Full Product Description for: Carmarthen Town
The Romans built a fort and ampitheatre at Carmarthen in AD 75-77 and a settlement developed becoming the earliest town in Wales. After the Romans departed it became a centre of the Welsh community; there is evidence of a Celtic church dedicated to St.Teulyddog.
During the medieval period there were two Carmarthens - an Anglo-Saxon borough below the castle and a native township around the old church. The castle is first mentioned in 1094, when the name Rhyd y Gors is used. After 1105 the annals refer to Carmarthen by name, so by then certainly, the Norman castle was on its present site. The castle evidently became important early on, and passed into the hands of the crown. Carmarthen quickly became the administrative centre of South-West Wales as it had been under the Romans.
The Black Book of Carmarthen, so called because of the colour of its binding and its connection with the Priory of St John the Evangelist and Teulyddog, Carmarthen, is now thought by modern scholars to be the work of a single scribe writing at different periods of his life before and about the year 1250. This makes it one of the earliest surviving manuscripts written solely in the Welsh language. Much of the material is either concerned with the figures of the Dark Ages--Myrddin, Arthur, Urien, and Taliesin all appear here--there are also a number of religious poems. Also, there are a few poems by Cynddelw, bard of Madog ap Maredudd (ca. 1160).
In 1326 Carmarthen was made a staple port with a license to deal in wool, pelts, leather, lead and tin and was important for the emerging fishing industry. By the end of the 16th century the population had grown to 2250, Carmarthen was the most populous town in Wales until the large scale urbanisation of the early 19th Century. Carmarthen has retained its administrative role and today is a centre for the local farming community and for arts and crafts and tourism. Interestingly the council treats both Welsh and English as equal mediums for communication and has seen in consequence a rise in the use of Welsh in the county.
Carmarthen has a fine and varied retail centre with both individual shops and high street superstores. There are many restaurants, cafes and pubs as well as hotels and other accommodations including B & Bs and cottages
It is an excellent place as a base for Carmarthen Bay and for the Tywi valley with good communications both by road and rail to England and West Wales and thence to Ireland.