Explore the parkland at Dinefwr

Sheep grazing with Dinefwr Castle in the background, Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire | © NTI/Paul Harris

The parkland at Dinefwr is steeped in Welsh history, covering an 800-acre estate on the outskirts of the old farming town of Llandeilo. Visit this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the first parkland National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Wales. At Dinefwr, you can experience a microcosm of Welsh heritage and natural history combined.

Explore the Estate at Dinefwr

The parkland at Dinefwr is steeped in Welsh history, covering an 850-acre estate on the outskirts of the picturesque farming town of Llandeilo. Visit this Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the first parkland National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Wales. At Dinefwr, you can experience a microcosm of Welsh heritage and natural history combined.

Vital habitats

Dinefwr boasts a vast and diverse range of habitats which attract significant species. There are many species of resident and migratory birds both breeding on the Estate or resting on route. Recently some significant finds of rare beetles have been discovered.

'If you take a handful of the soil at Dinefwr and squeeze it in your hand, the juice that will flow from your hands is the essence of Wales.'

- Wynford Vaughan Thomas, broadcaster, journalist and writer

Dinefwr wildlife

Nature has been truly bountiful to this place. As well as a dense population of some of Britain’s most astonishing native and migrant birds, the estate is home to many of Britain’s most elusive mammals; some of which people live a lifetime without spotting, like otters, pole cats, voles and fallow deer.

Medieval deer park at Dinefwr

The estate holds a 100-acre medieval deer park. Roamed by a herd of over 100 fallow deer, you’ll witness the eerie, echoed bellows of the fallow bucks throughout the estate, as they lead up to the rutting season in October.

You'll see the Corvidae (crow family) helping with the grooming process by picking the moulting velvety skin from the beasts’ enormous antlers as we approach the rutting season.

A view inside the ancient woodland at Dinefwr in late autumn, when the trees have lost their leaves. The woodland floor is covered with grass and foliage turned brown with the season. — The ancient woodland at Dinefwr, Carmarthenshire | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Oldest trees in Britain

Dinefwr ancient woodland is home to some of the oldest trees in Britain. There are over 300 oak trees; some that are over 400 years old, making them true veterans and providing vital ecosystems of diverse species. Even when the trees die or fall to the ground, they are not removed. They stay where they fall to provide habitat for plant, wildlife and fungi species.

New life

As well as caring for the mature trees new ones are planted so there will always be trees at different stages. More trees will be planted in the Inner and Outer Cow Park to recreate the 18th-century design.

Eventually these plantations will be managed like the deer park, as grazed wood pasture. In this way, Dinefwr will always be famous for its veteran trees.