Famous for its Cistercian abbey, this charming island is an easy 20-minute boat trip from Tenby. The most wooded of Pembrokeshire's islands, its sheltered village area has a cosy atmosphere and caters well for the day visitor.

Caldey's limestone caves were inhabited from the Old Stone Age up to Roman times. Bones of giant ox and cave bear have been found there, as well as Roman coins. St Pyro established a hermit's cell on the island in the 6th century, which later grew into a monastic community. The island is known as Ynys Pyr (Pyro's Island) in Welsh but was named Caldey (Cold Island) by the Vikings.

A tree-lined track runs behind the golden sands of Priory Beach and the dunes and leads to the village. Terraced cottages form the centrepiece of the village green, but the scene is dominated by the impressive abbey with its whitewashed walls and terracotta roof, set above a steep rock garden.

Up the hill from the village, the road passes through woodland, where there are disused watercress beds. This is a good place to see woodland birds, speckled wood butterflies, and rare ferns in the old walls. The lovely Old Priory is one of the oldest churches in Wales. Above the farm is the lighthouse, with stunning views over Carmarthen Bay. Other paths lead through the woods and scrub to the dunes or to the limestone headlands.

Caldey’s geology is Old Red Sandstone on one side of the island and Carboniferous limestone on the other. The island therefore has both acid and alkaline soils, which produce a glorious array of summer flowers. Rats and hedgehogs breed here, so ground-nesting birds are absent. However, Caldey can boast Pembrokeshire’s largest nesting colony of herring gulls. It also possible to sea other seabirds such as cormorants as well as seals around the rocky shores of the Island

© Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority 2002

A number of operators run trips around Caldey Island to view wildlife. It is also possible to visit the island with some of these operators vessels.

St Margarets

Adjoining Caldey is St Margaret's Island. A medieval chapel of that name once stood on the island but was converted in Victorian times into housing for the men who quarried the island’s limestone. The island is now uninhabited and is a small but important nature reserve.

The island has colonies of cliff-nesting guillemots and razorbills, up to 250 pairs of cormorants and a good mix of all three big gulls: great black-backed, lesser black-backed and herring gulls. For several years there have been gannets circling and setting up territories on the north-east side of the island, which could perhaps become a future gannetry.

A few pairs of puffins breed on the slopes facing towards Tenby, but rats keep down the numbers of smaller ground-nesting birds. The island vegetation is richly luxuriant with thick sea-beet, sea mayweed and tall rank grasses.

The island was quarried until 1851. There are remains of cottages, a walled field, storage sheds and a well with sweet water still flowing. One quarry, with the help of a few storms in the winter 2001/02, has just about split the island in two.

The is no public access to St Margaret’s

© Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority 2002

For more information on where to go and what to see in Pembrokeshire visit: www.pembrokeshirecoast.org.uk