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ST
DAVID’S BISHOP’S
PALACE AND CATHEDRAL
Great Religious History in Wales Smallest Town
St David’s, the town, is traditionally the smallest city in the
United Kingdom and the only one completely located in a national park,
but whose significance in the religious history of Wales is indeed outsized.
Lying on the peninsula of the westernmost point of Wales surrounded by
scenic coastline of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and named for
the patron saint of Wales, St David's is home to the magnificent medieval
ruins of the St David’s Bishops Palace, St David’s Cathedral
and the St. Non well and chapel ruins. Legend has it Saint David was
born around the year 500 during a stormy night on the coast to where
his mother Saint Non has escaped after being seduced by a local Welsh
Chieftain. 
A well sprung up to provide fresh water during the storm on
the night of St David’s birth. St David later founded a monastery
about a mile from the spot of his birth. The Cathedral of St David was
first begun construction in 1182 by the Bishop Peter de Leia. The Relics
of St David and St Justinian were both held in a shine at the cathedral
drawing both William the Conqueror, Henry II and King Edward I came to
St David’s to pray at the shrine, until the relics were later removed
during the reformation.
St David's Bishop's Palace
St David’s became one of the most important pilgrimage spots of
the Middle Ages when Pope Calixtus II issued a decree that two pilgrimages
to St David's were equal to one to Rome, and three visits were equal
to a pilgrimmage to Jerusalum. This made the Bishops of St David’s
very wealthy from the “tourist” trade of visiting pilgrims
in the 13th and 14th Centuries, making St David’s the ecclesiastical
religious capital of Wales. The Bishops of St David, principally the
Bishop Henry de Gower under King Edward III, built a great stonework
palace in the river valley below the cathedral – the Cathedral
Close - with the major constuction from 1328-1347.
The
castle-like palace, was one of the grandest of the day in the British
Isles, and
like the
Rock of Cashel in southern Ireland (see Rock of Cashel), a clear representation
of the political position and secular power of the bishops of the Middle
Ages.
The palace
was abondoned
and mostly laid to ruin by the 17th Century. What remains are full
sections of the walls of pre-gothic romanesque arches and gargoyles,
with unique
checkerboard patterns outlining the great hall, the Bishops' Solar
and quite impressively massive bedroom looking out on the cathedral.
The
undercrofts hold a display of the palace's construction and history
of the bishops. St David's Bihop's Palace is administerd by Cadw, the
government
heritage organization. Admission is £3 with a family ticket for £8.50.
Outdoor music and theater performances are somethimes held in the open
ground of the palace.
St David's Cathedral
The Cathedral of St
David’s is actually the fourth church to be
built on the spot where St David founded his monastic settlement. The
romanesque Cathedral from the 12th Century was nearly destroyed by Oliver
Cromwell during the Puritan Commonwealth and restored in meticulous detail
by Welsh architect John Nash in 1793 and later by Geroge Gilbert Scott.
The town which surrounded the church lost its importance over the centuries
and returned to its present small village state. 
The Cathedral of St
David has been holding services for over 1,000 years. The most outstanding
features of the structure are the magnificent oak carved ceilings ceilings,
bare and intricate in the nave and painted in the Choir and Presbytery.
The shrine of St David remains in an unadorned form with the relics long
gone. The cathedral treasures of rings and crosses of the medieval bishops,
illuminated manuscripts, cloth and silver can be seen in the Cathedral
Treasury. The Cathedral gets no public money. There is no required admission,
but a donation of £3 is suggested, with kids for free.
St Non's Well and Chapel
The
legendary Saint Non's Well which brought pilgrims for its reputed healing
waters and the ruins of the small ancient chapel nearby, is about
a 10-15 minute walk or 3 minute drive from the town. Set in a natural
backdrop overlooking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and St Brides Bay
and now watched over
by
a shrine to the
Virgin Mary added in more current times, the view is pretty much what
it would have been
following that stormy night. The
Cambrian cliffs along
the shoreline make this a popular spot for hikers along the coastal path
kayakers from the beaches below. There is no cost to get to the well,
except perhaps for a coin tossed in. The chapel ruins with a single
hand-scratched
crucifix
stone is accessable in the field inhabited by cows. Near the well and
chapel ruins are a private religious retreat and the manor house Warpool
Court Hotel with lovely views of the chapel field and sea.
If the histroic old religious spots aren't enough for a visit to St David's, the walks along the coast and outdoor activities of the National Park are the main attraction along with boat tours to Ramsey Island, seal and whale watching, and a couple of nearby woolen mills. The tourist center is just to the northeast along the main road as you enter the village, just across from The Grove Hotel and Restaurant. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Web Info
CADW WALES
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SEE ALSO:
LLANGYFELACH PARISH ST DAVID'S CHURCH
DINEFWR CASTLE PARK AND NEWTON HOUSE
CONWY
CASTLE
FISHGUARD MANOR
TOWNHOUSE B&B
MERLIN'S HILL - WORKING FARM B&B - CARMARTHEN
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