St David's Cathedral

St David is the patron saint of Wales. David is said to have been born around 500AD somewhere along the Pembrokeshire Coast. He founded a monastery in an area that has since been named for him, St David's, now Britain's smallest city, which was conferred by Queen Elizabeth II in 1995. Some of the buildings on this site include the cathedral, Bishop's Palace, the gatehouse and St Non's Church: St Non was David's mother! The cathedral dates back to 1176 and includes St David 500-598AD

some amazing architecture, stone carvings and timber ceilings, which are different in each section of the church. There are many impressive items in the cathedral besides the architectural stuff though. One of the most notable things would be the number of tombs and effigies. Many are finely detailed, as this knight (right) and the Lady Maidstone Tomb (below left). Many, if not all, of the cathedral's bishops are also entombed here, with effigies of each over their tombs. The most impressive

A Noble Knight's Tomb

Contessa de Maidstone Tomb Tomb Detail

of these tombs is that of Bishop Henry Gower (1328-1347). He was one of the most important builders of the modern day cathedral and the Bishop's Palace. Other impressive tombs include the tomb of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond. He was the father of King Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty and Henry VIII's grandfather. The Abraham Stone is a grave marker with Celtic design carved in it. The stone once marked the graves of Hedd and Issac, sons of Bishop Abraham who was killed during a Viking raid in 1080. Probably the most important tomb in the cathedral is the tomb of St David himself.

The nave is the oldest surviving part of the cathedral (right). It was constructed in the 12th century by Bishop Peter de Leia and Giraldus de Barri (the Welshman Giraldus Cambrensis Gerald). An interesting note about Bishop Peter and Gerald - they were excused from the Third Crusade in order to complete the cathedral! The nave is built in a Transitional Norman style, originally it contained no seats but was used for undercover processions. Each of the rounded arches is carved with a different pattern. Because of inadequate foundations the cathedral saw severe damage in an earthquake in the 13th century. Some of the walls collapsed and the west end of the nave leans outwards, hence the wooden ceiling rather than a stone vault.

Nave

Stained Glass Window

2 other interesting architectural features in the nave include a stained glass window (left) and the pipe organ (below right). The organ was built by Henry Willis in 1883. It originally had 3 manuals and 31 stops. In 1953, the organ was rebuilt during restoration. It should be noted that there were no tonal alterations made! The sound is exactly that as when it was built. The main change made was to house the the pipes in a new case, which was designed by noted architect of the time, Alban Caroe. This housing was smaller than the original "pipe rack" by Willis. This

meant that the pedal organ had to be removed to a new enclosure in the South Transept. This created a sound issue though. The pipes were now too loud for the choir but not loud enough for the nave. Further restoration work took place in the 1980s, carried out by Rushworth & Dreaper, then Percy Daniel & Co in 1986 and 1989. The organ was dismantled in September 1998 and underwent a major restoration and rebuild by Harrison & Harrison of Durham between 1998 and 2000. A new case of limed oak (incorporating parts of the old east case) once again houses almost the entire pedal organ. The new organ now has 4 manuals and 54 stops! The new instrument was dedicated by the Bishop of St Davids on 15 October 2000 in a Millennium ceremony. One can just make out the tomb of Bishop Henry Gower on the right

Pipe Organ

behind the Romanesque arch. The entrance is guarded by a monument to St David, left of the entrance (see top right). It should be noted that the detailing between the tomb and the pipes mimics that of the arches on the Bishop's Palace (below left)

Bishop's Palace

During the Middle Ages there were few landowners in Wales wealthier than the Bishops of St Davids. They were not only princes of the church, they were also Marcher Lords. Their only allegiance was to the King. It's said that there are no finer medieval buildings west of Offa's Dyke, a 182 mile manmade dyke that runs from Prestantyn in the north to Sedbury in the south, near Chepstow. It was built on command of Offa, King of Mercia between 757-796 to keep the "English" out of Wales.

While the Bishop's Palace is in complete ruin there's no mistaking the architectural splendor in which the bishops lived. It was during the pilgrimage visit of Edward I and his queen wife in 1284 that called attention to the inadequacies of the palace. Bishop Tomas Bek (1280-1293)instituted a program to rebuild the palace. He is responsible for the building of the chapel in the southwest corner, the hall and private apartments, and a small gateway. It was then Bishop Henry de Gower (1328-1347) who had the most impact on the palace. Along with major works carried out in the cathedral, he also ordered the building of the great hall in the palace. He brought some grace to all this luxury by also building an arcaded parapet, which runs along the top of the structure in a series of graceful arches. The Wheel Window is in the east gable and is another interesting

Bishop's Palace, tile detail

feature to the palace, along with the multicolored tiles that once faced the upper level of the palace. Below the exterior walls were probably covered in marble or some other magnificent stone work. The current palace walls have similar holes that are seen in many Italian palaces, which were marble fronted. It's quite unfortunate that with the Reformation of the 17th century that this site saw the beginning of St Davids end.

Gatehouse

Another interesting building on this site is the old gatehouse, which is now used as the main entrance. This building dates back to the 14th century and was built against a 13th century bell tower. This gate house is the only surviving gatehouse of the 4 that originally gave access to the Close, as the site is called. We had entered through a ruined gate house at the end of a grassy field. This gatehouse is the only building on the site that hasn't been restored, but has seen some stabilization works to preserve it for years to come. There are bells in the bell tower however. This part of the gatehouse is called Porth y Twr, or Port Tower. The bells were

installed in the 1930's after the tower was restored by an anonymous donor. The original bells had been removed in the 1730's because the tower was said to be collapsing. Only one of these bells still exists and can be seen in the exhibition in the Tower Gate. We didn't get to St Non's Church before we had to leave for Hay, but hope to on our next visit. Below are some of the remarkable ceiling details that are throughout the cathedral.

Holy Trinity Chapel The Fan Ceiling	Holy Trinity Chapel The Fan Ceiling	High Altar Ceiling Detail	Lady Chapel Ceiling Detail
Tower/Choir Ceiling	Tower/Choir Ceiling Detail	North Transept Ceiling Detail	Nave Ceiling Detail

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