St Davids is a city and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in the United Kingdom.
Lying on the River Alun on St Davids Peninsula, it is Britain's smallest city in terms of
both size and population, the final resting place of Saint David, Wales's patron saint,
and the de facto ecclesiastical capital of Wales.
St Davids was given city status in the 16th century due to the presence of St David's
Cathedral but lost this in 1888.
City status was restored in 1994 at the request of Queen Elizabeth II.
History Tradition states that David was born to Saint
Non at what is now St Non's, just to the south of the city, in about AD 500.
It is also said that he was baptised at Porthclais, now the city's port, and was brought up by
his mother at Llanon.
In the 6th century, David founded a monastery and church at Glyn Rhosyn on the banks of
the River Alun.
The area was originally known in the Welsh language as Mynyw and to the Romans as Meneva
or Menevia.
The monastic brotherhood that David founded was very strict — besides praying and celebrating
masses, they cultivated the land and carried out many crafts, including beekeeping, in
order to feed themselves and the many pilgrims and travellers who needed lodgings.
They also fed and clothed the poor and needy.
The settlement that grew up around the monastery was called Tyddewi meaning "David's house".
In 519 the archbishopric of Caerleon in the county of Monmouth was transferred to Mynyw,
which was renamed "St Davids" in honour of the archbishop and saint by whom the transfer
was accomplished.
The original cathedral built on the site was often plundered by the Vikings and was finally
burnt and destroyed in 1087.
The present cathedral was built by the Normans and contained many relics, including the remains
of St David.
It was visited by many pilgrims, many of whom were nobles and kings, including William the
Conqueror in 1077, Henry II in 1171, and Edward I and Queen Eleanor in 1284.
Pope Calixtus II decreed that two pilgrimages to St David's were equivalent to one to Rome.
Because of this, a vast income was raised from visiting pilgrims in the Middle Ages.
Pilgrimages later fell out of favour due to practices such as the selling of indulgences,
and the income from them faded away.
By the 19th century the city of St Davids was isolated and neglected, and was described
as follows in the Penny Cyclopaedia:
At present its appearance is that of a poor village, the houses, excepting those of the
clergy, being in a ruinous state.
The locality is lonely, and the neighbouring district wild and unimproved; but it is still
an interesting place as the seat of a large episcopal see, with a fine cathedral and the
remains of other magnificent religious edifices.
Since then, better transport and the advent of tourism has helped the city prosper again.
City status
In the 16th century a town was recognised as a city by the English Crown if it had a
diocesan cathedral within its limits, but this link was abolished in 1888 and St Davids
lost the right to call itself a city.
In 1991 St Davids town council proposed that a case for city status, which the residents
had long considered it to have anyway, should be promoted in connection with the 40th anniversary
of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and in 1992 the Home Office agreed to refer the
matter to Buckingham Palace.
In 1994, at the request of the Queen, St Davids was again granted city status along with the
Irish town of Armagh, "In recognition of their important Christian heritage and their status
as cities in the last century".
The letters patent conferring city status were formally presented by the Queen in a
ceremony at St David's Cathedral on 1 June 1995.
Governance St Davids City Council is a community council
composed of twelve councillors.
The City Council employs one City Clerk and one Financial Officer.
The currently elected presiding officer is The Rt Wp The Mayor of St Davids Cllr John
George.
Sir David Jones of Fachelich was recently presented with the key to the city.
St Davids today Next to the cathedral, the 13th century Bishops
Palace is a ruin maintained by Cadw and open to visitors.
St Davids was once a marcher borough, within which lay the hundred of Dewisland.
In 1603 the antiquarian George Owen described it as one of five Pembrokeshire boroughs overseen
by a portreeve.
Saint Non's Well overlooks the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and St Brides Bay.
In addition to the cathedral, notable features of the city include the 14th century Tower
Gate, the Celtic Old Cross and a number of art galleries.
St David's is also a base for walking and water sports.
It has several hotels, a pharmacy, shops and galleries, and a youth hostel, and a number
of pubs.
The entire coastline around St David's forms part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
St Davids lifeboat, located at St Justinian, has saved an estimated 360 people since the
first lifeboat was located there in 1869; and four lifeboatmen have died while saving
others.
The Irish Sea area includes a large number of offshore rocks and islands and is notorious
for strong tides.
Culture and sport The city hosted the National Eisteddfod in
2002.
The Archbishop-designate of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, was inducted into the Gorsedd
of Bards, a historic order of Druids.
The St Davids Penknife Club is a group of people dedicated to voluntary fund raising
for local groups and charities.
St Davids has a rugby union club, St. Davids RFC, which competes in the SWALEC League Six
West.
Whitesands Bay, about two miles west of St. David's, is a popular watersports resort.
It has been described as the best surfing beach in Pembrokeshire and one of the best
tourist beaches in the world.
Education Ysgol Dewi Sant is the local secondary school,
with pupils in Years 7–13.
Ysgol Bro Dewi is a Voluntary Controlled Primary School, with pupils from Reception to Year
6.
Notable people Asser, mentor of King Alfred the Great, and
writer of his biography, was a monk at St David's before being called into Alfred's
service.
William Barlow, expert on magnetism and Anglican cleric, was born in St Davids some time during
the tenure of his father, also William Barlow, as bishop.
Henry Hicks, eminent surgeon and geologist, was born at St Davids and practised there
from 1862 until 1871.
Thomas Tomkins, eminent English musician and composer, was born in St Davids.
Twin towns St Davids is twinned with Naas in the Republic
of Ireland, Orléat in France and Matsieng in Lesotho.
See also
Saint David's Day Chapel of St Non
Annales Cambriae Bishop of St Davids
Diocese of St Davids Roman Catholic Diocese of Menevia
References
Further reading O'Malley, Brian Brendan, comp.
A Pilgrim's Manual: St. Davids.
Marlborough: Paulinus Press ISBN 0-907740-13-8 External links
Independent St Davids tourism website Coast and Country Cottages St Davids tourism
website St Davids City Council
St David's at www.visitpembrokeshire.com St Davids RFC
St Davids at DMOZ