anorbier Castle is a well preserved castle located on the south coast of Wales near Pembroke. It stands very close to the shoreline overlooking Manorbier Bay. Originally built by the Norman baron Odo de Barri during the twelfth century, it is a roughly rectangular building with a gatehouse, two round towers and a large hall. A Norman church stands on the hill opposite the castle. The castle was the birthplace of Gerald de Barry (Giraldus Cambrensis in Latin) a noted scholar during his lifetime. His works included histories of Wales and Ireland. Gerald was elected to be the bishop of St. David's but his appointment was blocked by Walter Hubert, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Gerald made several journeys to Rome to get the decision overturned and to make St. David's independent of Canterbury, but eventually he failed to do so.Most the existing strucrtures date from between 1130 and 1300 making the castle an excellent example of its kind. Entrance to the inner ward is through a rectangular gatehouse on the eastern curtain wall protected by two round towers at each end of the wall. At the far end of the inner ward are the chapel and the remains of the stone hall.
The house within the castle walls is available for holidays all year round. Manorbier Castle is situatied within the UK's only Coastal National Park with easy access to the coast paths, 2 minutes from the beach.
