St Davids - Cathedral

The origins of St David's Cathedral date back to the 6th century, when St David (ca. 512-587) founded his monastery here. The community was attacked many times by Vikings and many clerics and bishops were murdered by the raiders. In 1081, William the Conqueror visited St Davids to pray, and thus recognised it as a holy and respected place.

At Bishop Bernard's successful urging, Pope Callistus II added St David's to the calendar of saints in 1120 and issued a decree in 1123 that "two pilgrimages to St David's are equal to one to Rome and three pilgrimages to one to Jerusalem". Therefore, a larger cathedral was built by 1131. In 1171 King Henry II visited St David's.

Construction of the current cathedral began in 1181 and was completed shortly afterwards. However, in 1220 the new tower collapsed and in 1248 an earthquake destroyed much of the chancel, choir and transept, so these parts were rebuilt. Reconstruction followed the 13th-century style with pointed arches.

The next major phase of construction was started under Bishop Henry de Gower (1328–1347). He gave the cathedral's exterior a Gothic style. The cathedral was finally completed around 1520.

From the 14th century onwards, the ensemble was completely surrounded by a massive wall, which originally had four gates. Of these, only the tower gate has survived, which is connected to the 13th century bell tower and opens the way from the cathedral to the city centre of St. David's.

The Reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries under the Tudor King Henry VIII in 1536 was a shock. The English Civil War also left significant damage to the building fabric caused by Oliver Cromwell's troops. The valuable lead covering was removed from the roof of the bishop's palace, leaving the building to decay. The roof of the transept of the cathedral was also uncovered in order to access the lead.

It was not until the late 18th century that efforts were made to preserve at least parts of the cathedral complex. After the first attempt to restore the west front failed the whole building was restored between 1862 and 1870.