Notable features include 3 miles (4.8 km) of sandy beaches and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, the 13th-century medieval town walls, including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse, Tenby Museum and Art Gallery, the 15th-century St. Mary's Church, and the National Trust's Tudor Merchant's House.

The earliest reference to a settlement at Tenby is in Etmic Dinbych, a poem probably from the 9th century, preserved in the 14th-century Book of Taliesin.

Tenby's mercantile trade grew as it developed as a major seaport in Norman controlled Little England beyond Wales.

[3] After the final attack, William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke ordered the construction of the Tenby town walls in the late 13th century.

With the construction of the town walls, Tenby Castle was made obsolete and had been abandoned by the end of the 14th century.

Consequently, in the Late Middle Ages, Tenby was awarded royal grants to finance the maintenance and improvement of its defences and the enclosure of its harbour.

Exports included wool, skins, canvas, coal, iron and oil; while in 1566 Portuguese seamen landed the first oranges in Wales.

In the mid-16th century, the large D-shaped tower formerly known as the "Five Arches tavern" was built following fears of a second Spanish Armada.

Ten weeks later the shattered town was surrendered to Colonel Thomas Horton, who welcomed Oliver Cromwell shortly afterwards.

Since 1798, the French General Napoleon Bonaparte had begun conquering Europe restricting the rich British upper classes from making their Grand Tours to continental spa towns.

In 1802 local resident, merchant banker and politician, Sir William Paxton, bought his first property in the old town.

With the growth in saltwater sea-bathing for health purposes, Paxton engaged engineer James Grier and architect Samuel Pepys Cockerell (the same team who had built his home at Middleton Hall) to create a "fashionable bathing establishment suitable for the highest society."

This included the discovery of a chalybeate spring in his own park at Middleton Hall, and coaching inns from Swansea to Narberth.

[5] Paxton's efforts to revive the town succeeded and after the Battle of Trafalgar, the growth of Victorian Tenby was inevitable.

Through both the Georgian and Victorian eras Tenby was renowned as a health resort and centre for botanical and geological study.

[7] With many features of the town being constructed to provide areas for healthy seaside walks, due to the walkways being built to accommodate Victorian nannies pushing prams, many of the beaches today still retain good disabled access.

[13][14] Tenby Borough Council was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, with the area becoming part of the new district of South Pembrokeshire within the county of Dyfed on 1 April 1974.

[15][16] The town council continued to be based at the guildhall until the mid-1980s when it moved to the De Valence Pavilion on Upper Frog Street.

[citation needed] Attractions include the two sheltered, sandy beaches and the coastal boat trips to Caldey Island.

It is Tenby's main Christmas attraction now, with approximately 600 swimmers, most in fancy dress, watched by thousands of onlookers.

On 19 March 2021, an Arctic walrus was spotted on the rocks of Broad Haven South beach, after initially making the journey over from Ireland.

[40][41][42][43] Tenby experiences a maritime climate with cool summers, mild winters and often high winds.