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St Davids Bishops Palace

In the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close.
In the historic county of Pembrokeshire.
Modern authority of Pembrokeshire.
Preserved county of Dyfed.

OS Map Grid Reference: SM75032547
Latitude 51.88213° Longitude -5.27046°

St Davids Bishops Palace has been described as a certain Palace.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.
Description

St Davids was the largest and most important medieval diocese in Wales. The cathedral housed the relics of the sixth-century saint, David, patron saint of Wales, and attracted substantial numbers of pilgrims, including King William I. Until the appointment of Bishop Henry de Gower in 1328, it is unsure where the bishops lived. De Gower erected two separate ranges of rooms, one for his own private and a second suitable for ceremonial occasions, where he could entertain important guests and distinguished pilgrims to St Davids. Both sets of chambers were built at first floor level above vaulted under crofts and entered by elaborate porches. The crowning glory, however, was still the distinctive chequered arcaded parapet, which, although faded, still has the effect of unifying the group of buildings. There seems to be no evidence of building work since the death of de Gower in 1347 apart from the close wall and gates being repaired by Bishop Adam de Houghton between 1362 and 1389. Increasingly, Bishops stayed less at St Davids and by the middle of the sixteenth century, the chief Episcopal residence was at Abergwili, Carmarthen. In 1616 Bishop Milbourne applied for a licence to demolish some of the buildings and although the work was not carried, the buildings were considered in a poor condition. Later in 1678, when Bishop William Thomas sought another licence to demolish the palace, it was beyond repair. (Coflein)

Constructed between C12 and C16, although there were two main phases of constrution, 1280-96, and 1328-47. Quadrangular plan with the main buildings located towards the S side. Entrance through late C13 gatehouse at the left of the NE wall. Bishop's Hall of the same period on E side. Mid C14 Great Hall on S side, with striking ogee headed doorway. Arcaded parapet with varicoloured voussoirs. Late C14 bishop's chapel at W end with W bellcote. W side of quadrangle probably occupied by domestic buildings.
Links to mapping and other online resources
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Coflein   County HER        
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Sources of information, references and further reading

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales, the four welsh archaeological trusts and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself. The information within this site is provided freely by me for educational purposes only.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.
The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown.
Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.
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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of the described site.

This record last updated on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
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