Carew Castle

Carew Castle stands on a limestone bluff above the Carew inlet in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The site has been used for defence for at least two thousand years, beginning with Iron Age walls found beneath later structures. The present stone castle replaced an earlier Norman keep built around 1100 by Gerald de Windsor, who married Nest, a Welsh princess. Over the centuries the Carew family expanded and altered the castle, adding a Great Hall in the 12th century and a high-walled complex by 1270. Tudor additions in the late 15th century included ornate windows and a long gallery, while later Civil War earthworks show its final military role. The castle is worth visiting for its layered history and surviving architecture. Excavations have revealed Iron Age defences beneath the outer ward, while the 12th-century stone keep still forms part of the later structure. Rhys ap Thomas, rewarded by Henry VII after Bosworth, remodelled the interior with grand apartments and heraldic doorways. Audrey Thorstad notes the unusual Tudor window in the great hall, designed to display the castle’s architecture rather than outward views. The Civil War earthworks built by Royalists in the 1640s add another layer of history. Visitors walk across a dry moat and through the gatehouse into the inner ward. The castle’s front shows three D-shaped towers and crenellated walls, while the rear has two large round towers. Inside, the Tudor range includes a long gallery and ornate windows made from Cotswold stone. The outer ward preserves Civil War earthworks, and the nearby tidal mill, restored by Cadw, shows the site’s industrial past. Views over the Carew inlet stretch towards the Milford Haven Waterway, linking ancient defences with the surrounding landscape.