St Davids and Dewisland
St Davids Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace are a major attraction but less obvious features are special too. A stroll along the city’s streets reveals a diverse ecclesiastical tradition, ranging from a Methodist chapel to a Catholic church. A traditional Plygain service is still held in the Tabernacle Presbyterian chapel on Christmas morning.
Further afield, discover St Non’s holy well, marking the birthplace of St David a healing ‘eyewell’ and the Ffos y Mynach (Monk’s Way). Hostelries, mills, quays, farms and St Davids airfield each have a story, best told by local people.
Information, ranging from surf reports and geo-cache routes, to sessions with an artist-in-residence, is available at Oriel y Parc, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority’s visitor centre and a National Museum of Wales gallery. In addition to helping visitors enjoy the best of everything local, specialist lectures and family activities provide year-found inspiration for all ages.
The coast path loops around St Davids Head. Take a deep breath after climbing Pen Beri rock and enjoy a sublime view of Carn Llidi peninsula, managed by The National Trust. Standing stones, hill forts and field systems tell of man’s earliest habitation in this breathtaking part of Pembrokeshire.
Welcoming pilgrims since the 6th century, St Davids is renowned for its hospitality. After enjoying the cathedral’s peace and spiritual sustenance, a visit to pretty Cross Square will provide more corporeal delights. Lined with cafes and restaurants, galleries and quality shops, a produce market trades on summer Thursdays, while locally-made ice cream is a year-round treat.
Accommodation ranges from tents to top- class cottages and luxury hotels. Return visits to this ‘place of pilgrimage and culture set in a land of tranquillity and beauty’ are a must.
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Contact:Â Oriel y Parc 01437 720392
Links
www.stdavidshistoricalsociety.org.uk/aboutus.html
www.stdavids.gov.uk/
www.stdavidsinfo.org.uk/st-davids-city/
www.orielyparc.co.uk
Podcasts
Echoes of the past is a podcast about Pembrokeshire, about history and culture, and about the importance of this corner of Wales to the wider world. Each episode will feature a local expert and will look at a different subject, a different part of Pembrokeshire and a different point in time.
The Echoes of the Past podcast is produced by PLANED (www.planed.org.uk) and is funded by Arwain Sir Benfro (www.arwainsirbenfro.cymru).
Echoes website: http://www.echoeswales.cymru/
Echoes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PembsEchoes
Echoes on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PembrokeshireEchoes
Mari James is the Library Development Officer at St. David’s Cathedral, and she talks about the life of St. David (Dewi Sant), the history of the Cathedral, and the role that it has played in the history of Christian worship, in Wales and beyond.
We are grateful to the Dean and Chapter of St David’s Cathedral for permission to use the recording of Choral Scholars, Lawrence Pethick and Adrian Harris, chanting at the weekly Prayers at the Shrine of St David on 14th January 2022.
Further information can be found at https://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/ and https://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/discover/library.
For details of services on St David’s Day please see the Cathedral website, and please remember that events may change subject to rules and restrictions that are in place to limit the spread of Covid-19. The following information has been provided by staff at the Cathedral and is accurate at the time of publishing.
March 1st is always a day of celebration in St David’s, especially in the Cathedral.
This year (2022), on Tuesday it starts at 8am with Prayers and Holy Communion at the Shrine of St David in the centre of the Cathedral.
Then at 10am there is a service with local school children. At 11.15am all are welcome to join the Bishop of St David’s with the Dean and clergy of the Cathedral at St Non’s Chapel and Well on the nearby cliff top where there will be a short service of blessing before a procession via Oriel y Parc to the Cross in the City Square for the Bishop’s blessing of the City, and continued Procession onto the Cathedral. The procession will arrive at the Cathedral to join the congregation at 12.30pm at the Quire and High Altar.
The Cathedral. Including the Cathedral Library, are open all day for visitors. There is then a Choral Evensong at 6pm in the medieval Quire. This is sung by the Cathedral Choir and will include Meirion Wynn Jones’ arrangement of O Ddewi Sanctaidd.
Everyone is welcome to the Cathedral to join for any or all of these services and events, and just to be in the place where St David lived and died, and ran his monastery in the 6th century.
Then on the following Sunday, 6th March, there will be also be a special service at 4pm to celebrate the Life of St David and marking different stages and events in his life. All are welcome. Croeso I bawb.
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Echoes of the past is a podcast about Pembrokeshire, about history and culture, and about the importance of this corner of Wales to the wider world.
The Echoes of the Past podcast is produced by PLANED (www.planed.org.uk) and is funded by Arwain Sir Benfro (www.arwainsirbenfro.cymru).
Echoes website: http://www.echoeswales.cymru/
Echoes on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PembsEchoes
Echoes on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PembrokeshireEchoes
Music: Water Lily – The 126ers https://youtu.be/BQm22usqKds
