Chapter I: Front Matter

BELL’S CATHEDRAL SERIES

SAINT DAVID’S

ST. DAVID’S CATHEDRAL, FROM THE N.E.]

THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF

SAINT DAVID’S

A SHORT HISTORY AND
DESCRIPTION OF THE FABRIC
AND EPISCOPAL BUILDINGS

BY
PHILIP A. ROBSON, A.R.I.B.A.

WITH FIFTY ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1901

Dedication.

TO THE

MEMORY OF

THE VERY REVEREND

JAMES ALLEN, M.A.,

DEAN OF ST. DAVID’S,

OF

TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,

THIS SHORT HISTORY

IS DEDICATED

IN THE HOPE THAT ST. DAVID’S

MAY EVER FIND SUCCESSORS TO BENEFIT BY

THE EXAMPLE OF THIS HER MOST SELF-SACRIFICING

AND CAREFUL OF CUSTODIANS.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

This treatise is little more than a careful digest of numerous works, of the more important of which a list is given. A sincere note of obligation is due to Messrs. Jones and Freeman’s scholarly and accurate _History of St. David’s_ and to Mr. John Murray’s _Handbook to the Welsh Cathedrals_; but the list is given quite as much to assist future students as to emphasise those writers to whom the author has been under special obligations.

Those who may wish to visit St. David’s will find it remarkably inaccessible, and they will be well advised to travel to Haverfordwest by train, sleep there, and drive on, over the sixteen miles and seventeen hills, to St. David’s on the next day. For cyclists there is a much better road from Letterston station, but the other is preferable from the picturesque point of view.

The illustrations are mostly from the author’s own photographs, but his special thanks are due to Mr. A. David and Mr. Morgan, to whose hearty co-operation on the spot a large meed of whatever success they may attain is unhesitatingly given. The general views are from photographs by Valentine, Frith and Co., and Poulton; the general measured drawings are reduced from the elaborate plans of J. Taylor Scott, F.R.I.B.A., which won the silver medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1882; a few illustrations are taken from old prints in the author’s collection, and for some reproductions we have been indebted to the excellent plates in Messrs. Jones and Freeman’s _History of St. David’s_.

PHILIP A. ROBSON.

PALACE CHAMBERS, 9, BRIDGE STREET, WESTMINSTER.

LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS CONSULTED

OWEN’S DESCRIPTION OF PEMBROKESHIRE. London, 2 vols., 1603 [reprinted 1892 and 1897], 8vo, pp. xxviii and 286, and pp. iv and from 287-578, paper covers. Edited with notes and appendix by Henry Owen (Cymmrodorion Record Series, No. 1).

CAMBRIA TRIUMPHANS. London (A. Crooke), 1661, folio, pp. 256; a preliminary in sixes and three folding plates of arms; Russia extra; two vols. in one; numerous woodcuts. _Note._--Very rare. Briant’s, £30 9s.; Heathcote’s, £29 18s. 6d.

A SURVEY OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. DAVID’S AND THE EDIFICES BELONGING TO IT, AS THEY STOOD IN THE YEAR 1715. London, 1717, sm. 410, pp. xii, 202, vii, panelled calf. By Browne Willis. Illustrated “with draughts,” consisting of two treble-folding plates opposite p. 1, “The Iconography” (_i.e._, plan) and “South Prospect,” and opposite p. 91 a double-folding plate containing fifty-two shields. Very rare. Towneley copy sold for £1 11s. 6d. Considering its date, a most excellent book.

HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE PARISH OF ST. DAVID. London (E. Harding), 1801, 4to, pp. viii and 206, boards. By George W. Manby. Nine whole-page aquatints. _Note._--Rare, but amusing rather than veracious when not copying Browne Willis.

THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ST. DAVID’S. London and Tenby, 1856, 4to, pp. xii, 400, cloth. By W. B. Jones, M.A., and E. A. Freeman, M.A. Illustrated. _Note._--The best work on the subject.

