During our recent day out at Manorbier we walked up the hill to Saint James the Great Church. It’s currently having some repair work done so it’s not as picturesque as usual from the beach and car park (unless you enjoy looking at scaffolding of course) but it is still open and as interesting to visit inside. Take a look:
Visit Manorbier
Manorbier can be found about five miles south west of Tenby. The National Park Authority run a car-park at Manorbier (Sat. Nav. Postcode: SA70 7SY). The charging period runs from 15 March to 7 November (inclusive). The charging hours are between 9am – 5pm. Parking costs £5 for over three hours. Season tickets are available. There is a free toilet in the car park.
Walking to the Church
In the past, I’ve walked up to the church carrying babies in slings and pushing prams and pushchairs with no problem. I’m feeling particularly unfit at the moment (a problem that I am trying to remedy) so I thought I was going to struggle with the hill as I remembered it to be particularly long and steep. I took all the excess weight I was carrying apart from my camera and left everything in the car and began our ascent. Then, in all honestly it was a lot easier than I’d recalled. The hill isn’t that steep and the church can be found up and round the corner. My sister, Jo was very relieved as I’d made it sound like we were about to climb Mount Everest rather than take a short walk to a village church (sorry Jo!). The gorgeous view definitely takes your mind off the uphill walking.
Views of Manorbier Castle
We didn’t have time to visit Manorbier Castle during our visit but we did get the best view of it from on top of the hill. Stop at the halfway bench for a breather and to snap some photos of this Norman beauty. I wish I’d bought my wide lens.
We enjoyed the views of the beach too.
At the top of the hill we walked past the churchyard and into the church.
It was heartening to see that while being a church of historical and religious significance it is also very much involved in the modern community. There were tea and coffee facilities and a “Kid’s Clothig Exchange” where you can drop off outgrown children’s clothes and pick up some new ones- such a good idea.
I heard music play and was about to tell the kids to leave the piano alone when I realised it was Dave playing!
Lovely sisters!
Beautiful flowers.
An intriguing “little door” to the watchtower.
I took a few wider snaps of this entrance and the church exterior on my phone but then proceeded to accidental delete these (along with all our video footage) in an attempt to free some phone memory (I didn’t realise that would delete them from the cloud too). I will need another visit!
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The sun shines through the trees in the church yard.
We made our way back down the hill, soaking in the glorious views once more.
The memorial bench carving reads, “He loved it here” and we can easily see why. It’s a perfect spot.
We took a few family snaps before making our way home.
It was a lovely day. We can’t wait to visit again soon and will definitely visit the castle when it reopens in March 2020.
Have you visited Manorbier?
Looks superb and wonderful grounds
Oh wow, what beautiful views and the old church is truly amazing, if only it wasnt so far away