Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire

Description
Kidwelly, a small market-town, a municipal borough, and a parish in Carmarthenshire, 10 miles S of Carmarthen. The town stands on the Gwendraeth river, near its influx to Carmarthen Bay. It has a station on the South Wales branch of the G.W.R. and a post, money order, and telegraph office. The old town was formerly surrounded by a strong wall, and it contains a number of houses which appear to be as old as the times of Edward I. and Edward III. The town dates from at least the time of King John; had then a castle built by a descendant of one of Fitzhamon's paladins; was burned (1231) by Llewellyn; received a charter from Henry VI.; became, for some time, a noted seat of cloth manufacture, and also a seat of considerable commerce, and suffered much decay from the sanding up of its harbour. It was incorporated in 1885, and is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors. The castle was built, before 1113, by William de Londres; was taken by Griffith ap Rhys, and again, in 1190, by Rhys ap Griffith; was rebuilt by Griffith, son of Llewellyn; passed to the Duchy of Lancaster; was given by Henry VIL to Sir Rhys ap Thomas; passed to the Vauglians, belongs now to the Earl of Cawdor, and though a ruin is still tolerably complete. A deep moat encircles it, the river passes the E side; a narrow court, within a curved curtain-wall, goes round the other three sides; a grand gate-house, opening on the site of a barbican, is on the S; a smaller gateway is on the N, three mural towers are on the curtain wall; a quadrangle, with four curtains and four round towers, formed the main building, but one of the towers has fallen; the great hall and the chapel still present interesting features, and the entire pile has many attractions for antiquaries and artists. The church belonged to a Benedictine priory, founded here in 1130 by Bishop Roger, as a cell to Sherbome Abbey; was rebuilt in the Decorated period, is cruciform, with unusually large nave, has a tower and spire 165 feet high, went into a state of much neglect and mutilation, but was partly restored, and contains a carved piscina and some mutilated effigies. There are Baptist, Congregational, Wesleyan, and Calvinistic Methodist chapels. The town-hall was erected in 1877, and includes a market-place, a reading-room, and police cells. A weekly market is held on Friday, and fairs on 3 and 4 Aug., 29 and 30 Oct., and first Monday in Dec. There are large tin-works, brickworks, collieries, and limeworks. Population of the borough, 2732; acreage of the parish, 5504; population, 3002. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of St David's. Net value, £140. Patron, the Lord Chancellor.