Spectacularly crowning a remote crag 300 feet above therivers Cennen, Carreg Cennen is unmatchable as a wildly romantic Welsh fortress. Sought out by generations of artists and visitors in search of the dramatically picturesque, its origins are lost in ancient obscurity. The naturally defensible site may even have been a prehistoric hillfort, and was certainly a stronghold of the Welsh princes.

The present stone castle, however, dates from around 1300, when it was built as an English outpost by one of Edward I's barons. Ingeniously adapted to its rocky hilltop, its care is a high walled, strongly towered enclosure, protected by as succession of pits, drawbridges and gatehouses. Even the natural cave beneath the castle rock- perhaps a prehistoric refuge - is incorporated into the defences via a galleried passage and can still be explored with torches.

Despite its strength, Carreg Cennen fell to Owain Glyndwr's Welsh insurgents, and, during the Wars of the Roses, became a base for bandit Lancastrian diehards who terrorised the country around. Taken by the Yorkists in 1462, this "robbers den" was laboriously dismantled by 500 men with picks and crowbars. Yet much remains to be seen, and the climb from the "Rare Breeds" farm at the foot of the crag is also rewarded by breathtaking views - and the change to penetrate the intriguing cave beneath. A visit to Carreg Cennen Castle is always an adventure.