St David’s Cathedral, Pembrokeshire
St
David’s Cathedral is a masterpiece of breathtaking beauty marking
one of the great historic shrines of the British Isles.
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St David's Cathedral at sunset
St David’s Cathedral
Situated in South Pembrokeshire, the site of the Cathedral was founded by the venerable patron, St David (or Dewi Sant) in the sixth century AD. The splendour of the present day Cathedral was created over a period spanning 5 centuries from the 12th to the 16th Centuries with much restoration work taking place during the 19th Century.
St David's Cathedral - S Pembrokeshire
During the latter part of the 15th Century there was a renewed effort to increase the splendour of the Cathedral as it became an increasingly important holy shrine and place of pilgrimage. People flocked from afar to pay homage to the site of Saint David.
View over St David's Cathedral with nearby Bishop's Palace - S Pembrokeshire
St David founded a monastic order in the area where the Cathedral now stands as early as 500 AD He was believed to have been born at St Non’s Bay, the area also thought to be the birth place of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.
St David’s mother was also called Non. She later became a nun in Brittany and, to this date her remains still lie in this French town. Like many Saints, St David’s history is shrouded with the presence of miracles. One such story relates a time when, whilst preaching, the ground rose up carrying St David to a height where all could see and hear him. Believed to have died in the year 589, it was not until 1120 that St David was officially welcomed into the Catholic canon by Pope Caxtus.
It was in the year 1398 that Archbishop Arundel ordained the 1st of March, St David’s feast day, to be kept by every church in the province of Canterbury. This event is still celebrated today, signified traditionally by wearing a leek or a daffodil. During the eighteenth century, St David was later adopted as the Patron Saint of Wales.
St David's Cathedral - S Pembrokeshire
St David’s Cathedral is the home to many tombs, effigies and memorial slabs depicting stories that span many ages. The effigy of Bishop Henry de Gower may be found within the Cathedral whose main memorial lies across the river in the form of the splendid Bishop’s Palace.
In front of the high altar in the presbytery may be found the 15th Century altar tomb of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond and grandfather to Henry VIII. The Cathedral is also the burial site of Edward Tudor, the father of Henry VII. Despite the high grandeur of this impressive building, it is in a recess in the west wall of the chapel of the holy trinity that one of the Cathedral’s most significant burials is located.
Here lie the venerated bones of St David alongside those of Caradog and Justinian, discovered in 1866 during a series of repairs to the chapel. However, recent scientific tests have raised a certain amount of doubt regarding the veracity of the bones claimed to be those belonging to the Patron Saint of Wales.
St David's Cathedral Today
St David's Cathedral has not always sat through times of growth and prosperity. The Reformation bought changes to patterns of worship throughout the country.
Pilgrims were discouraged and colleges and chantry chapels were dissolved and unroofed, parts of the Cathedral and the great palace were abandoned to ruin.
It was not until after 1860, under Sir George Gilbert Scot that the Cathedral was returned to it’s former splendour.
ST David's Cathedral - S Pembrokeshire