Parish Notice Board Retailers In Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire

Carmarthen (, RP: /kəˈmɑːðən/; Welsh: Caerfyrddin [kairˈvərðɪn], “Merlin’s fort” or “Sea-town fort”) is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying upon the River Towy 8 miles (13 km) north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, down from 15,854 in 2001, but gauged at 16,285 in 2019. It has a affirmation to be the oldest town in Wales – Old Carmarthen and New Carmarthen became one borough in 1546. It was the most populous borough in Wales in the 16th–18th centuries, described by William Camden as “chief citie of the country”. Growth stagnated by the mid-19th century as new settlements developed in the South Wales Coalfield.

When Britannia was a Roman province, Carmarthen was the civitas capital of the Demetae tribe, known as Moridunum (“Sea Fort”). It is possibly the oldest town in Wales, recorded by Ptolemy and in the Antonine Itinerary. The Roman fort is believed to date from just about AD 75. A Roman coin accrual was found genial in 2006. Near the fort is one of seven enduring Roman amphitheatres in Britain and unaided two in Roman Wales (the other being at Isca Augusta, Roman Caerleon). Excavated in 1968, the Carmarthen fort has an sports ground of 50 by 30 yards (about 46 by 27 metres); the cavea (seating area) is 100 by 73 yards (92 by 67 metres). Veprauskas has argued for identifying it as the Cair Guorthigirn (“Fort Vortigern”) listed by Nennius along with the 28 cities of Britain in his History of the Britons. Evidence of the before Roman town has been investigated for several years, revealing urban sites likely to date from the 2nd century.