A market town in Pembrokeshire with a "handsome" high street located in the "shadow of a ruined castle" has been named among the best in the UK.

From Shrewsbury in Shropshire to Sandwich in Kent, and everywhere in between, The Telegraph has come up with a list of the top 12 best market towns in the UK.

Introducing the list, the news outlet said: "Cities provide thrills and bustle. Villages offer quiet and escape. But market towns – quintessentially British locales, hovering between rural and urban – offer something different.

"There are around 1,275 of them in England alone, small to mid-size places that grew up on roads and rivers and became trading hubs.

UK high street shops that no longer exist

"They are big enough for a leisurely mooch, but not so large you’ll get lost or overwhelmed; they are great for happy diversions, a dose of local history, inevitably tea and cake, and likely some good shopping, too.

"But what ingredients make up the ideal British market town?"

Best market towns in the UK

The top 12 best market towns in the UK, according to The Telegraph, are:

  • Shrewsbury, Shropshire
  • Narberth, Pembrokeshire
  • Ledbury, Herefordshire 
  • Horncastle, Lincolnshire 
  • Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
  • Wigtown, Dumfries & Galloway
  • Malmesbury, Wiltshire 
  • Holt, Norfolk
  • Sandwich, Kent
  • Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire
  • Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
  • Clitheroe, Lancashire

Why Narberth is among the best market towns in the UK

Narberth was named among the top 12 best market towns in the UK by The Telegraph, commended for its "handsome high street".

The news outlet explained: "Unsurprisingly, “High Street” is Britain’s most common street name.

"These thoroughfares sprang up in the 17th century as urbanisation increased and we gradually became a nation of shopkeepers.

"They’re now the heart of the market town."

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The Telegraph continued: "In the shadow of the town’s ruined castle, Narberth’s High Street has the requisite fine Georgian and Edwardian buildings but, even better, they’re painted a full palette of shades, from satsuma and buttercup to lime and fuchsia-pink.

"These cheerful facades front a raft of independents: try Rock n Rolla for vintage clothes, the Golden Sheaf for art and Welsh crafts, Ultracomida for Spanish nibbles.

"There’s an abundance of antique shops, too."