TENBY – PROBABLY THE MOST ICONIC SEASIDE TOWN IN WALES

The charming seaside town of Tenby (Welsh: Dinbych-y-pysgod, meaning fortlet of the fish) was our another stop on our Pembrokeshire Easter school holidays this April.

It is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmathen Bay.

Notable features of Tenby include 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of sandy beaches and the 13th century medieval town walls including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse. There is a 15th century St. Mary’s Church as well as the Tudor Merchant’s House (National Trust). On the Castle Hill you can visit the Tenby Museum and Art Gallery.

Boats sail from Tenby’s harbour to the offshore monastic Caldey Island with Caldey Abbey which is the home of Cistercian Monks who farm this tiny island and make the famous Caldey Island perfume and chocolate. There is also a tidal island called St Catherine’s Island with a Napoleonic fort on it, though the island has been closed to the public since 2016.

Tudor Merchant’s House

We visited the National Trust’s Tudor Merchant’s House, see their website here. It is a 15th century town house built from stone. At the time, Tenby was a busy commercial port, and the occupant of this type of house would have been a merchant who would have traded goods that were brought into and out of the town’s harbour.

The building consists of three stories; the lower floor was originally used as a shop by the merchant to conduct his business, the first floor as living quarters for the family and the upper floor for the sleeping quarters. The first floor would have been accessed by an external staircase and toilet facilities were located in a tower at the side of the house. The ceilings are supported by oak beams.

The house is the oldest house still standing in Tenby, and was listed with Grade I status (indicating a building of exceptional interest) on March 19, 1951. The building was donated by Tenby Corporation to the National Trust in 1938 who then repaired it.

A panorama photograph with St. Mary’s church in the background taken from Castle hill. Even though it was an overcast day it still had its charm.

Our son was not put off by the overcast weather and had lots of fun building sand castles while we were drinking a take-away coffee.

We found a perfect fossil on one of the rocks on the beach. Shame the rock was massive otherwise I would take it home! 😀

The Lifeboat Station just beneath the Castle Hill is also interesting. Check it out. Here is a one daft souvenir.

I imagine that the town is very busy in summer as it is a very popular destination in the UK. I would love to see it on a sunny day with blue sky though. Perhaps one day we will be back.