St David’s Cathedral – a big cathedral in a tiny city

On Saturday morning during a bout of heavy rain courtesy of Storm Katie we visited St David’s Cathefral in the tiny city of St David’s in Pembrokeshire. The Cathedral has had a long and difficult history.

A monastic community set up by St David was established in 645 and over the coming centuries was raided many times by various attackers including the Vikings. In 1081 William the Conqueror visited and acknowledged its sacred nature. In 1181 work was begun on constructing the Cathedral. The Dissolution of the Monastries had a major impact on the Cathedral and the adjacent Bishop’s Palace when it was partially destroyed. In 1793 work was begun to restore the Cathedral and various projects have been carried out ever since. See here for the full details.

St David is the patron saint of Wales and the current Cathedral stands on the spot where he founded a Monastry. It is also believed that St David founded the Abbey at Glastonbury. More details on St David’s life here.

Here are a few photographs of the cathedral and its interior. Entry is free but you need to buy a photographic permit for £2.

It is not the largest Cathedral but it is architecturally very fine even though only parts date back to Norman times.