The location of Merlyn's Tree
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The location of Merlyn's Tree by Hywel Williams as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
![](https://s0.geograph.org.uk/photos/45/22/452205_9f775c92.jpg)
Image: © Hywel Williams Taken: 1 Jun 2007
Carmarthen has many Merlyn based myths associated with it including (wrongly) the source of the town's name. On this corner, a tree once stood, over which Merlyn prophesied that: When Merlyn's tree shall tumble down Then shall fall Carmarthen town ... which is a pretty clever thing for the old wizard to have done really as the tree has since been dated to the 16th century, long after the days of King Arthur. Since then, locals have believed the town would flood if the tree ever fell. In the early 19th century a local poisoned and killed the tree, but its dead limbs still stood here until 1978 when the council took it down (fearing it about to collapse) and kept parts of it standing in the Civic Hall, where they are to this day. For some reason, the tree has been replaced by what can only be described as an overgrown sapling in an overgrown pot!
Image Location
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![](https://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/17/63969/43377.png)
![](https://a.tile.openstreetmap.org/17/63972/43377.png)
![](https://c.tile.openstreetmap.org/17/63968/43377.png)
![](https://b.tile.openstreetmap.org/17/63973/43377.png)
![Marker](https://streetguide.co.uk/includes/images/marker-icon-2x.png)