Tenby

Coordinates: 51°40′28″N 4°42′16″W / 51.6745°N 4.7044°W / 51.6745; -4.7044

Tenby (Welsh: Dinbych-y-pysgod, meaning fortlet of the fish) is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, south Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and the name for the local government community of Tenby.

Notable features of Tenby include 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of sandy beaches; the 13th century medieval town walls, including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse; the 15th century St. Mary's Church; the Tudor Merchant's House (National Trust); Tenby Museum and Art Gallery; and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, part of Wales' only coastal National Park. Boats sail from Tenby's harbour to the offshore monastic Caldey Island, while St Catherine's Island is a tidal island. The town is served by Tenby railway station.

History

With its strategic position on the far west coast of the British Isles, and a natural sheltered harbour from both the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea, Tenby was a natural settlement point.

The earliest reference to a settlement at Tenby is in "Etmic Dinbych", a poem probably of the 9th century, preserved in the 14th century Book of Taliesin. At this point the settlement was probably a hill fort, the mercantile nature of the settlement possibly developing under Hiberno-Norse influence.