Pembrokeshire - St Davids` and on to Little Haven

- May 01, 2010

Our first visit to Pembrokeshire started at St Davids, the smallest city in the UK in terms of geographical area and population. It is an important ecclesiastical site because of its many historic associations.

The monastic community was founded by Saint David, Abbot of Menevia, who died in 589. Between 645 and 1097, the community was attacked many times by raiders, including the Vikings.

However, by 1115, with the area under Norman control, King Henry I of England appointed Bishop Bernard as Bishop of St Davids. He began to improve life within the community, and commenced construction of a new cathedral. In 1123, Pope Calixtus II granted Bishop Bernard's request to bestow a papal privilege upon St Davids, making it a centre of pilgrimage for the Western world, the Pope decreeing that "Two pilgrimages to St Davids is equal to one to Rome, and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem". The new cathedral was quickly constructed and Bishop Bernard consecrated it in 1131. Henry II of England's visit in 1171 saw the following of David increase and the need for a larger cathedral.

The present cathedral was begun in 1181 and completed not long after. Problems beset the new building and the community in its infancy, the collapse of the new tower in 1220 and earthquake damage in 1247/48.

St Davids Cathedral

Ruins of The Bishops Palace adjacent to St Davids Cathedral, now a picturesque ruin.

The Bishops Palace has been described as the work of a series of 'builder bishops', with work carried out in the late 13th and 14th centuries.

In 1284, King Edward I visited St Davids on a pilgrimage and this visit may have inspired some earlier work because Bishop Thomas Bek, who served from 1280–93, was among his former statesmen. Bishop Bek was responsible for construction of the chapel in the south-west corner, the hall, the private apartments and the gate.

The man responsible for much of the site that can be seen today was Bishop Henry de Gower (1328–47). He carried out major works in the cathedral itself, built the Great Hall with wheel window in the east gable, the distinctive arcaded parapet and the porch. Gower's main legacy is the two great ranges. The east range – the simpler of the two – was the first to be built. The much grander south range was built for entertaining.

The beginning of the Reformation heralded the decline of the Bishops Palace. In 1536 Bishop William Barlow stripped the lead from the roof. Legend has it that he used the money to pay for the dowries of his five daughters. However, as he had no daughters at that time, and the first marriage of a daughter did not occur until about 25 years later, the story was probably fabricated by his many enemies. He made so much money from this that a sixteenth-century account said that more than twelve years revenue of the bishopric would have been needed to cover the cost of replacing it, and the building fell into disrepair. Bishops stayed less at St Davids and, by the middle of the 16th century, the chief episcopal residence had been relocated to Abergwili, Carmarthenshire. In 1616, Bishop Richard Milbourne applied for a licence to demolish some of the buildings. By 1678, when another licence for demolition was sought, the palace was considered beyond repair.