England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Davids

The Parish

The parish of St Davids is the most westerly in Pembrokeshire forming an extensive stretch of its Irish Sea coastline. St Davids is located roughly 16 miles west of the county town of Haverfordwest and sits on the A487 road which forms the coast road around the peninsula on which St Davids is set. St Davids is, of course, of great repute as Britain's smallest cathedral city, smaller in size than many market towns; it forms a rough oval leaning on a southwest to northeast line and centred upon the market place where the A487 performs a tight bend on reverses its course. St Davids is of ancient origins, it is likely that a Celtic settlement existed here as early as the 1st century BC but it is to the 5th century and christian colonisation from Ireland that the site became established. St David is of obscure origins, his birth and death dates hotly disputed, but his religious community, harsh & ascetic by modern standards, grew and prevailed despite periodic destruction; the Welsh Annals record 11 times destruction was wrought only for the site to recover between 906 & 1089. Always a place of pilgrimage, even William the Conqueror came to St Davids as a pilgrim, it remains so today. Today's St Davids attracts pilgrims of a touristic nature, drawn both by the history of the city and also by the splendours of Pembrokeshire's iconic coastline, St Davids is the main base for the area and is often crowded as a consequence. The stunning Pembrokeshire Coastal Trail squirms around headlands and coves passing by St Davids on 3 sides and brings much trade to the city's accommodation providers too. The economy of the parish was a mixture of farming, both arable and pastoral being practiced, together with sea-borne incomes from fishing and coastal transportation of goods, a small port at Porthclais sufficing for the latter. Numerous small streams drain down to the nearby coast forming steeply sided valleys and deeply inset coves. St Davids is sited at between 50 and 60 metres above the sea, the isolated lump of Carn Hen at 181 metres forms the nearest local high point. St Davids parish is one of the widest in extent within its county, covering almost 10,700 acres that would have supported a population of around 2,400 parishioners. Like most of Wales St Davids is not mentioned in Domesday Book which did not cover this area.

The Church

The Cathedral sits tucked away in a valley to the west of the town and barely visible until revealed on the recommended approach from the unusually named "The Pebbles". There is nothing remaining of the foundation church created by St David for the Norman's saw fit to replace those early-Christian buildings with there magnificent cathedral with its dedication in 1131. That building was, in turn, destroyed by the creation of today;s cathedral begun under the auspices of  Bishop Peter de Leia. The core of 6-bay nave and 4-bay choir supplemented by aisles and transepts remains at the heart of today's cathedral despite all that has befallen since. Despite its late 12th century construction this core is largely built in the prior Norman Romanesque style rather than the Early English Gothic style becoming fashionable. Disasters struck the cathedral in 1220, when the central crossing tower fell, and in 1248, when an "earthquake destroyed a great part of the church". The cathedral undoubtedly recovered from these twin catastrophes and throughout the medieval period was frequently and extensively extended notably after the relics of St David were mysteriously recovered and a purpose-built pilgrimage shrine added. The post Civil War interregnum saw neglect and decay for such an obvious target for puritan zealots and the cathedral fell on hard times. Thankfully a long set of restorations commencing from the late 18th and passing through the Georgian and Victorian periods has restored the cathedral to the great building we see today. Parking is best sought within the city and the cathedral's best approach from The Pebbles made on foot to reveal the building within its valley almost from above. The whole edifice is worthy of a lengthy visit indeed such is its history and great beauty.