Once home to a chapel, a fort, a private residence and a zoo, this tiny tidal island beside the seaside town of Tenby is a true wonder of the Welsh coastline, writes Simon Whaley
Simon Whaley is a photographer and writer with a passion for the countryside.
DAY OUT: St Catherine’s Fort, Pembrokeshire
Step on to Tenby’s Castle Beach at high tide and St Catherine’s Island is tantalisingly close, yet inaccessible. However, at low tide, weather permitting, this marvel of the Welsh coast is waiting to be explored, thanks to a band of volunteers.
St Catherine’s is a dramatic limestone outcrop, 200m long, 60m wide and 28m high. Conquering it means climbing 74 steps to reach a 10m steel bridge spanning the final moat-like ditch defence.
CHAPEL AND FORT
Solitude-seeking 12th-century visitors founded a small chapel here dedicated to St Catherine, but today, it’s the substantial shell of a Palmerston Fort that crowns this incredible islet.
The fort was built in 1867 to protect the naval dockyard at Pembroke and Milford Haven’s deep-water anchorage from a perceived Napoleonic threat, but thankfully it was never needed. Its imposing, black metal doors give it a prison-like atmosphere. Fans of the BBC series Sherlock may recognise the location from the 2016 episode, ‘The Final Problem’, when it doubled as a North Sea prison.
Vast windows overlooking Pembrokeshire’s glorious coastline now fill the gaps once taken by Napoleondeterring seven- and nine-inch artillery.
FORTRESS FURNISHIN
