St Peter's Church is the original parish church of Carmarthen and is the oldest building in the town still in use for its original purpose. It is one of the largest churches in the Diocese of St Davids, being 52 metres long from the west tower to east window and 15 metres wide across the nave and south aisle.
The three storeyed tower is dated from the late fifteenth century, it has undergone several restorations but there are still some weathered medieval gargoyles still to be seen. On the ground floor is a low fifteenth century doorway leading to the spiral stair turret lit by simple slit lights. However, entrance to the ringing chamber is via a gentle flight of stairs on the other side of the tower.
The tower contains eight bells, four of which are the original bells cast by Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester in 1722. The inscriptions are as follows:
Before the present eight bells were hung in 1904 the tower contained only six bells and the inscription on the sixth is that usually assigned to the tenor. The bells were rehung in 1976 in a new steel frame.
The tower list shows the weights of the original six bells:
Another note in the tower gives the weight of the Tenor as 15-1-19CWT, the new treble is heavier than the second but I have been unable to find a weight for it
St Peters web site Created by Carol Tough,homepage address, last updated 6/3/2003