Manorbier Castle sits in a valley above a beach, eight kilometres south-west of Tenby, and it is the most attractively sited castle in Pembrokeshire.
It was founded in the late eleventh century by the de Barry family, Anglo-Normans who held it as a mesne lordship under the Earls of Pembroke, and it remains privately owned.
Manorbier’s chief claim on history is that Gerald of Wales — Giraldus Cambrensis — was born here in about 1146, the grandson of the Norman Gerald of Windsor and the Welsh princess Nest ferch Rhys.
He became one of the most readable writers of the Middle Ages: archdeacon, four times a failed candidate for the see of St Davids, and the author of the Itinerarium Cambriae and the Descriptio Cambriae, in which he travelled Wales preaching the Third Crusade and recorded what he saw with a sharp, gossipy, self-regarding eye.
He wrote of his birthplace that it was the pleasantest spot in Wales, describing the fishpond, the orchard, the mill and the hazel wood beneath the castle walls. The setting he described is still legible on the ground, which is unusual for a twelfth-century description.
Not large. A curtain wall with towers, a gatehouse, a chapel with a barrel-vaulted roof, a great hall, and residential ranges — a lordly house rather than a great fortress, which is exactly what a mesne lordship required.
It was never seriously besieged and it declined quietly, which is why so much of the domestic arrangement survives.
Inside, there are waxwork tableaux in some of the chambers and displays on Gerald and the de Barrys. The chapel is the best of the interiors.
The view is the strongest thing about it: from the walls you look down the valley over the beach and out to the Channel, with the coast path running along the cliffs on both sides.
It is a small castle, and it is not Caernarfon or Pembroke. The admission price reflects that, and most visitors judge it decent value on those terms.
The staff attract mixed comment, with more than one visitor reporting an unwelcoming reception. That is a private-ownership variable rather than a systemic problem, but it is reported often enough to mention.
Weddings and private events take place in the grounds and can affect what you can see, so check if you are making a special journey.
The sensible framing: an hour to ninety minutes, combined with the beach and the church, as part of a day on this coast rather than as a destination in itself.
Visitors pass on a specific and useful one: park at the beach car park, then turn right and cross the road into the secret garden to reach the entrance. Parking elsewhere is very limited, and the beach car park is signposted and adequate.
Manorbier Beach, a sandy south-facing bay below the castle, with rock pools and good surf.
St James’s Church, twelfth-century, across the valley, with a fine interior.
King’s Quoit, a Neolithic burial chamber on the headland east of the beach, free and reached in ten minutes along the coast path.
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path runs both ways, and the walk west to Swanlake Bay and Freshwater East is excellent.
Admission charged, modest.
Time: an hour to ninety minutes.
Facilities: tea room — the food is well rated and reasonably priced — shop, toilets.
Access: grass, steps and uneven ground; not accessible.
Season: seasonal opening; check before travelling.
The chronicler Gerald of Wales was born here in about 1146, and rated the place above anywhere else in the country.
No — it is a small lordly castle rather than a great fortress, and the admission reflects that.
Use the beach car park and walk back up: right out of it, over the road, and in through the secret garden. There is very little parking anywhere else.
An hour to ninety minutes, best combined with the beach and the church.
Yes, and it has been in private hands throughout its history.