Points of interest

ST Egwad’s church is the only remaining building on a site where several monasteries and religious cells once existed.

The building was begun in the 10th to 11th century, and restored in the 19th century. The church of St Egwad dates to at least the late 11th century, if not earlier. Local tradition suggests that there was an earlier chapel to the north of the current site. The chapel was converted into a private dwelling in the 18th century.

The medieval church was originally linked to the Deanery of Stradtowy but in 1215 it passed to Talley Abbey, and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries to the Bishop of St David. The oldest feature inside the church is a simple square font at the west end of the nave.

The church was rebuilt in 1849 by John Harries of Llandeilo, reusing some of the earlier stones. The building is very simple, with a four-bay nave leading to a chancel of two bays, with a north chapel, north aisle, north porch and west tower rising in three stages.

St Egwad’s church had to close in 2005. The building was declared redundant and services were held in the Victorian church of the Holy Trinity nearby until the church could be restored.

Trains running on the Central Wales and Carmarthen junction Railway Line (opened in 1865) once stopped at Nantgaredig station. The Railway Hotel stands beside the old railway station and is still open for business despite the closure of the railway in 1963. Communication routes of all periods have run along the Towy floodplain. The Roman road between the forts of Llandeilo and Carmarthen runs parallel to the A40

Alltyferin Mansion was built for the Bath family in 1896. The house was demolished in the 1950s but there is still evidence of the estate’s grandeur to be found in the local landscape. The rhododendrons and chestnut trees in the woods are typical of estate planting.