrokeshire, within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Owned by the National Trust, it covers five square kilometres of farmland, lakes, woodland, beaches and cliffs. The estate is always open to visitors and includes the Bosherston Lily Ponds and the Eight-Arch Bridge. Nearby stands the Stackpole Outdoor Learning Centre, which has a theatre, licensed bar and conference rooms. Broad Haven South beach is less than two kilometres away. The estate’s name comes from the Welsh words for ‘isolated rock’ and ‘pool’, referring to Stack Rock at the mouth of Broad Haven South. The Lily Ponds were created in the 18th and 19th centuries by damming limestone valleys. Wildlife thrives here, with otters, goosanders, gadwalls and kingfishers in the ponds. Bottlenose dolphins and basking sharks appear off the cliffs and beaches, while kittiwakes and red-billed choughs nest on the cliffs. The estate holds one of Britain’s largest colonies of greater horseshoe bats. Stackpole Court, once a grand limestone mansion with fine gardens, was demolished in the 1960s after the family left in the 1940s. The parish church of St James and St Elidyr, dating to the twelfth century, stands in the nearby village of Cheriton. The estate’s farmland was used as a military training ground during the Second World War and is still part of the Castlemartin Training Area. Today visitors walk through parkland, along beaches and beside the lily ponds, enjoying scenery shaped by centuries of history.