Carew Castle Carew Castle is a castle in the civil parish of Carew in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire . The famous Carew family take their name from the place , and still own the castle , although it is leased to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park , which administers the site . Construction . The present castle , which replaced an earlier stone keep , is constructed almost entirely from the local Carboniferous limestone , except for some of the Tudor architectural features such as window frames , which are made from imported Cotswold stone . Although originally a Norman stronghold the castle maintains a mixture of architectural styles as modifications were made to the structure over successive centuries . Entry to the inner ward is across a dry moat that had a barbican and gatehouse . The front of the castle had three D - shaped towers and crenelated walls . The rear of the castle has two large round towers . In the 16th century the northern defensive wall was converted into a Tudor range with ornate windows and long room . The outer ward has earthworks that were built by Royalist defenders during the English Civil War in the 1640s . History . The use of the site for military purposes extends back at least 2000 years . Early history . The castle stands on a limestone bluff overlooking the Carew inlet — a part of the tidal estuary that makes up Milford Haven . The site must have been recognised as strategically useful from the earliest times , and recent excavations in the outer ward have discovered multiple defensive walls of an Iron Age fort . The Norman castle has its origins in a stone keep built by Gerald de Windsor around the year 1100 . Gerald was made castellan of Pembroke Castle by Arnulf of Montgomery in the first Norman invasion of Pembrokeshire . He married Nest , princess of Deheubarth around 1095 . Nest brought the manor of Carew as part of her dowry , and Gerald cleared the existing fort to build his own castle on Norman lines . The original outer walls were timber , and only the keep was of stone . This still exists in the later structure as the " Old Tower " . Medieval . Gerald ' s son William took the name " de Carew " , and in the middle of the 12th century created an enclosure with stone walls incorporating the original keep , and a " Great Hall " inside it . The current high - walled structure with a complex of rooms and halls around the circumference was created by Nicholas de Carew around 1270 , concurrent with ( and influenced by ) the construction of the Edwardian castles in North Wales . At this time , the outer ward was also walled in . Tudor period . The de Carews fell on hard times in the post - Black Death period and mortgaged the castle . It fell into the hands of Rhys ap Thomas , who made his fortune by strategically changing sides and backing Henry Tudor just before the battle of Bosworth . Rewarded with lands and a knighthood , he extended the castle with luxurious apartments with many Tudor features in the late 15th century . An inner doorway is decorated with three coats of arms : those of Henry VII , his son Arthur and Arthur ' s wife Catherine of Aragon . This allegiance turned sour . Rhys ' s grandson Rhys ap Gruffudd fell out of favour and was executed by Henry VIII for treason in 1531 . The castle thus reverted to the crown and was leased to various tenants . In 1558 it was acquired by Sir John Perrot , a Lord Deputy of Ireland , who completed the final substantial modifications the castle . The Elizabethan plutocrat reconstructed the north walls to build a long range of domestic rooms . Demise . Perrot subsequently fell out of favour and died imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1592 . The castle reverted to the crown and was finally re - purchased by the de Carew family in 1607 . In the Civil War , the castle was refortified by Royalists although south Pembrokeshire was strongly Parliamentarian . After changing hands three times , the south wall was pulled down to render the castle indefensible to Royalists . At the Restoration the castle was returned to the de Carews , who continued to occupy the eastern wing until 1686 . The castle was then abandoned and allowed to decay . Much of the structure was looted for building stone and for lime burning . Since 1984 Cadw has funded a substantial amount of restoration performed by the Pembrokeshire National Park Authority . Legend . In the 17th century the castle ' s lord , Sir Roland Rhys , a former pirate captain , is alleged to have kept a Barbary Ape , most likely a mandrill , inside the castle . Rees had acquired the creature on one of his many voyages . Rees was a very ill - tempered and mannered individual , and would host banquets at the castle just to shout insults and laugh at his guests . The ape , whom he named Satan , would mimick him and laugh at the guests too . One stormy night , when there was strong wind and rain , the ape grew restless while Rees drank heavily in the dining hall . There was a knock at the door and a Flemish tradesman appeared to deliver his rent , but had only half the money needed . Rhees was already upset at the man because he did not approve of his son ' s relationship with the man ' s daughter . In a drunken rage , Rees loosened the ape ’ s chains and goaded it to maul the tradesman close to death . The tradesman escaped but , weak through loss of blood and struggling to make his way out , collapsed in semi - consciousness . The tradesman was rescued by a benevolent servant who tended to his wounds and hid him away in his quarters , intending to let him go when the violent storm past . As the two men talked a violent cry and mad laughter was heard coming from the dining hall . They rushed to the scene to find Sir Rees dead on the floor , his throat gashed open , and the ape burning in the fireplace . The ghosts of the ape and its master are said to haunt the castle to this day . Footsteps are reported regularly , objects throw themselves , and the mad cackling laughter of an ape echoes through the halls . Tidal mill . Carew Mill is the only intact tidal mill in Wales and one of only four in Britain . While its precise date of origin is uncertain , documentary evidence indicates a mill of some kind was here in 1542 . The first reference to a causeway comes in a commission of 1630 , indicating that Sir John Carew had restored the floodgates and causeway walls some 15 years earlier . The present building dates from the early 19th century and indeed one of the two mill wheels carries the date 1801 . The mill has also often been referred to as the " French Mill " , which may be a reference to the use of French burr grinding stones or to its French inspired design . Although no longer working , all the mill machinery is still intact . The tidal pond has an area of and even this far inland the tide could provide significantly more power than the regular flow of a river .