Carmarthenshire, a maritime county of S. Wales, and the largest of all the Welsh counties; is bounded N. by Cardiganshire, E. by Brecknockshire and Glamorgan, S. by the Bristol Channel, and W. by Pembrokeshire; greatest length, NE. and SW., 50 miles; greatest breadth, E. and W., 42 miles; the coast, which is marshy, measures about 35 miles; area, 594,405 acres; population 124,864. The surface generally is upland or mountainous, much of it being waste. The Black Mountains rise on the NE. border, the chief summit, Carmarthen Van, having an altitude of 2596 ft. The vale of the river Towy extends in length about 30 miles NE. and SW. through the middle of the county. The uplands consist chiefly of slate or limestone; old red sandstone occurs about the estuary of the Towy; coal and ironstone are worked in the SE. Good crops of oats, barley, and wheat are produced in the valleys, but the principal industry is stock-raising. The fisheries are of some importance. The county comprises 5 hundreds, 3 commots [a secular division of land in mediaeval Wales], 81 parishes, with part of 1 other, the Carmarthen Boroughs (Carmarthen and Llanelly), and the municipal boroughs of Carmarthen and Llandovery. It is entirely in the diocese of St David’s.
– John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)
Bro Aman Museum
Ammanford Library
Ammanford SA18 3DN
01267 228696
In the late 19th century, large-scale industry transformed the Amman Valley. Rich natural resources, especially the famous anthracite coal, brought coal mines, iron and tinplate works, railways and people to work them.
Carmarthen Town Museum & Gallery
Carmarthen Library, St Peter’s Street
Carmarthen SA31 1LN
01267 228696
Carmarthen’s new Town Museum and Gallery is located in Carmarthen Regional Library. The Library’s listed facade once formed part of Furnace House, home to the Morgan dynasty of iron masters.
Collections: Carmarthen has been a centre of government, trade, industry and culture since Roman times. In the displays you can find pottery imported in Roman and medieval times, a collection of official weights and measures, and a Columbia printing press from when Carmarthen was the printing capital of Wales.
Carmarthenshire Archives
Parc Myrddin, Richmond Terrace
Carmarthen SA31 1HQ
01267 228232
The Archives Service has in its care documents which date from the 14th to the 21st century. These unique records are the raw material for evidential historical and family research.
Carmarthenshire County Museum
Abergwili
Carmarthen SA31 2JG
01267 228 696
The County Museum presents many aspects of Carmarthenshire’s rich and varied past. Displays include local geology, archaeology, Welsh furniture, ceramics, portraits, landscape paintings, costume, a Victorian schoolroom, life on the farm and the Homefront in World War 2.
Dylan Thomas Boathouse
Dylan’s Walk
Laugharne SA3 4SD
01994 427 420
Dylan Thomas was one of the greatest writers from Wales and a giant in the 20th century. The most renowned in a school of Anglo-Welsh writers that flourished during that period. He worked in the writing shed above the Boathouse with its remarkable and inspiring views of four estuaries.
Kidwelly Castle
Castle Street
Kidwelly SA17 5BQ
01554 890104
www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/kidwellycastle
Kidwelly is everything a castle should be – steep earthworks, high towers, tall walls and a great gatehouse which took at least a century to complete.
Kidwelly Industrial Museum
Broadford
Kidwelly SA17 4LW
01554 891078
www.kidwellyindustrialmuseum.co.uk
Kidwelly Tinplate Works was established in 1737 and operated with varying success until its closure in 1941. Rescued by the Kidwelly Heritage Centre and Tinplate Museum Trust in 1982, the old works now interprets not only the tinplate industry, but also coal mining and brick manufacture in the area.
Laugharne Castle
King Street
Laugharne SA33 4SA
01994 427906
www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/laugharnecastle
Think Laugharne, think Dylan Thomas, but think castle too. Both Dylan Thomas and author Richard Hughes put pen to paper in the castle’s garden summer house. Built in the 13th century by the de Brian family, probably atop an earlier Norman ringwork castle, the solid mansion we see before us is the lasting legacy of Sir John Perrot. It didn’t fare too well during the Civil War. Once captured by Parliamentary forces after a siege, it was partially dismantled.
Museum of Speed
Pendine
Pendine Sands SA33 4NY
01994 453488
Opened in 1996, the museum interprets the Pendine area, focusing on the use of the sands at Pendine for land speed attempts and racing. The main exhibit for the summer season is ‘Babs’, the motor car used by Parry Thomas on his fatal attempt at the record in 1927.
Parc Howard Museum & Art Gallery
Felinfoel Road
Llanelli SA15 3LJ
01554 772029
Parc Howard houses a renowned collection of Llanelli Pottery (1839 – 1921), an art collection and material related to the history of the town. Parc Howard was built by the Buckley family in 1885, a family with a long association of brewing in the town. The mansion, with its 27 acre park, was given to the town of Llanelli in 1912 by Sir Stafford and Lady Howard.
West Wales Museum of Childhood
Pen-ffynnon
Llangeler SA44 5EY
01559 370428
www.toymuseumwales.co.uk
Take a stroll down memory lane, see toys from your past, relax in the tea-room, or browse the souvenir shop.