A small cromlech lies within a few hundred yards of the centre of the town, to which any inhabitant will direct one. Occasional glimpses of the estuary, with its sands gleaming in the sun, are obtained from the main streets of the town.
The road between Newport and Fishguard reveals a wide view of the Prescelly Mountains, the highest in Pembrokeshire, and a favourite climb for visitors. A most attractive view of Goodwick Harbour, now generally known as Fishguard, is obtained from the road, or, better still, from one of the steep meadows on either hand. The great importance of this harbour in connection with the Atlantic mail and passenger service has suddenly brought a remote district into prominence. It is now a familiar sight for the natives to see a huge liner in this natural harbour take on passengers and cargo, while a few years ago the waters of the deep inlet had never been churned by propellers.
The descent into Fishguard of 1 in 7 must be taken with extreme caution; at the foot of the curving descent a bridge crosses the Afon Gwaen, and from this the road climbs with equal suddenness and at an equally trying angle. It is a hill calculated to test to the last fraction of its horsepower the capacity a car possesses in hill-climbing. At the top of the ascent the whole bay is spread out in panoramic fashion, and one can see the new breakwater, still incomplete, protecting the anchorage.
The road from Fishguard to St. David's passes first across the isthmus of the Pen Caer Peninsula, whose northern part terminates in Strumble Head. This district is the happy hunting-ground for the archæologist, as it literally teems with prehistoric remains—castles, camps, stone circles, cromlechs, and menhirs, are encountered almost at every step. Two miles out of Fishguard the turning to the right should be taken at a puzzling junction of roads. At Mathry some cromlechs occur near the road, and two miles farther on a wayside cross may be seen. The hills in this neighbourhood generally have the formation noticed previously at Cardigan—namely the projection of high tors from their summits, breaking through otherwise smooth elevations. Nearing St. David's Head it is obvious that the face of the landscape is gradually changing: the hedgerows become less in height, and are often mere mounds of turf or stone; the few trees met with are dwarfed and attenuated, and invariably lean away from the south-west. As St. David's comes nearer these characteristics become accentuated, and a barren, wind-swept moorland appears, almost unrelieved by a single tree.
Plan of St. David's Cathedral.
ST. DAVID'S
The modern town of St. David's has a sad and desolate air, arising from the number of abandoned houses to be seen on every hand.
The Cathedral (nave open free on weekdays, 9 to 1 and 2 to 6; a charge of 6d. is made for admission to the eastern chapels) is in a remarkable situation at the farther end of the town, and practically bursts upon the view when the edge of the deep hollow it occupies is reached. In such an exposed corner of Britain it is not surprising that everything should take what shelter it can find, but to walk through a rather dreary and wind-swept Welsh village, and to discover a magnificent cathedral cowering almost out of sight at one's very feet, is not an everyday occurrence even with the touring motorist. A score of abbeys planted in sequestered valleys will come to the mind of anyone who has explored this island, but a well-preserved cathedral built in a deep and narrow hollow in a rocky promontory almost takes away what little breath the blustering wind has left to the exploring stranger. To the left is the old tower gateway, a weather-worn remnant of the embattled fortifications which once encircled the monastery. Down below, and approached by a long and steep flight of stone steps, stands the church, with the square tower of rather unsatisfactory outline dominating the nave, transept, and eastern portions of the buildings. Beyond appears one of the most beautiful ruins that ever gladdened the eye—the remains of one of the finest episcopal palaces to be seen in the British Isles. Near the church are also grouped ruins of the conventual buildings, and the whole forms a scene that indelibly impresses itself upon the memory. Descending the thirty-nine steps, one reaches the south porch of the nave. Whatever preconceived ideas one may hold of the beauty of this part of the church, the sight of the original far surpasses them. The beautiful Norman pillars and graceful arches, ornamented with the most elaborate chevron and zigzag mouldings of the Transitional period; the clerestory springing directly from the dwarfed triforium with which it is incorporated; and the whole surmounted by a finely-wrought timber roof, make a picture of the rarest perfection. The colouring is full of subtle richness, the stonework being of a soft dove-grey combined with a bluish tinge. The building dates from 1180, the previous church having been burnt down by pirates. The tower fell in 1220, and was rebuilt at different periods. The choir and transepts are Early English, but were added to in the Decorated period. The eastern chapels are Decorated, as is also the beautiful rood-screen. The ceiling in the nave dates from c. 1500. Many objects of interest are contained in the building; the shrines of St. David and St. Caradoc, the tomb of Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII., the monument of Bishop Gower, the chapel of St. Thomas à Becket, and the fan tracery of the roof in Bishop Vaughan's Chapel, are all worthy of careful inspection. Outside the north wall of the nave gigantic and ill-proportioned buttresses are seen, built in 1248 to strengthen the nave, which had suffered from an earthquake; on the opposite side are the remains of the cloisters of St. Mary's College, begun in 1362.