Carew Castle is a ruined palatial stronghold that was the centre of a great medieval lordship. The castle was established, or came into Anglo-Norman hands, in the opening years of the twelfth century at a time when southern Pembrokeshire was being divided up between the Normans. It is known that there was an earlier fortress on the site (NPRN 308623). This was occupied through the Roman and early medieval period and may have still been in use when the Normans arrived.
The present castle is a late thirteenth-early fourteenth century building with later modifications and additions, although some earlier features remain. It consists of three towered ranges set about a grand courtyard, with a walled forecourt to the east and scant remains of an outer court between it and the village (NPRN 268031). The great hall is in the western range, flanked by two great towers that rise above spurred bases. The chapel is in a polygonal tower projecting into the forecourt.
The castle was remodelled in the late fifteenth-early sixteenth century and again in the late sixteenth century when the grand Tudor north range was added. The result was a great mansion fit for the entertainment of princes, one of the main power centres in west Wales. A great tournament was held in 1507. The castle was surrounded by extensive gardens and orchards (NPRN 301206, 400180) and the inlet on the north may already have been damned, both as a millpond and as an ornamental lake (NPRN40230).
The castle was frequently beleaguered in the revolutionary wars of the mid seventeenth century and declined into ruins thereafter. Its shattered walls have recently been consolidated and the castle is open to public view.

Sources: Cathcart-King Archeaological Journal 119 (1962), 270-307
Gerrade in Fortress 6 (1990), 45-50
Carew Project Interim Reports (ed. Austin), University of Wales, Lampeter

John Wiles, RCAHMW, 14 January 2008