St Davids Cathedral, St Non’s Well, St Justinian’s Chapel, St Davids

The ultimate pilgrimage destination of Wales has seen a rich revival

Highlights

• Cathedral: shrines of St David and St Caradoc, possible relics of St David, St Justinian, and St Caradoc
• St Non: holy well, ruined chapel, modern chapel
• St Justinian: ruined chapel, capped well

St Davids Cathedral can claim pre-eminence among Britain’s holiest places. It has the intact shrine tomb of a national patron saint, the only one to survive undamaged to the present day. The relics were removed at the Reformation, but the reformers left his stone structure undamaged.

By way of contrast, St Andrew’s shrine in Scotland was obliterated at the Reformation, as was that of St Edmund in Suffolk. St Edmund was England’s original patron saint, supplanted first by St Edward the Confessor and then by St George in the 14th century. St David is therefore the most enduring patron, having represented the people of Wales since his formal canonisation in 1120. Indeed, the cathedral has taken steps in recent years to restore this shrine to something close to its former glory, adding icons and inviting visitors and pilgrims to stop and remember this long-lived servant of the Welsh nation.

The cathedral is lucky that St David’s stone tomb survives almost intact, as does that of St Caradoc a few steps away (see below). St David’s shrine was the focus of medieval pilgrimage in Wales, attracting thousands of the faithful each year. Two trips to St Davids were declared equivalent to one trip to Rome by the Pope, so greatly was this shrine once revered. You can view both sides of it, in the presbytery and the north choir aisle. Three pilgrim routes pay homage here: the Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way, the Southern Way of St David, and the Northern Way of St David.

The shrine was constructed in 1275. St David’s relics were placed in a reliquary casket on top of this stone base, alongside those of St Justinian – a double memorial to the two saints. St Justinian was the confessor to St David, which meant he heard confessions and gave spiritual advice to the earnest young bishop.

The cathedral clearly has a great reverence for shrines generally, with a dedicated reliquary chapel at the far end of the building containing some medieval bones. These were rediscovered during the 19th century, hidden in a niche, and were long thought to be the relics of St David, St Justinian, and possibly St Caradoc. The cathedral is upfront about the fact that the bones were carbon-dated in 2002 and found to date from the 12th century, 600 years after St David and St Justinian.

The bones still sit in a wooden reliquary chest, which does at least give a good sense of what an authentic medieval shrine feels like. It is displayed securely and with great reverence at the centre of the Trinity Chapel, in the same niche where the bones were rediscovered by the Victorian builders.

The guide and signs don’t explain that the cathedral’s third holy man, St Caradoc, actually lived around the right date for these bones, since he died in 1124. On the other hand, it is also thought that his relics might actually remain in his original tomb, which can be seen in the north transept, underneath the central tower arch.

St Caradoc was never formally canonised so far as we know, although a letter from Pope Innocent III exists in which he requests an inquiry into the monk’s life and miracles. Official or not, he is commonly recognised as a saint and celebrated on 13 April.

A third tomb in the cathedral is thought to be that of Gerald of Wales, the 13th-century churchman who preserved so much Celtic history in his writings.

St David is often said to be an obscure figure, but in fact, there are written records of him dating from the late 9th century, and a Life of St David written in 1090. These offer much more detail than most other Celtic saints can muster. From these histories, we learn that he was a native Welshman, a student under St Illtud at Llantwit Major. He was a famously strict monk and later bishop, refusing to drink anything other than water. He also insisted that members of his community led an equally spartan life, without any personal possessions. The leek, now used as a symbol for the saint and for Wales as a whole, might refer to his sparse diet.

The most famous miracle performed during his lifetime concerns the saint’s preaching, as befits such an active missionary. He was talking to a crowd one day who could not hear him, so a small hill miraculously grew beneath his feet to enable him to see everyone. A white dove then flew down and settled on his shoulder, an obvious symbol of blessing by the holy spirit. He is often now depicted with a bird on his shoulder – one such effigy displayed on a screen at the front of the cathedral’s nave.

He died in 589 on 1 March, now kept as St David’s Day and the national day of Wales. His original community here was destroyed by fire in 645. It was rebuilt but again destroyed, this time by a series of Viking raids. The current cathedral was built from the 12th century onwards. Its nave is the oldest part of the building, its Norman walls leaning outwards in a way that magnifies their great age.

It nestles in a hilly landscape, allowing a unique bird’s eye view over the structure from the surrounding streets of St Davids. This is Britain’s smallest city and one of its holiest places.