CAMBRIAN JOURNAL. Vol. iii., London, 1856, 8vo; contains an elaborate review of J. and F.’s History, with illustrations.

ST. DAVID’S. THE CATHEDRAL OF SS. ANDREW AND DAVID. Tenby, n.d., but reprinted from the _Cambrian Journal_, 1864, 8vo, pp. 18, paper covers. By M. E. C. Walcott.

HANDBOOK TO THE CATHEDRALS OF WALES. 1st ed., 1873, pp. xx and 334, 2nd ed., 1887, post 8vo, pp. 334, cloth [by R. J. King], illustrated. _Note._--2nd edition was revised by the late Dean Allen.

ST. DAVID’S; ITS EARLY HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE. London and Derby, 1868, sm. 8vo, pp. 42, limp cloth. By an Ecclesiologist (Fox). Three illustrations.

H.M. COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT ON CATHEDRAL CHURCHES. London (Eyre and Spottiswoode), 1883, folio (pp. 24 on _St. David’s_), irregularly paged.

ST. DAVID’S (Diocesan Histories). London (S.P.C.K.), Brighton, and New York, 1888, post 8vo, pp. x, 254, fancy cloth. By W. L. Bevan, M.A. With map. _Note._--Best history of the Diocese.

THE BUILDER. Vol. lxiii., No. 2,600 (Cathedral Series). An article, three full-page plates (including a good plan) and sketches. Folio. London, December 3, 1892.

A GUIDE TO THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. DAVID’S, THE BISHOP’S PALACE, AND THE COAST CHAPELS. London (Jones and Evans), Tenby (Mason), 1896, crn. 8vo, pp. 90, paper covers. By Travers J. Briant.

PEMBROKESHIRE ANTIQUITIES. Solva (H. H. Williams), 1897, 8vo, pp. vi. and 84, paper boards (consisting of reprints from the _Pembroke County Guardian_ by various authors). St. David’s is mentioned on pp. 8, 34, 37, 53, 68, and 77.

THE ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW. Vol. v., Nos. 27, 8, 9, folio. London, 1899; many photographic illustrations by P. A. Robson.

CATHEDRAL ORGANISTS. London (Novello), 1899, 8vo, pp. xii and 142, cloth. By John K. West (St. David’s, pp. 76 and 77).

LIST OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

List of Works consulted xi

I. THE SITE AND GENERAL HISTORY OF THE FABRIC 2
Previous Churches--Bishop de Leiâ--Fall of the Tower 4
Bishop Gower--The Perpendicular Period 5
The Civil War--West Front rebuilt--Scott’s Restoration 6

II. THE EXTERIOR 9
The Cathedral Precincts 9
The Church 11
The Tower 12
The South Side 14
The South Porch 14
The South Transept 16
The East End 16
The Ruined Chapels 19
The North Side 19
The Library or Chapter House 19
The North Transept 20
The North Doorway 20
The West Front 21

III. THE INTERIOR--THE NAVE 23
The Font 28
The Rood Screen 30
The Organ 32

THE CHOIR AND TRANSEPTS 36
The Parclose Screen 44
The Stalls 44
The Chapel of St. Thomas 46
The Chapter House or Library 47
The Throne 48
The Sedilia 48

THE SHRINE OF ST. DAVID 50

THE SHRINE OF ST. CARADOC 54
The Aisles of the Presbytery 55

THE CHAPELS EAST OF THE PRESBYTERY 57
Bishop Vaughan’s or Trinity Chapel 60
The South Chapel Aisle 65
The Ante Chapel 65
The Lady Chapel 66
The North Chapel Aisle 68

MONUMENTS IN THE CHURCH (otherwise than in the
Eastern Chapels) 71
Bishop Gower’s Tomb 71

IV. THE PRECINCTS 83

THE CLOISTERS AND ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 83

THE BISHOP’S PALACE 85
The Parapet 88
The East Chapel 89
The Bishop’s Hall and Study 89
The Great Hall 89
The West Chapel 92

APPENDIX I.--BISHOPS of St. David’s 93
Precentors and Deans 94
Organists 95