Things to see & do

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Stackpole at a glance

Aerial view of Stackpole south-east, Pembrokeshire © National Trust

Stackpole at a glance

© National Trust

Aerial view of Stackpole from the south east. Barafundle beach is in the centre, and Stackpole Head with its grey limestone cliffs lower left. The Old Red sandstone cliffs extend right from Stackpole Quay to Greenala. The Bosherston Lakes with their fringes of woodland are at the top, and Broadhaven South beach upper left.

Things to explore

Designed landscape

Stackpole Court and lake in 1859

Explore the designed landscape created by the Cawdors. Between 1780 and 1860 they planted many thousands of trees and created the Bosherston Lakes. The house is gone but the landscape survives.

Geology

Stackpole Quay, Stackpole, Pembrokeshire © Mike May

Explore Stackpole's amazing geology, starting at Stackpole Quay. Stackpole sits astride the join between the Carboniferous Limestone and Old Red Sandstone. See where two continents crashed together, 295 million years ago.

Archaeology

Greenala, coastal iron age promontory fort, Stackpole, Pembrokeshire © Mike May

Explore 5,000 years of human history. Stackpole has been occupied since the Mesolithic age. You can see signs of Bronze Age, Iron Age and Romano-British occupation.

Download these walks

The walled garden

The pavilions on the central wall at Stackpole's Mencap Walled Garden, Pembrokeshire © Jane Mason

Discover Stackpole's walled garden, now operated by Mencap. One of the largest surviving walled gardens in the country, it once supplied the Cawdors' houses in London and Scotland as well as Stackpole Court.

Visit Stackpole church

Stackpole Elidor Church, 13th century church, Stackpole, Pembrokeshire © Stephen McKay

Retrace the route the Cawdors used to take from Stackpole Court to church, through Cheriton Bottom. It contains family memorials to past owners of the estate going back to Norman times.

Must-see wildlife

  • Otters - look for them in the Eastern Arm of the lakes
  • Choughs along the cliffs - you hear them before you see them
  • Scrambled egg lichen - in short, grazed cliff-top turf
  • Hairy dragonfly - look for it in May and June
  • Bats - Greater Horseshoes and many more. Come on a bat walk
  • Seabird colonies on Stackpole Head. Careful near the edge
  • Silver-studded blue butterflies - one of many grassland species