You begin in the village of Trefin. Many of the houses here have cement-wash roofs and coloured walls, and in the main square — which is a slab of bare rock — stands a working long-handled pump.
A well-signposted path leads to the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and three deep bays framed by cliffs of 500-million-year-old Ordovician rock. These are folded and faulted into fascinating shapes, and wave action has eroded arch platforms and pinnacles visible from the winding cliff path. Fulmars nest on high rock ledges, and seals sometimes swim in the clear waters. Also on the coast path here is the ruined Aberfelin Watermill, which was used for grinding wheat and barley; it remained in use until 1918 and has recently been restored.
Beyond the bays is the bleak headland of Castell Coch, which means 'Red Castle'. The banks and ditches that protect the neck of this high peninsula are best seen before brambles and gorse claim the site in summer. The earthworks date from around 300 BC and were made by tribes fleeing Roman rule in Gaul.
This type of fort suited new arrivals (there are two more Castell Cochs along the coast within five miles of this one), though the settlers soon moved inland or joined forces to hold larger sites like Garn Fawr, which was occupied for up to 1,000 years and dominates the north-eastern horizon throughout the walk.
The route follows the rocky headland around to the old port of Abercastle. This natural harbour was once known as the 'Bay of Boats' from the days when sloops plied the coastal trade, exporting wool, slate, beeswax, and preserved fish, and importing essentials such as coal and limestone. A set of derelict limekilns still lines the quayside. On the other side of the cove, the path climbs past former fishermen's cottages, one of which has several specimens of a rare wild tree mallow growing in its sheltered garden.
If the tide permits, it is worth crossing the rocky causeway to Ynys y Castell and scrambling to the top. In season, the slopes are carpeted with wildflowers, and to the south-west there is a fine view of Carreg Sampson (Sampson's Stone), which resembles a giant tortoise crawling up a hill. This cromlech was built about 5,000 years ago by people of a New Stone Age culture that once covered western Europe. Originally covered with smaller stones, earth, and turf, the shell has been eroded away, leaving only the bare stones — massive, sculptural, and mysterious.
Legend attributes Carreg Sampson to a local boy made good. Saint Sampson was a Celtic Christian who died around 600 AD; when most of Britain was still pagan, he was abbot of Caldey Island near Tenby and of another monastery in Brittany. A great missionary, his fame spread as far as Switzerland and Italy, where some of his bones remain as holy relics.
Sampson supposedly placed the three-ton capstone in position using only faith and his little finger (this prodigious digit is said to lie buried on the island opposite). The story dates from the 10th century, when the Celtic and Catholic churches merged and the Celts needed to claim miracles on behalf of their saints to maintain their status.
Beyond the stone circle is Longhouse Farm, whose core structure was once a longhouse where family and livestock shared the shelter of a single roof — a form of habitation that is a legacy from the centuries when Pembrokeshire was colonised by Norsemen.
The hedgerows bordering the paths on your return to Trefin are equally ancient, with stones from the fields added to their broad banks. Archaeologists claim that some are parts of original Celtic field systems that were hundreds of years old by the time of Christ.
Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.
