Bell's Cathedrals: St. David's

by Philip A. Robson

The ceiling of the south aisle, which until lately was open, showing the rough timbers above, has been panelled in completion of the ancient design. The parapet and pinnacles have also been repaired.

The walls internally of the nave and south aisle and the piers and arches have been cleaned, restored, and pointed.

The north transept has been groined in oak, carrying out the design which had been commenced in stone. The modern roof, which was truncated and of very slight timbers, has been strengthened, and the pitch carried up to fit the fifteenth century gable. The ruined pinnacle at the north-west angle has been completed.

Whilst speaking of this transept, it will be well to call attention to the doorway on the western side, which was originally of considerable width, but at a period very shortly after its erection was narrowed, the later jamb with its shaft, cap, and base being precisely like the original jamb which remains built up in the wall; and at a still later period the doorway appears to have been walled up to form a recess, in which was placed a hollowed stone sink with a stone shoot projecting through the wall.

The roofs of Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel and of the cross aisle eastward (page 6) have been thoroughly repaired and releaded.

The works now in progress (July, 1873) are the reparation of the roof of the north aisle of the nave and the restoration of the upper part of the Chapter-house building. The windows in the north aisle, two of which have lost their tracery, are being restored, and the walls internally will be cleaned.

The modern roof of the Chapter-house building, which has for years been in a very unsafe condition, is now being removed, and will be replaced by a new roof covered with lead. The walls, &c., of the upper part of the building will be restored as far down as the floor of the Chapter-house. This will include the completion of the triangular window in the gable, and the windows in the north side of the uppermost storey or “Treasury.” The window in the north wall of the Chapter-house has enough of its tracery remaining to enable the design to be completed with certainty, and will be restored. The pinnacles flanking the eastern gable, which are of very curious design, will be completed.

The cost of these works on the Chapter-house building is being defrayed by one of the Canons Residentiary, to whose liberality the new roof and groined ceiling of the north transept, and the renewal of the roofs of Bishop Vaughan’s Chapel, and of the adjacent ante-chapel are also due.

Now that the substantial repair of the nave with its aisles is so nearly completed, the nave should without further delay be paved and provided with fittings for the parochial services.

The pavement of the north transept should follow, with the restoration of St. Thomas’s Chapel, stone tracery being substituted for its present wooden window-frames, and an open screen for the existing partition between it and the transept.