Dinefwr Park National Nature Reserve is an estate about a mile (1.5 kilometres) from the centre of

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, with a mansion in the centre. The highest point is occupied by the ruined

Dinefwr Castle Dinefwr Castle (also known as Old Dynevor Castle) is a ruined castle overlooking the River Towy near the town of Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on a ridge on the northern bank of the Towy, with a steep drop of one hundred feet to th ...

, ancient castle of the

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; lit. "Right-hand Part", thus "the South") was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House o ...

kingdom. It is a grade I Historic Park and a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

Name

There are 22 known variants on the name, including 'Dynefwr' and the more anglicised 'Dynevor', but also, from the 13th century, Newton, or its Welsh equivalent, Y Drenewydd, being the new borough established by the Rhys family from 1297. Dinefwr in its various spellings, has an unknown origin or meaning, and both the park and the 18th century mansion have been known as Plas Dinefwr. The nearby medieval castle and the later mansion have both at times been called 'Dinefwr Castle'. Since the park and mansion were acquired by the National Trust, the terminology has started to settle towards calling the mansion 'Newton House', the medieval ruin 'Dinefwr Castle' and the park 'Dinefwr Park'.

Nature reserve

The Park, along with Newton House in its centre, is owned by the

and is open to the public. It is the only

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

land national nature reserve in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, having been designate in 2007. It has over 300 trees at least 400 years old, plus ancient pastureland, landscaped valley views and a chance to see fallow

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

and rare

white park White Park may refer to: ;Places: * White Park Bay, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK * White Park, County Antrim, a townland in Northern Ireland, UK * White Park (Concord, New Hampshire), a public park in Concord, New Hampshire, US * White P ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

throughout the year. The latter have been present in the area for over a thousand years, and make appearances in the

laws of Hywel Dda ''Cyfraith Hywel'' (; ''Laws of Hywel''), also known as Welsh law ( la, Leges Walliæ), was the system of law practised in medieval Wales before its final conquest by England. Subsequently, the Welsh law's criminal codes were superseded by t ...

. The estate slopes down to the level fields of the

River Tywi The River Towy ( cy, Afon Tywi, ) is one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales. Its total length is . It is noted for its sea trout and salmon fishing. Route The Towy rises within of the source of the River Teifi on the lower slo ...

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

, where small lakes lend interest to the landscape. Newton House, Dynevor Park, Llandeilo - geograph

Newton House

Within the park is Newton House, which stands on the site of a medieval town-plant, that failed to establish. It was replaced by a mansion of 1660, which was given a complete re-build in a Victorian Gothic style in the 1850s. The estate was sold by Richard Dinevor in 1972. The deer park and nature reserve were acquired by the National Trust in 1986, and the house 4 years later.

Dinefwr Castle

The ruins of

are situated in the grounds of the park, within Castle Woods, woodland owned since 1979 by the

Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth Natur De a Gorllewin Cymru) is a Wildlife Trust in south and west Wales, one of 46 such Trusts in the United Kingdom. History Forerunner of the WTSWW, the former West Wal ...

. However the castle itself, which also opens to the public, is in the care of

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage s ...

, being a site first occupied by

Rhodri the Great Rhodri ap Merfyn ( 820 – 873/877/878), popularly known as Rhodri the Great ( cy, Rhodri Mawr), succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych, as King of Gwynedd in 844. Rhodri annexed Powys c. 856 and Seisyllwg c. 871. He is called "King of the Britons" ...

in the 9th century, and subsequently the chief castle of the kingdom of

. Also in the woods of the park is St Tyfi's Church, the former parish church of Llandyfeisant. It is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Roman forts

In 2003 the outlines of two overlapping Roman forts were discovered during a ground radar survey. Further investigation in 2005 revealed that the earlier fort was the larger site of eight acres which dated to the late 70s AD and could have housed up to 2000 men. The smaller, 3.5 acre fort was a later garrison fort. This also had a

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus r ...

near its north east entrance. The forts are dated to the latter part of the 1st Century AD (not long after the military conquest of Wales) and were abandoned early in the 2nd Century AD.

References

External links

National Trust website for Dinefwr National Nature Reserve

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

Llandeilo Through the Ages - Newton Park
{{coord, 51.880, -4.016, type:landmark_region:GB, format=dms, display=title National nature reserves in Wales Nature reserves in Carmarthenshire Archaeological sites in Carmarthenshire National Trust properties in Wales