[List of Contents.] [List of Illustrations]
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BELL’S CATHEDRAL SERIES
SAINT DAVID’S

Photo. F. Frith & Co.

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]
[Appendix] II.—Extracts from Sir G. G. Scott’s Report, 1869[97]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
St. David’s Cathedral from the N.E.[Frontispiece]
Arms of the See[Title-page]
The West Front before the restoration of 1862[2]
The Cross and Cathedral Tower[3]
St. David’s from Speed’s Map[5]
South-west View before the restoration of 1862[7]
South View about 1700[9]
Plan of St. David’s, 1806, by John Carter[10]
Top of the Tower[11]
Ceiling of Central Tower[13]
South Elevation (drawn by J. Taylor Scott)[15]
South Doorway[17]
The Nave, looking East[22]
Elevation of a Bay of the Nave, looking East (drawn by J. T. Scott)[24]
Norman Shaft with Re-carved Capital[25]
Details of Pier Arches (from Jones and Freeman)[26]
Carved Panels and Arch-ornaments in the Triforium (from Jones and Freeman)[26]
Groining of Rood Screen showing the flying ribs[31]
The Rood Screen and Organ[33]
The Presbytery in 1856 (from Jones and Freeman)[36]
The Choir and Presbytery, 1895[37]
The Parclose Screen[43]
Arch between the S. Transept and Choir Aisle[45]
Double Piscina, St. Thomas’s Chapel[46]
The Sedilia[49]
The Shrine of St. David (Base)[51]
The Shrine of St. Caradoc (Base)[55]
Screen of Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel[57]
Roof of Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel[59]
Recess in Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel[61]
Bosses on the Cornice[62]
Window in Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel[62]
Niche[63]
Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel[64]
View from Ante Chapel to Lady Chapel[66]
Sedilia and Tomb in Lady Chapel[67]
The North Chapel Aisle[68]
Tomb of a Priest, N. Chapel[70]
Tomb of Bishop Morgan[72]
Bishop Gower’s Tomb[73]
Tomb of a Knight[77]
Abraham Stone[79]
North Doorway of Nave[80]
The College of St. Mary (after H. Gastineau)[82]
The Bishop’s Palace, 1779 (after Paul Sandby, R.A.)[86]
Section of Chimney in Kitchen[89]
Bishops’ Palace[90]
Bishops’ Palace; View of Courtyard (from Jones and Freeman)[91]
Gable-Cross lying in Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel[96]
Plan of the Cathedral[At end]

THE WEST FRONT BEFORE THE RESTORATION OF 1862.

(The figures in the foreground are those of Sir G. G. Scott, Dean Allen, Prof. E. A. Freeman, the Bishop and Mrs. Jones.)

THE CROSS AND CATHEDRAL TOWER.