Haverfordwest Castle - a badly ruined Welsh castle dating from 1290

While on vacation in south west Wales back in April, we visited the ruins of Haverfordwest Castle.

The castle sits high on a hill/rock looking over the centre of town. I was quite keen to see it, but was quite surprised at how much of a ruin it was, and how little it has been preserved, which is a real shame.

The remains of he castle we see today date from 1290, and it has had quite a history of skirmishes and the like, and even played a part in the English Civil War (like many other Welsh castles).

There was an earlier castle on the site, and also records showing the presence of an iron age fort as well, hundreds of years earlier.

It clearly would have been quite grand at one point. In the pic above you cane see the bricked-in remains of some fairly large arched windows all along one side, which probably would have been some kind of great hall, that would have had pretty impressive views out over the area.

There is a small museum for the castle on the site. It was actually closed the day we visited, although that wasnt obvious. And I hate to say it, but when we enquired about whether it was open or not, the member of staff inside at the time was rather rude and entirely unhelpful. What a great way to welcome tourists.

The castle would have been a higher in its prime. We can still clearly see two and a half levels. The castle was already in a poor state by the 1500s, and was then destroyed further during the English Civil War in the 1600s (not via warfare, but ordered to be demolished).

I was quite surprised as to how much of a mess it was, and just not looked after all. Especially for a castle that is in the care of the government. Quite a shame really - they certainly could make a very nice attraction out of it and preserve more of its history and architecture for future generations. A definite shame in my opinion.

Thats another view of the large arched windows on the outer curtain wall. Those are around 10-12 foot high each, so would have been pretty big for the time, if they date all the way back to 1290.

The castle played an important part in the history of the area in its first few hundred years. It was in royal hands, and also played its part in skirmishes. But its high position and huge walls made it quite impregnable.

Even considering its poor state, I'm still glad we went to visit it. It was very interesting to see, and clearly must have been quite stunning at one point in time. Hopefully the Welsh government will pay it some more attention in the future and preserve it the way it deserves.