The Carmarthenshire County Museum occupies the former palace of the Bishops of St David's at Abergwili, three miles east of Carmarthen. The bishops moved their main residence here in the 1540s when the medieval palace at St David's became too remote and uncomfortable; they stayed until 1974, when the diocese sold the house to the county council. The building is a substantial 16th- to 18th-century country house in its own parkland, with a chapel of 1865 by G. E. Street.
The collections cover the human history of Carmarthenshire from the Bronze Age to the present. Highlights include the Pen-y-coed Mesolithic boat (the oldest in Wales), a strong set of medieval grave slabs, a complete reconstructed Welsh cottage interior, and a fragment of Merlin's Oak. The Bishop's Chapel is open and worth seeing for the Street stencilling.
Admission is free. The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4.30pm. There is a small café and a good second-hand bookshop on site, and the parkland makes a pleasant walk. Buses from Carmarthen town centre take 10 minutes.