Tenby Castle stood on Castle Hill, the rocky headland joined to the town by a narrow isthmus, dividing North Beach from Castle Beach and the harbour.
The surviving stone dates from the thirteenth century, though the castle is mentioned as early as 1153, when Welsh forces attacked it. It is Grade II* listed.
What is left is a gate tower, some wall, and a small watchtower on the summit — genuinely a fragment. Everybody agrees on this, and everybody goes up anyway, because of where it is.
Tenby’s serious defence was never the castle. It was the town walls, built and repeatedly strengthened from the thirteenth century, and they survive substantially — including the Five Arches, a barbican gate at the top of the town that is one of the finest surviving medieval town gates in Britain.
The castle guarded the harbour and the headland, was overtaken by the walls in importance, was damaged in the Civil War, and was then quarried and left. By the nineteenth century Castle Hill had been laid out as a public promenade, which is essentially what it still is.
The headland is the reason to walk up, and it takes ten minutes.
The view is the finest in Tenby and among the best on this coast: North Beach and the walled town one way, the harbour and South Beach the other, St Catherine’s Island with its Victorian fort immediately below, Caldey Island offshore, and the whole of Carmarthen Bay.
The Prince Albert Memorial — a statue of 1865, one of the earliest raised to him anywhere — stands on the summit.
Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, in the castle’s former grounds, is the oldest independent museum in Wales, founded in 1878. It covers local geology, archaeology and maritime history, and holds work by Augustus and Gwen John, both born in Tenby. It charges and is worth an hour.
The lifeboat station is below on the point.
Benches, lawns and paths ring the headland, and it is a genuinely pleasant place to sit.
Immediately below Castle Hill, connected to Castle Beach at low tide, is St Catherine’s Island with a Palmerston fort of 1870 on it — one of the coastal forts built against a French invasion that never came.
It has opened intermittently to visitors over the years and its status changes; check locally.
Free, open at all times.
Time: twenty to thirty minutes on the hill; an hour or two with the museum.
Access: the walk up is on paths and steps and is a moderate climb. The upper paths are uneven.
Parking: Tenby’s town car parks. The walled town is largely closed to traffic in season, so park outside and walk in — or use the park and ride from the north.
Getting there: Tenby station is a few minutes’ walk, on the line from Swansea to Pembroke Dock.
Castle Beach is directly below.
The harbour and the Caldey Island boats are a minute away.
The town walls and the Five Arches are at the top of the town.
The Tudor Merchant’s House, National Trust, a late fifteenth-century town house, is by the harbour.
St Mary’s Church, the largest parish church in Wales.
No — a gate tower, some wall and a small watchtower. People go up for the headland, the view and the museum.
Yes, free and open at all times. The museum on the hill charges.
Twenty to thirty minutes for the hill, or an hour or two including the museum.
St Catherine’s Island, with a Victorian Palmerston fort, reachable from Castle Beach at low tide. Its opening arrangements vary.
The oldest independent museum in Wales, founded in 1878, with local history and paintings by Augustus and Gwen John.