Picton Castle & Gardens
PICTON CASTLE & Gardens, a few miles east of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, is a rare Welsh survival that fuses a medieval stronghold with the polish of a Georgian country house.
Founded around 1315 by Sir John Wogan, Edward I’s Justiciar of Ireland, the castle’s distinctive drum towers and vaulted undercroft still anchor a residence later remodelled for comfort and show.
Its significance is reflected in a Grade I listing, with the wider designed landscape also protected, and today the estate is cared for by the Picton Castle Trust – set up after the last Philipps family residents gifted the property, its collections and grounds in 1987 for the public’s benefit.
Set within 50 acres, the gardens are an RHS Partner Garden and unfold as woodland walks and sweeping parkland punctuated by a handsome Walled Garden with pool, fernery, physic beds and a ‘jungle’ boardwalk, delivering colour from spring camellias and rhododendrons through to autumn conifers.
Inside, self-guided visits and guided tours reveal art- and antique-filled rooms, including a perfectly round library – one of very few in the UK – alongside the working kitchens and that atmospheric medieval undercroft.
With a lively events calendar, family trails and a popular courtyard restaurant, Picton makes a richly rewarding day out in any season.