SOUTH VIEW ABOUT 1700, FROM AN OLD PRINT.
CHAPTER II
THE EXTERIOR
The Cathedral Precincts.—The wall of the Close, which extends to almost a mile, dates from 1330, but of the four Gateways only one remains. This, to the south-east of the cathedral, is the main entrance to the Close from the secular part of the city. It is about 60 feet high, and the gateway is flanked on the north by an early Decorated (or Transitional) octagonal tower—once the janitor’s lodge—and on the south by a semicircular tower of an earlier character. This latter was probably a detached bell-tower and contained a prison. It also formed a Record Office and Consistory Court. The Precentor’s house abuts on the southern enclosure; the Chanter’s orchard is to the south-west; the Archdeacon has his residence to the west, and north of this is another for the Archdeacon of Brecon; beyond this again are the Chancellor’s, the Archdeacon of Cardigan’s, and the Treasurer’s houses. Adjoining the bridge is a prebendal house.
PLAN OF ST. DAVID’S, 1806, BY JOHN CARTER.
A. Tower Gateway; B. City Wall; C. Cathedral; D. Bishop’s Palace; E. St. Mary’s College; F. Garden; G. Great Hall; H. Kitchen; I. Bishop’s Hall; K. West Chapel; L. Cloister Garth; M. God’s Acre (graves); O. Subordinate Cathedral Buildings.
On the north side of the Nave and parallel with it, but separated by the Cloister garth, are the remains of the College of St. Mary; to the north of its dignified tower are traces, possibly, of the infirmary, and to the north and east of this again are the remains of the houses of the Master and seven Priest-fellows of St. Mary’s, forming three sides of a quadrangle, on the north side of which was an entrance gateway tower. Across the Alan to the north-west are the attractive ruins of Bishop Gower’s once splendid palace.
TOP OF TOWER (S.W. ANGLE) AND TENOR BELL.
The Church.—An important feature in the general exterior appearance of St. David’s is the walling material. Greys, reds, and purples, and mottle-blends of all three, lend a peculiar richness and warmth to the building on a sunny day, and the converse in wet weather. The quarries from which the cathedral stone was obtained are at Caerbwdy, in the immediate neighbourhood, and as these are almost the oldest sedimentary rocks known, it is conjectured that some part of this locality existed as an island in more than one primæval sea.[2] This ancient cathedral, then, of the British Church has the distinction of being built of more primitive stone than any other important building in the country. Many things combine to render the general character of the exterior architecturally uninteresting. There is a decided feeling of dignity, but not of the grandeur with which one is apt to associate the idea of a cathedral. It lies low; the roofs are of a flat pitch, with the exception of those of the transepts; the highly picturesque and exquisite ruin of Bishop Gower’s palace to the west, with its chequered rampart, and the immense amount of new material used in the very necessary restoration, at present combine to mask the real age of the cathedral; and, finally, there is no hint of the gorgeous work within.