This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
St Davids, a 'city' of Pembrokeshire, South Wales, in the westernmost corner of the principality, on the rivulet Alan, within l 1/2 mile of St Brides Bay and 16 miles WNW. of Haverfordwest station. The ancient Menevia, it is now a mere village; but in the middle ages its cathedral, with the shrine of its founder, St David, the patron saint of Wales, attracted many pilgrims, among them the Conqueror, Henry II., and Edward I. and Queen Eleanor. Rebuilt between 1180 and 1522, that cathedral still is mainly Transition Norman in character, a cruciform pile, measuring 298 feet by 120 across the transepts, with a central tower 110 feet high. Special features are the reddish-hued stone, the richly ornamented nave with rich oak roof, the rood screen (c. 1338), the base of St David's shrine, the tomb of Edmund Tudor, Henry VII.'s father, and the eastern triplet. The west front was rebuilt by Nash in 1793; and the whole was restored by Scott in 1862-78. North of the cathedral is the ruined college of St Mary (1377), with a slender tower 70 feet high; and across the Alan are the stately remains of Bishop Gower's palace (1342), ' altogether unsurpassed by any existing edifice of the kind.' A restored cross, the shattered Close wall, and the imposing Tower Gate deserve notice, and also St Davids Head, rising 100 feet above the sea. Pop. of parish, 1816. See works by Browne Willis (1717), Manby (1801), Bishop Jones and E. A. Freeman (1856), Sir G. G. Scott (1869), and Rev. W. L. Bevan (1888).
 
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