Llawhaden Bridge, Church & Fort: My remaining submit on my vacation firstly of September 2024 in Wales.
The final day of our vacation in Wales was a dark one as far as the climate was involved, overcast and with occasional mild rain interrupting the drizzle. It didn’t cease me from taking a slightly lengthy route into Narberth from our vacation cottage at Narberth Bridge within the morning with Linda, although it was a stroll I’d made alone just a few days earlier, stopping then to take images in slightly higher climate and I made no extra this time.
Again on the cottage after lunch we determined the climate wouldn’t put us off one other stroll and made plans to go to Llawhaden to view the church and chateau after which to stroll alongside a footpath to Robeston Wathen, the place we might cellphone for a automobile to choose us up and take us again to Narberth.
It appeared a protracted drive primarily alongside slender nation lanes to take us to Llawhaden Bridge, a Grade II* scheduled monument. This medieval stone arch bridge is claimed to be “of nationwide significance for its potential to boost our data of xmedieval or post-medieval development strategies and transportation techniques.” Wikipedia says it was constructed within the mid-18th century.
For us it was a handy place to be dropped off and to take us throughout the Japanese Cleddau river, which right here shaped the boundary from Norman instances between English and Welsh-speaking Wales.
Over the bridge we turned proper, taking the street under the steep hill as much as the village of Llawhaden to its church beside the river. It was uncommon in being considered one of six parishes that straddled the linguistic border and was bilingual. The bridge is now on the Landsker Borderlands Path that marks this divide.
St Aidan’s church was a powerful constructing from the surface, however comparatively naked inside with just a few monuments on its wall, and just a bit stained glass. This medieval church has an uncommon double tower and is II* listed with a really full description of the construction
Reverse the church is a steep path main up round 80 metres to the village of Llawhaden, rising near the fort, although by the point I’d received to the highest I used to be too out of breath to note it and walked to the centre of the village earlier than realising it was behind me.
Llawhaden was a much more vital place again within the twelfth and thirteenth century because it grew to become the executive centre of Dewisland, the land owned by the Bishops of St Davids which King Henry I had issued a constitution as a Marcher Lordship – successfully an impartial state.
The fort was first constructed as a smaller army fort to guard the realm from the Welsh on the opposite aspect of the Cleddau river, however this was destroyed by the Welsh in 1193 was later changed by the fortified palace for the Bishops whose stays we spent a while strolling round and climbing up and down numerous components. A lot of it was “embellished” by Bishop Houghton within the 14th century, however later after it fell into disuse, a lot of the stones have been used for different buildings within the space.
The location is effectively offered and free to go to, however slightly off the crushed observe regardless of being solely a few miles from the A40. There have been solely two different guests within the 25 minutes or so we spent there.
We’d have spent longer, however the one considered one of us with a cell phone realised she had left the piece of paper on which she had written the cellphone quantity for our journey house again in Narberth. We tried to contact others who would possibly understand it with out success and our emails to the driving force have been solely learn the next day. We determined we needed to stroll again the entire means and continued on the route, going again down the hill and again over Llawhaden Bridge to the bridle means and footpath resulting in Robeston Wathen.
This began effectively, however after round 500 metres we discovered the trail flooded and determined to not attempt to wade by way of, turning round and going again to the bridge once more. We have been drained by the point we had walked again the 4 miles alongside the route we had been pushed on our solution to Llawhaden.
Just some extra photos at Llawhaden Bridge, Church & Fort.
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Tags: Bishops of St Davids, Bishops Palace, Dewisland, double tower, dragon, Japanese Cleddau, Landsker Borderlands Path, Llawaden Bridge, Llawhaden, Marcher Lordship, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, St Aidan’s Church, village, Wales
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