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Fieldnotes
| We first came here to Carreg Cennen castle at least eight years ago, but strangely I have no photos of the place, good excuse to come back then, plus were on our way to a simply splendid hill fort, so, no excuses. Adults:- 4.00 quid, Children 3.50, Family 12.00 Open 364 Days of the year. Summer Opening 9.30 - last admission 17.30 Winter Opening 9.30 - last admission 16.00 The whole site is closed and the car park is locked at 18.30 daily. It's not a bit on the cheap side, and it's not exactly the kind of place you can sneak into ( though I have sneaked into castles before), but if you only see one castle in South Wales make it this one (or maybe Pembroke). Perched right on the edge of the very epitome of precipitous cliffs Carreg Cennen has a secret, in fact it has nine. Nine caves, an ennead of tight twisting slippy caves. But as far as I know only one is visible or accessible. As you enter the castle, right in front of you is a stone doorway tucked away in a corner, go through this doorway and down some steps, beware they are slippery and steep, and whilst there is a wall separating you from a long drop to certain death, vertigo will pop it's head round the corner, ignore it and pass through another stone doorway. Don't know why I'm pointing out the stoniness of the doorway, it's a castle. There is now a long walkway, punctuated with openings out into the world, it feels like a perambulatory in an old abbey or something. Imagine what it would be like if the castle wasnt there, I'm sure it would be a right bugger to get to. At the end of the corridor, there are modern steps that go down, they will take you into the cave. The original entrance is blocked up, and turned into a Dovecote, sans Doves. Bones of two adults and a child, and a perforated horse tooth were found in the cave's stalagmite deposits. Three human teeth were found, the remains are dated to the Upper Palaeolithic, now that's ancient. The caves entrance is quite large but it doesn't take long for it to get tighter and smaller. The walls of the cave are in places seemingly worn smooth, perhaps by the fumbling hands of stumbling pin depositors. For at the end of the cave is the sacred well, or at least it used to be, and it is here that people would deposit pins into the collecting waters, perhaps in hope of the invention of the nappy ? Who can fathom the mind of the superstitious. Eric me and the dogs went about as far as we could before we had to get down on hands and knees, that is usually far enough for me , but one day i'd really like to go really far into a cave. They are a place of a very singular nature, no two are the same but they always illicit the same feelings with in me, the feeling of being somewhere very special, deep within our great mother, hidden from the fiery ball in the sky, does one really exist when one is safely ensconced with in the earth, presumably so, but I couldn't swear to it. I love ancient places, I love castles and caves, this is a good one. |
Posted by postman4th April 2014ce Edited 4th April 2014ce
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Comments (4) |
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| It looks amazing in your photos, and you sound like you made a proper venture into the underworld. I think they should pass out candles at the entrance for even more heightened atmosphere, don't you think. |
Posted by Rhiannon5th April 2014ce |
| Oh yes that's the ticket, big long ones too, so you can bash anyone over the head if they say "can we go now". |
Posted by postman 6th April 2014ce |
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No, we either didn't go in far enough or it wasn't there. Big torch, I'll be back. |
Posted by postman 6th April 2014ce |
| the rocks were wet at the back of the 'well' when I visited a few years back. This is a great place to visit. Probably my favourite castle. |
Posted by CARL 7th April 2014ce |
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