The Templar Trail

Begin on the borderland at St Michael's Church, Garway. Walk the traced outline of the round Templar nave and, if arranged in advance, visit the Hospitaller dovecote of 1326.

~2h to Slebech

Lunch nearby, then walk the footpath to the ruined church of St John on the Cleddau. This was the mother house — give it time.

15 min to Templeton

A short stop to read the medieval village plan — long burgage plots either side of the main street. Drive on to the Gower and overnight in Swansea or Mumbles for an early start on day two.

Stay overnight

Start at the tip of north Gower at St Madoc's Church — held first by the Templars and, after 1312, by the Hospitallers of Slebech. Time for a short walk on Whiteford Burrows, the old military-order grazing ground.

5 min to Cheriton

The 'cathedral of Gower' — St Cadoc's, built to the highest 13th-century monastic standard as the Hospitallers absorbed the former Templar mill on the Burry stream. Look at the lancet chancel and carved capitals.

10 min to Llanrhidian

Lunch in the village, then visit St Rhidian and St Illtyd — a Hospitaller rebuild of the 13th century with a massive fortified west tower and the mysterious carved Leper Stone in the porch.

~30 min to Rhossili

End on the cliff above Rhossili Bay at St Mary the Virgin — Norman doorway, medieval font and leper squint, all from the Hospitaller centuries. Walk the coast path toward Worm's Head to finish the pilgrimage.

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