Carmarthenshire
- Eleanor Conlon
- 9 hours ago
- 9 min read
Where is Carmarthenshire?
In the final episode of Series 7 we talked about the historic Welsh county of Carmarthenshire, so here are some pictures and links to interesting things!
The Welsh Hat and National Dress
The traditional Welsh costume was worn by rural women in Wales. It was identified as being different from that worn by the rural women of England by many of the English visitors who toured Wales during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is very likely that what they wore was a survival of a pan-European costume worn by working rural women.
This included a version of the gown, originally worn by the gentry in the 17th and 18th centuries, an item of clothing that survived in Wales for longer than elsewhere in Britain. The unique Welsh hat, which first made its appearance in the 1830s, was used as an icon of Wales from the 1840s.
It is likely that the Welsh costume began as a rural costume (with regional variations within Wales) and became recognized as a traditional costume by the wives and daughters of the better-off farmers, who wore it for special occasions and when going to market to sell their produce.
From the 1880s, when the traditional costume had gone out of general use, selected elements of it became adopted as a National Costume. From then on it was worn by women at events such as royal visits, by choirs, at church and chapel, for photographs and occasionally at eisteddfodau. It was first worn by girls as a celebration on Saint David's Day just before the First World War. The costume is now recognised as the national dress of Wales.
The distinctive features of Welsh hats are the broad, stiff, flat brim and the tall crown. There were two main shapes of crown: those with drum shaped crowns were worn in north-west Wales and those with slightly tapering crowns were found in the rest of Wales. They were probably originally made of felt (known as beaver, but not necessarily made of beaver fur), but most surviving examples are of silk plush (also sometimes known as beaver) on a stiffened buckram base. A third type of hat, known as the cockle hat, was worn in the Swansea area.
Moridunum
Moridunum was a Roman fort and town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Carmarthen, located in the Welsh county of Carmarthenshire (formerly in the county of Dyfed).
Moridunum (lit. "sea fort") was the civitas capital of the Demetae tribe in Roman Wales and was recorded by Ptolemy and in the Antonine Itinerary. The initial fort is believed to date from about AD 75, possibly replacing the hillfort on Merlin's Hill. The fort lasted until about 120, when the associated civilian vicus took over and the place became a town.
A map from 1723 by William Stukeley places Mori dunum (Caermarthen) at the western extremity of the network of Roman roads in Southern Wales. A street-grid was laid out in the town and a public bath house built, and possibly a mansio. The forum and basilica were probably under the most built-up area of the present town on the cardo or main street. There were narrow shops fronting the streets, as well as evidence of metalworking. Large domestic homes of timber were rebuilt in stone in the late 3rd or early 4th century. A 1st/2nd century Romano-Celtic style temple has also been excavated. A turf bank and ditch was erected around the town in the mid-2nd century and a stone wall added some time later.
East of the old town is one of only seven surviving Roman amphitheatres in the United Kingdom.
Dinefwr Castle
Dinefwr Castle is a ruined castle overlooking the River Towy near the town of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on a ridge on the northern bank of the Towy, with a steep drop of one hundred feet to the river. Dinefwr was the chief seat of the Dinefwr dynasty of the Kingdom of Deheubarth. The castle is a Grade I listed building.
Tradition relates that a castle was first constructed on this site by Rhodri the Great, but no archaeological remains have been dated from this period. Dinefwr later became the chief seat of Rhodri's grandson Hywel Dda, first ruler of Deheubarth and later king of most of Wales. Rhys ap Gruffydd, ruler of Deheubarth from 1155 to 1197, is thought to have rebuilt the castle.
Giraldus Cambrensis tells a story about a plan by King Henry II of England to assault the castle during a campaign against Rhys. One of Henry's most trusted followers was sent on reconnaissance, guided by a local Welsh cleric, who was asked to lead him to the castle by the easiest route, but instead took the most difficult route he could find, ending the performance by stopping to eat grass with the explanation that this was the diet of the local people in times of hardship. The planned attack was duly abandoned.
