|
More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
|
Carmarthen
|
|
(14,000 in 1991) Town on the river Towy in south Wales; administrative centre of Dyfed. It has always been a place of strategic importance (the Towy turns here sharply south to the sea, so this is the shortest route to southwest Wales without the need for a river crossing). The Roman presence is seen in part of an amphitheatre, and a 14C gatehouse survives from the Norman castle. A priory for *Augustinian canons was here from the 12–15C, best known now as the place where the earliest Welsh manuscript, the Black Book of Carmarthen (National Library of Wales) was written in the 12C; it is a collection of ancient poetry, some of it about King *Arthur. With St Peter's church (12–14C) and an 18C Guildhall, Carmarthen has today the air of a pleasant market town.
|
|
|
|