Carmarthenshire, Swansea & The Gower Peninsula Towns & Villages

A busy market town on the banks of the River Tywi, Carmarthen is dominated by a ruined castle and is known as Merlin’s City, or Caerfyddin, because it was supposedly the birthplace of King Arthur’s exotic magician Merlin. The wizard is apparently buried nearby beneath Merlin’s Hill. In the centre of the town is an ancient oak tree upon which Merlin cast the mythical spell ‘When Merlin’s oak shall tumble down, then shall fall Carmarthen Town’.
 

St Peters Church - Photo: Nigel Davies CCL

The town was originally a Roman fort but the Normans added a defensive castle. In the 19th century Carmarthen witnessed one of the so-called Rebecca Riots when protesters attacked the local jail over the introduction of tolls. The rioters - men dressed as women - took their title from a verse found in Genesis. Beyond Carmarthen is the National Botanic Garden of Wales whose centrepiece is the world’s largest single-span glasshouse.