Stackpole Estate (Ystad Ystagbwll) & Bosherston Lily Ponds

Stackpole Estate (Ystad Ystagbwyll) sits between the villages of Stackpole and Bosherston, just five miles from Pembroke.

Around 810 hectares in total, approximately 202 are designated as a National Nature Reserve, managed in collaboration with the Countryside Council for Wales.

The Bosherston Lakes were created between 1780 and 1860 as part of a designed landscape surrounding the former mansion of Stackpole Court. You’ll experience the wide range of wildlife such as otters, waterfowl and dragonflies – all whilst being a part of the water lilies and beds of stonewort! There’s also lots more!!

If you like to walk, there’s 30km of linking footpaths through woods, lakes, cliffs and beaches. You can take the shorter one hour walk, a half day walk or even spend a full day exploring. Walks can be started from any of the car parks (at Stackpole Quays and Bosherston Lily Ponds, for example) or from the Stackpole Centre.

Within the estate, there are two fantastic beaches – Broad Haven (South) and Barafundle – which should not be missed!! In fact, Barafundle was voted the best picnic spot in Britain in 2006 by Country Life (also see the BBC article) and can be reached only by following the extraordinary coastal walk. Stackpole Warren (Penrhyn Ystagbwll) is an important historic landscape with remains of Bronze and Iron Age life. There are also many plant communities to admire. The Carboniferous Limestone cliffs you can’t help but see everywhere support colonies of breeding seabirds. To the north and east the geology changes to old red sandstone.