Tony Price – History Department

Ysgol Dyffryn Taf

Although not medieval, John Speed’s map of 1610 gives us a fair idea of how Medieval Carmarthen would have

looked as the layout of the town had changed little between Medieval and Stuart times.

The Middle Ages

The Tudor Age The Stuart Age

c.1000 - 1485 c.1485 - 1603 c. 1603 - 1714

Can you find the Towy River?

Can you find the Medieval Keep?

Can you find a church?

You are about to take a tour of Medieval Carmarthen.

On the next page ‘Click’ on the labels to discover more about that particular part of the town.

Modern photographs have been added so that you can compare Medieval Carmarthen with the town as it is

today.

The Keep

The Friary

The Bridge

Dark Gate

The Church

The Mill

Quay Warehous

es

Lammas Street

Quay Street

King Street

END

The Keep

The first castle on the site was a wooden motte and bailey

built in 1109. The original wooden castle from Henry I’s

reign was rebuilt in stone in the 13th century. The shell

keep was roofed in stone in the reign of Edward I, and

was his centre of government for South Wales. It is

possible to climb to the top and see the modern view over

Carmarthen.

King Street

King Street developed outside the original walls of New

Carmarthen, but the upper part of the street had been

within the Roman town and was part of Old Carmarthen.

(New Carmarthen refers to the town that grew up around

the castle, whereas Old Carmarthen refers to the settlement

that survived from the Roman Town, and was treated as a

completely separate town until they were joined in the reign

of Henry VIII.) The later walls, which enclosed the expanded

New Carmarthen, were built in the reign of Henry V and

ended at the far end of the street. Modern alleys such as

Jackson‘s Lane still lead off it and give a good idea of the

narrowness of the Medieval streets. The street is named

after one of Carmarthen’s early medieval inhabitants

William Kyng.

St. Mary’s Church

Today’s Guildhall dominates the central square of

Carmarthen as did the old St. Mary’s Church. The Church

dates probably from the 1240’s and was nicknamed the

Rood Church as a Rood ( a cross) stood outside. The

street to the right is still called St. Mary’s Street. It was a

rich church where people paid to have masses sung for

the souls of their dead relatives. It was dissolved in the

reign of Edward VI as part of the Protestant reforms.

Dark Gate

This was the gateway to the town for travellers and

merchants travelling from the west, and the main route to

the cultivated fields to the west of the town. It would be

approached over a small bridge over the Wynveth, but

the stream was covered over at the end of the 18th

century, and

a covered wagon way, now Blue Street, was built down to

the quay.

Lammas Street

There were just a few houses in what is now Lammas St.

The Lammas fields were thrown open to the people for

grazing on Lammas Day (August 1st).

The Welsh name for the street is Heol Awst

(August Street).

The Bridge

There have been a succession of wooden bridges on or

near this site since Roman times. It marked the lowest

crossing point of the Towy prior to the coming of the

railway. The first stone bridge was built in 1233 with the

current stone bridge dating from 1938.

Quay Street

In Tudor times, the fashionable merchants’ houses

would have lined the street. The old wooden houses

have been rebuilt since the 18th century, but the

street still follows the same line, from the town centre

down to the quayside. It was paved in 1770.

The MillThis was powered by the water from the Wynveth

stream which now flows under Blue Street. The site was close to the quay so that the grain could be

exported. In 1251 Henry III granted Henry le Arblaster the right to divert water to the Wynveth stream to power his mill in exchange for a third of the profits.

Quay Warehouses

Ships would have unloaded their cargoes from all

over Europe at the quay, and the goods stored in

warehouses. The actual warehouses were probably a

little further upstream than this current building,

which used to be the Heritage Centre. In 1324 all

ships capable of carrying 40 tons or more of wine

were pressed into the King’s service.

The Friary

The current Tesco Store was built on the site of the Friary. This

was one of the largest centres for the Franciscan monks, called

Grey Friars, in Britain. The friars travelled around the area

preaching and tending to the sick and needy. Within the Friary

were tombs of local important people, including Rhys ap

Thomas, (who helped Henry Tudor defeat Richard III) .

Rhys’s tomb was moved to St. Peter’s

Church after the Dissolution of the

Monasteries in the 1530’s.The founding

date for the Friary is uncertain, but the

first record shows that William de

Valence, son of the Earl of Pembroke was

buried inside its church.