Kidwelly – the town we are most associated with historically.
Our earliest ancestor Harry [##36001] was born in St Ismael (just down the road) in about 1520 and died there in 1592.
Use the buttons to see pictures of Kidwelly Castle from the 2013 Jamboree and the map button will show you where Kidwelly Castle is.
Kidwelly is our spiritual home and our involvement with the castle comes with that. Sadly we never owned this castle, but we were certainly involved at the time it was built – probably as part of those who built it.
The castle is maintained by CADW and details about visiting can be found on their website.
Some of you may know that Kidwelly Castle featured as part of the opening scene of the Monty Python film called ‘Life of Brian’. That scene is reshown as part of a short video about Kidwelly Castle produced privately by a YouTube Vlogger pair under the name of Fly Drive Explore – many thanks to them.
Here is the text description Fly Drive Explore give to their video on YouTube:
Kidwelly Castle, Carmarthenshire, West Wales. This is the castle you see in the opening scene of the classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Through the mist, a castle emerges which is actually Kidwelly Castle.
The close-up scenes then switch to Doune Castle in Scotland which is over 400 miles away (that’s the film business!)
The Norman castle overlooks the River Gwendraeth and the town of Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire in West Wales.
Kidwelly Castle began in the early 12th century as a Norman ‘ringwork’ castle made of wood and protected by an earth bank and ditch. In the 13th century, the stone castle was constructed by the powerful Marcher lords.
Whether you’re a Monty Python fan or not, Kidwelly castle is definitely worth a visit, there is a lot to see and many parts of the original castle you can still access. You can walk the battlements, climb the spiral staircases and even visit the dungeon.
The Fly Drive Explore program on Kidwelly Castle
