Description Literary Ambitions: Tenby

When Mary Ann Evans paid a visit to this home in 1857, she was inspired to write a novel. A year later, Scenes From A Clerical Life was published under the nom de plume George Eliot and over the course of the next twenty years, she would write some of the most influential books of the period, including Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda.

No pressure to anybody coming to this four-storey, Grade-II listed townhouse in the present day, then. Straight away, you can see why it had the power to rouse dormant literary ambitions — the view from the huge windows of Tenby Harbour is nothing short of sublime. Even though the interior has been updated in the proceeding two centuries, there are still signs of the home's heritage, from the high ceilings and tall windows to the original wooden floorboards in the hallway.

If you ever need a break from working on your manuscript, Castle Beach takes all of a minute to reach on foot, as does the 12th-century landmark that lends the sandy spot its name. Catching the twenty-minute ferry to see the abbey on Caldey Island is well worth doing, too.

Home truths:
*The home is spread over four floors with no lift, so it might not be suitable for guests with reduced mobility
*There's no parking available, but Tenby railway station is only ten minutes' walk away