St Non’s Well and Chapel

Some visitors walk from St Davids Cathedral to St Non’s Well, which is 1 km to the south. It does involve sharing a long narrow lane with cars. The well and chapel mark the site where St David was born in around 500, St Non being his mother. She is a famous saint in her own right, remembered as far away as Altarnun in Cornwall (page 176) and even Dirinon in Brittany, which claims to have her tomb in the village churchyard.

The holy well appeared at the hour of St David’s birth when a mighty thunderstorm raged around St Non’s house. It still flows with water and has long been considered a healing well. The spring emerges in a chamber with a low stone roof over it, allowing you to reach a hand into the holy source. In 1951, a statue of the Virgin Mary was placed in a stone housing looking down at the well.

A few metres away is the ruin of St Non’s Chapel, said to be the house in which she lived and gave birth. A large stone slab propped up in the corner has a Celtic cross carved on the surface. This is thought to date from the 7th to 9th centuries.

Look along the coast past the well and you can see another little stone chapel uphill, which was built in 1934 and dedicated to Our Lady and St Non. This peaceful little building is a paragon of the virtues of recycling. It was constructed by the Catholic church using stones taken from the ruins of coastal cottages.

By happy chance, these cottages had themselves been taken from ruins – of a medieval priory once dedicated to St Non. From monastery to cottage to chapel, a pleasing blend of the domestic and the sacred that nicely echoes St Non’s historic labours.

St Justinian’s Chapel

The least accessible of St Davids’ many wonders, St Justinian’s Chapel is now a ruin on the western coast of Pembrokeshire, 2 miles west of the city. It sits in a private garden, above a rocky bay overlooking Ramsey Island. The nearest you can get to it is 30 m away on the public road.

The building is an important site in the region’s extensive Christian history. It is where St Justinian was first buried after he was beheaded on Ramsey Island by three of his servants, perhaps fed up with the strict rules he imposed. The saint picked up his severed head and walked across Ramsey Sound to the mainland.

His relics were later removed and venerated alongside St David in the cathedral. The chapel ruin is a late medieval building. A well nearby, on the opposite side of the road, is named after the saint. It is, however, locked and thought to be a recent dedication. It is perhaps a token reminder of the saint’s original holy well on Ramsey Island, which sprang miraculously where his severed head hit the ground. This well’s location is now unknown, and Ramsey Island itself is a nature reserve. It is accessible on day trips from St Justinian lifeboat station, which is next to the ruined chapel.

While at St Davids

Even St Justinian’s Chapel is in a better state than the final holy site in the area. This is the location of a chapel once dedicated to St Patrick. This is a grassy slope above the sea at Whitesands, said to be where he stood and received a vision to go and convert the Irish.

A plinth has been placed here to mark where the altar once stood. An original stone from this altar was used in the Catholic chapel at St Non’s Well. Nothing now remains at Whitesands from the chapel structure. The inscription on the plinth was illegible when I visited apart from the word ‘dedicated’ – an appropriate epithet for any of the hard-working missionaries of St Davids.

Directions

St Davids Cathedral, The Pebbles, Saint Davids, Haverfordwest SA62 6RD

www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk

W3W: piled.tinsel.info

GPS: 51.8819N 5.2689W

St Non’s Well, chapels, and retreat centre, St Davids SA62 6BN

www.stnonsretreat.org.uk

W3W: area.plotter.spits GPS: 51.8725N 5.2684W St Non

W3W: suitcase.stowing.entitle

GPS: 51.8792N 5.3086W St Justinian’s ruined chapel

The cathedral is open every day from 9:30 am to 5 pm (4 pm on some days in the winter). Admission is free, donations invited.

For St Non’s Well, the two chapels, and the retreat centre, head west from the central roundabout in St Davids along Goat Street. Look out for a narrow turning on the left after 260m, signposted to Capel Non/St Non’s Chapel down a cul-de-sac. The chapels and retreat centre are near the car park at the end of this road, and the well is about halfway along the footpath to the ruined chapel, which is easy to spot from the parking area.

For St Justinian, head west out of St Davids along Pit Street, past the western end of the cathedral, and follow signs to St Justinian. There are parking bays on the left just before you reach the end of the road by the ruined chapel and lifeboat station. For information about the RSPB day trips to Ramsey Island, which run from 1 April to 31 October, tel: 01437 721721 or web: www.ramseyisland.com.

To find the site of St Patrick’s Chapel at Whitesands, park in the large car park at the end of the road. Walk downhill along the right-hand wall towards the sea and you will come to a gate with a sign referring to the chapel. Go through the gate and take the left-hand fork of the footpath, which passes the marker stone after 50m. Nearest postcode is SA62 6PS, GPS: 51.8974N 5.2954W.