Town in Pembrokeshire, Wales
Tenby
Pastel houses, a Tudor escape route and a Victorian fort on a tidal island: Tenby packs a lot into a walled town by the sea.
Key information
- County
- Pembrokeshire
- Nation
- Wales
- Known for
- Pastel-coloured harbour, medieval town walls, four sandy beaches, Caldey Island boat trips
- Famous people
- Robert Recorde, Augustus John, Gwen John
About Tenby
The Tenby man who gave maths its equals sign
Every time you write 2 + 2 = 4, you are borrowing from Tenby. Robert Recorde, born in the town around 1512, was a doctor and mathematician who introduced the equals sign in print in his 1557 book The Whetstone of Witte. His reasoning was beautifully simple: he drew two short parallel lines because no two things could be more alike. Before that, mathematicians wrote out the word 'equals' or used abbreviations. Recorde's own ending was grimmer. He died in 1558 in a London debtors' prison. The sign he left behind has outlived almost everything else from his century.
A little fort of the fishes, and a king in waiting
Tenby's Welsh name, Dinbych-y-pysgod, means 'little fort of the fishes', and that tells you most of the early story: a defended headland above a fishing harbour. The Normans built a castle on Castle Hill, and the town grew up behind stone walls in the Middle Ages. Some of those walls still stand, including the Five Arches, a medieval gateway on the south side of town. It is a rare survivor of its kind in Wales and still funnels traffic into the old streets today. Tenby also has a Tudor tale. In 1471, Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, is said to have escaped from the town by sea to Brittany with his young nephew Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII. The Tudor Merchant's House on Quay Hill, a 15th-century home now cared for by the National Trust, gives a sense of the town they left behind. The Civil War later saw Tenby change hands, and the walls did their job again.
How a quiet port became a Georgian and Victorian fashion
By the Georgian era, sea bathing was all the rage, and Tenby had sheltered beaches, clean air and a handsome setting. Visitors came, and the town responded with terraces and promenades, many of them still painted in soft pinks, blues and yellows. The railway reached Tenby in 1863, and the Victorians arrived in numbers. Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, founded in 1878, is one of the oldest independent museums in Wales. That same year saw the birth of the painter Augustus John in Tenby. His sister Gwen John, another celebrated artist, grew up in the town. The family house on Victoria Street is among the places visitors seek out.
Two islands, one with monks and one with a fort
Look out from Castle Hill and two islands fill the view. Caldey Island, a short boat trip from the harbour, is home to Cistercian monks, who make perfume and chocolate and sell them to visitors. Its monastic roots go back far beyond today's community. Closer in sits St Catherine's Island, topped by a Victorian fort built in the 1860s as part of the defences of the Pembrokeshire coast. At low tide you can walk across the sand to its foot. The town's lifeboat has been part of the harbour scene since the 19th century, and the cliff-top views over Carmarthen Bay explain why so many painters set up easels here.
Cold water, iron legs and fresh crab
Tenby does its sport with gusto. On Boxing Day, crowds in fancy dress run into the sea for the traditional swim, a spectacle that draws spectators as well as swimmers. In September, Ironman Wales takes over the town. Since 2011, athletes have swum in the bay, cycled the Pembrokeshire lanes and run through the old streets, with the walls and harbour as a backdrop. For refuelling, local seafood is the draw: Pembrokeshire crab and lobster, plus laverbread, the Welsh seaweed delicacy. Caldey Island chocolate makes a fine souvenir. Four beaches ring the town: North Beach, Castle Beach, Harbour Beach and the long sweep of South Beach.