Picton Park

Detritus left behind at Castle Lake Camp, a promontory fort overlooking the Eastern Cleddau.

On the Picton estate

Taken from the water's edge at Crafty Woods across the river Cleddau.

The castle was built around 1300 by Sir John Wogan, Justice of Ireland. His descendants, the Philipps family still live here (see Baron Milford). The layout is unusual because there is no internal courtyard. Protection was provided by seven projecting circular towers. The gate and portcullis led directly into the basement under the great hall. Baron Philipps had the west tower demolished in the early 19th century and replaced it with the four-storey rectangular castellated block on this corner. Castle - Link Baron Milford - Link

The origins of the castle are unclear, but it probably started when Henry I in 1108 attempted to exercise control over west Wales and may have built a castle nearby (see SN0113 : Picton Motte Dungledi ). By the end of the 13th century the castle was owned by Wogan, baron of Wiston, who built the present castle. The estate passed via marriage to the Dwnn family and eventually to Sir Thomas Philipps of Cilsant, esquire to Henry VII, in the late 15th century. In 1611, James I raised money for the Irish campaigns by selling baronetcies and Sir John Philipps bought one for £1,095! In 1776 Sir Richard Philipps was created Lord Milford. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the Philipps family was the most powertful in Pembrokshire, owning vast estates and becoming the local lord lieutenants and MPs. The castle is now owned by the Picton Castle Trust.

The courtyard is to the north of the castle and houses the main entrance, shop and tea rooms for visitors.

The woodland gardens at Picton cover some 40 acres and the mild climate allows a wide variety of planting. The woodland is mainly oak, chestnut and beech, under-planted with rhododendrons and many unusual shrubs. There are many avenues, including one of Chilean flame trees which have bright red flowers in June. There is a bluebell walk in Spring. The castle-shaped hedge maze is now fully-grown and is fun to explore. The walled garden (seen here) has a fish pond at its centre.

An original idea for a sculpture at Picton Castle

This and the other buildings run on the north wall outside what once would have been the kitchen garden

This is the old kitchen garden and shows the south facing wall

Carreg-las Morris Dancers in Court yard of Picton Castle

Just below the car park

There are good paths along the shore of the river in both directions

The river is littered with ancient oaks hanging onto the land for all they're worth! The artist Graham Sutherland would come here for inspiration

On the eastern Cleddau

The Sisters' House is a collection of ruined buildings on the south bank of the Eastern Cleddau, Pembrokeshire, opposite the site of the commandery of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem at Slebech. The Sisters' House formed part of the manor of Minwear, which was given to the order of the Hospital at Slebech in the mid-twelfth century. It is first mentioned in a document of 1546, when it was named as part of the Slebech estates sold after the dissolution of the monasteries in England and Wales. Scholars have differed in their interpretation of the buildings at the Sisters' House, variously describing the main building as a barn or as a pilgrim hospice