The Old Vicarage

The Old Vicarage cottage comprises of a bedroom with a double bed, on-suit wc/shower room, a large living room with dining area, with a separate kitchen and courtyard area for alfresco breakfasts. The cottage sits on the edge of village of Llangeler which straddles the A484 in north Carmarthenshire, an area which has been known as the Garden of Wales.  This is appropriate as the Old Vicarage is not only full of character as expected for a property dating back to at least the 18th century but probably much earlier and is set in an acre of landscaped gardens surrounded by farmland. Its location makes it a perfect West Wales holiday base for a couple.  You can also bring your dog who will enjoy the many walks in the area.

There are so many beautiful places to visit in West Wales and the Old Vicarage is an excellent base for touring not just Carmarthenshire but also Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. If you like castles or gardens, walking or swimming, fishing, or canoeing, beaches or woodland, there is a great variety of things to do in the area.  Larger towns in the immediate area comprise of Newcastle Emlyn and Llandysul.  There is so much to discover in the area we will be delighted to let you know some of our favourite places to visit.

When you come and stay at the Old Vicarage Cottage you will be staying in the oldest part of the property which predates 1760, you will note the date on one of the living room beams dating from the very early 18^th century. The living room with the large beams and inglenook was the Cegin Fawr (the big Kitchen).  Upstairs in the bedroom the beams and chimneybreast stonework are exposed giving a wonderful romantic atmosphere to the property.  Around 1760 a Vicar of Llangeler fell in love with the daughter of the bishop of St. Davids, they married and the bishop not wanting his daughter to live in such an impoverished vicarage had it extended to become the Georgian house as it now stands with the older original vicarage effectively dwarfed by the new build.  It is here in the main house that Pixie now lives. The site may date back much further as there is a 13^th century reference to the parish being given to the Cistercian abbey of Whitland.  The site of the vicarage may date from this era.  During the 20th century the house was very neglected.  A little work was done prior to World War Two when a monkey tree was removed from the front of the Georgian House, whose roots had started to invade the bottom of the front wall of the house.  A dry moat was also added at this time to protect the foundations of the front and sides of the house.

When Pixie and her late husband John moved into the Old Vicarage in the 1990s, it was not only the house which needed a lot of work but the garden too. They set to work on it immediately and with a lot of hard work created a beautiful garden, it measures a little less than 1 acre and is divided into 3 areas of roses, shrubs and a semi-formal pool with an interesting collection of unusual herbaceous plants, you can see a collection of photos here. The garden has been in the past part of the National Garden Scheme and was regularly made open in the last week of June to raise money for Osteoporosis.