St Clears (Welsh: Sanclêr) is a small historically interesting town in the middle of an agricultural district in Carmarthenshire. It boasts an ornate bridge over the river Taf. In the C12th a small settlement formed around the castle– now St Clears has a population of about 3000. Nearby Trefenty house became the home of a branch of the Perrot family in the 16th century, and it was here that the amateur astronomer Sir William Lower and a neighbour, John Protheroe, set up one of Britain's first telescopes in 1609, which they used to study the craters of the Moon and Halley's Comet. In 1842, one of the local toll gates was destroyed in the Rebecca Riots. The building of the railway was responsible for the decline of many of the small ports along the Bristol Channel coast, and St Clears was no exception.

Just thought I'd upload this photo to give a bit more persepctive on the other St CLears (motte and bailey) photo!