Llyn y Fan Fach
Llyn y Fan Fach is a lake of approximately 10 hectares (25 acres) on the northern margin of the Black Mountain in Carmarthenshire, South Wales and lying within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The lake lies at an altitude of approximately 1,660 feet (510 m), immediately to the north of the ridge of the Carmarthen Fans. It is the smaller of two lakes within this mountain massif: the slightly larger Llyn y Fan Fawr is about 2 miles (3.2 km) to the east.
The lake is overlooked by several prominent mountain peaks, especially Picws Du and Waun Lefrith. Waun Lefrith is formed from the sandstones and mudstones of the Brownstones Formation of the Old Red Sandstone laid down during the Devonian period. Its southern slopes are formed from the hard-wearing sandstones of the overlying Plateau Beds Formation which are of upper/late Devonian age. It is those rocks which form vertical crags along the top edge of the scarp.
The northern face of Waun Lefrith was home to a glacier during the ice ages which gouged out the cwm in which Llyn y Fan Fach now sits. This empties via the Afon Sawdde into the River Towy. The southern slopes drain via the Twrch Fechan, the Nant Menyn and Nant Lluestau into the Afon Twrch and so into the River Tawe. Large moraines occur to the east of the summit at the base of the scarp, and below the prominent peak of Picws Du as well as those damming the Lake.
Carmarthen Castle
The castle at Carmarthen, on its rocky eminence overlooking the River Twyi, must have dominated the medieval town just as, a little way to the east, the Roman fort must have dominated the Roman town a thousand years before. Giraldus Cambrensis tells us that even in the late 12th century, parts of strong walls of the ancient city of the Romans were still standing.
The castle was converted into a prison in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the building of the Council offices has also not helped its appreciation as a military entity. However, enough remains to make a visit worthwhile.
The castle is first mentioned in 1094, when the name Rhyd y Gors is used. The earliest castle, built by the Norman William fitz Baldwin, may have been sited elsewhere perhaps further down the river. After 1105 the annals refer to Carmarthen by name, so by then certainly, the Norman castle was on its present site.
The castle evidently became important early on, and passed into the hands of the crown. Carmarthen quickly became the administrative center of south-west Wales as it had been under the Romans, and inevitably underwent a series of attacks and rebuilding episodes during the turbulent struggles between Welsh and English in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Among these episodes was the capture and destruction of the castle by Llywelyn the Great in 1215, after which extensive rebuilding work was undertaken by William Marshal the younger earl of Pembroke, who had re-captured the castle in 1223. It may have been at this period that the massive stone defences were built on the site of the original motte.
A survey of the castle in 1275 refers to a dungeon, a great tower, a gatehouse, hall, kitchen and chapel, all of which apparently needed repair, and from 1288-9 much rebuilding took place; this probably included the construction of the stone curtain wall.Further buildings were added in the 14th century, including the present gatehouse and the south-west tower. The castle remained important in the 15th century and required considerable repair after being sacked by Owain Glyndwr in 1405. By 1456, Edmund Tewdwr (father of Henry VII) had gained possession of Carmarthen Castle as the king's representative, and died here in that year.
Talley Abbey
Talley was founded in the 1180s by Rhys ap Gruffydd (‘The Lord Rhys’, native ruler of the south Wales kingdom of Deheubarth) for the monks of the Premonstratensian order. This was the first and only abbey in Wales for the Premonstratensians, monks who were also known as the ‘White Canons’ from the colour of their habit.
The church tower, standing almost to its full height, is the most impressive feature of the ruined abbey, which never enjoyed the wealth and success of the Cistercian religious settlements – quite widespread throughout Wales – that inspired it. Lack of funds meant that the church was never fully completed, though the outline of the footings demonstrates the scale and ambition of its design. The ruins stand in an idyllic setting beside Talley’s twin lakes.
Dolaucothi Roman Gold Mine
Between 70AD and 80AD the Romans began the first extensive mining of Dolaucothi creating large open-cast workings and digging several tunnels (adits) to exploit the gold veins. This period of mining will have altered the physical landscape of Dolaucothi beyond all recognition.
Most of this was achieved using nothing more than picks and hammers and the power of water in what must have been very hard labour.
Some of the original pick-marks, which are almost 2,000 years old, can still be seen in the adits whilst on the tour alongside the remains of the leat channels and water tanks that were used to bring water in for purposes of scouring away the topsoil and washing the crushed ore.
No one knows how the Romans first found or heard about Dolaucothi, although we do know that their trade routes extended into Wales, yielding the precious metals was a reason for their invasion. We also know that they established a fort in an area that now encompasses the village of Pumsaint soon after arriving in Carmarthenshire around 70AD and began mining shortly after.
The Roman military fort was largely abandoned in 125AD when it became a civilian fort with evidence of continuing activity in the area thanks to discoveries of Roman coins dating back to the late 4th century.
National Botanic Garden
The National Botanic Garden of Wales opened in May 2000. This made it the first national botanic garden to be created in the new millennium.
The National Botanic Garden of Wales is a charity dedicated to the advancement of knowledge in the science of plants and related subjects, and the conservation of plant species, especially those in Wales, Great Britain and the Western European Seaboard. We are the custodian of significant collections and heritage assets for Wales.
Llanddeusant Hoard
On a wet and rainy day in November 2019, Richard Trew was out metal-detecting with his friend in Llanddeusant Community, Carmarthenshire, when he made an incredible discovery. Buried a short distance below the ground surface were two pieces of a large bronze spearhead, lying flat with one piece on top of the other.
Richard called out to his friend in excitement, but his detector told him that there was more still buried in the ground. Over the course of that day and the following weekend, Richard would go on to discover an additional 19 bronze objects from the same hole. In other words, he had discovered a Bronze Age hoard.
The discovery of a Bronze Age hoard is a find of a lifetime. The Llanddeusant hoard was buried around 3,000 years ago, dating to the Late Bronze Age in Wales (c. 1150-800 BC). Richard promptly reported his find to the local PAS Cymru (Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales) Finds Recording Officer. Archaeologists from Dyfed Archaeological Trust and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales were then able to investigate the hoard findspot, enabling careful investigation and recording of the burial context.
When Richard discovered the Llanddeusant hoard, he and his friend took a series of photographs as the artefacts were being lifted out of the ground. Combined with the results of the archaeological findspot investigation, these photographs show that the hoard was buried within a specially-dug pit, seemingly far away from any known settlement.
Placed at the top of the hoard was the large spearhead, broken in two with one piece lying over the other. The rest of the objects were discovered below, tightly packed and stacked. Some of the axeheads were placed on their side and others were laid flat, but there were roughly three axeheads to each layer of the hoard. It is seems as if the objects had been carefully buried in the ground, perhaps as an offering to the land or to Bronze Age deities.
Kidwelly Castle
Kidwelly began in the early 12th century as a Norman ‘ringwork’ castle made of wood and protected only by an earthen bank and ditch. Not surprisingly it was under constant attack by Welsh princes including the Lord Rhys, who captured it in 1159.
Four decades later the Normans were back in charge. By the 1280s the Chaworth brothers, powerful Marcher lords, had created the stone ‘castle within a castle’ that still stands today.
Imagine being a Welsh attacker. First you had to conquer the great gatehouse with its drawbridge and portcullis, a hail of arrows and rocks raining down on you. Breach these outer defences and you were faced by the four towers of the inner ward. No way forward – and nowhere to hide. A true killing zone.
After centuries of see-sawing conflict between Norman invaders and native princes Kidwelly was now a match for any castle in Wales. The gatehouse added by the Duchy of Lancaster was the icing on the cake. Even the forces of Owain Glyndŵr couldn’t break through.
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