What to See in England
By Gordon Home

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Public Domain Books

St. Davids Cathedral

=How to get there.=–Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly. =Nearest Station.=–Haverfordwest (16 miles from St. Davids), thence by coach to St. Davids, past Roch Castle. =Distance from London.=–To Haverfordwest, 261 miles. =Average Time.=–Varies between 6-1/2 to 9 hours.

                     1st       2nd       3rd
=Fares.=–Single  42s. 0d.  26s. 3d.  21s. 0d.
          Return  72s. 3d.  46s. 0d.  42s. 0d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Grove Hotel,” “City Hotel,” etc.

St. Davids, the most western town in Wales, is situated on the little river Alan, a mile from its mouth, near St. Davids Head, on the north side of St. Brides Bay. The place is now little more than a village, though in the Middle Ages it was a large city, the great resort of pilgrims to St. David’s shrine. The city, which was the =Menevia= of the Romans, is almost as isolated now as it was in their days, the only available communication being by the daily mail-cart from Haverfordwest, and an omnibus twice a week during the season.

The modern “city” of St. Davids is a mere village, consisting of one principal street and two at right angles, with a fine old cross at their junction, but the chief attractions are its grand old cathedral and the ruins of its once famous Episcopal palace. The cathedral, originally built in 1176, is curiously situated in a deep dell, so that only the upper part of the lofty tower is visible from the village, and the close is entered by descending thirty-nine steps, locally known as the thirty-nine articles. The entrance to the close is through a fine old tower-gateway, 60 feet high, where the records were formerly kept and a consistory court held.

The west front of the cathedral, which has been well restored, is one of the finest features of the building. Among the more interesting objects in the cathedral are Bishop Morgan’s throne, of remarkable workmanship; the fine rood screen, the work of Bishop Gower; Bishop Vaughan’s beautiful Tudor chapel and monument; and the shrine of St. David.

The Bishop’s Palace, on the opposite bank of the river, was one of the finest in the kingdom. It was founded by Bishop Gower in the fourteenth century, and, together with the cathedral, St. Mary’s College, and other ecclesiastical buildings, was enclosed by a lofty wall having four gateways, of which only one remains.

In mediaeval days the shrine of St. David was regarded with great veneration, and was visited by William the Conqueror, Henry II., and by Edward I. and his queen.

[Illustration: G.W. Wilson & Co. ST. DAVIDS CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]

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Preface  •  Ham House and Petersham  •  Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle)  •  Harrow  •  Holwood House, Keston  •  Chigwell, Essex  •  Waltham Abbey and Cross  •  Downe  •  Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts  •  Epping Forest  •  Hampton Court  •  Rye House, Broxbourne  •  Hatfield House, Herts  •  Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta  •  The Oldest Brass in England  •  St. Albans  •  Stoke Poges Church, Bucks  •  Windsor  •  Jordans and William Penn  •  Knole House and Sevenoaks  •  Greenstead Church  •  Chalfont St. Giles  •  Westerham  •  Guildford, Surrey  •  Gad’s Hill  •  Ightham Mote, Kent  •  Penshurst  •  St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion  •  Rochester Cathedral  •  Tunbridge Wells  •  The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey  •  Eversley  •  Farnham, Surrey  •  Hindhead, Surrey  •  Shottermill  •  Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex  •  Chawton the Home of Jane Austen  •  Selborne  •  Elstow  •  Lewes, Sussex  •  Bodiam Castle, Sussex  •  Colchester, Essex  •  Layer Marney  •  Battle Abbey  •  Cambridge  •  Arundel Castle  •  Olney, Bucks  •  Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great  •  Canterbury and Its Cathedral  •  Reculvers  •  Oxford  •  Midhurst  •  Pevensey Castle  •  Savernake Forest  •  Ely Cathedral  •  St. Ives, Huntingdonshire  •  Winchelsea and Rye  •  Blenheim Palace  •  Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland  •  Peterborough  •  Southampton  •  Helmingham Hall  •  Stonehenge, Wiltshire  •  Netley Abbey  •  Salisbury and Its Cathedral  •  Sandwich, Kent  •  New Forest, Hampshire  •  Osborne House  •  Carisbrooke Castle  •  Lutterworth  •  Compton Wynyates  •  Kenilworth Castle  •  Belvoir Castle  •  Bath  •  Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers  •  Warwick  •  Gloucester and Its Cathedral  •  Norfolk Broads  •  Norwich Cathedral  •  Lichfield  •  Sherborne and Its Abbey Church  •  Newark  •  Wells and Its Cathedral  •  Stratford-On-Avon  •  Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk  •  Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire  •  Corfe Castle  •  Lincoln and Its Cathedral  •  Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson  •  Glastonbury Abbey  •  Walsingham, Norfolk  •  Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset  •  Newstead Abbey  •  The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances  •  Tintern Abbey  •  Chesterfield, Derbyshire  •  Dukeries  •  Haddon Hall, Derbyshire  •  The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor  •  Raglan Castle  •  Dovedale  •  Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire  •  Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop  •  Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire  •  Ludlow and Its Castle  •  Shrewsbury  •  Buxton and the Peak District  •  Tewkesbury  •  Exeter and Its Cathedral  •  Market Drayton, Salop  •  Chester  •  Exmoor  •  Knutsford  •  Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset  •  Cleeve Abbey, Somerset  •  Hawarden  •  York Minster  •  Coxwold, Yorkshire  •  Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey  •  Knaresborough, Dripping Well  •  Fountains Abbey  •  Ripon Cathedral  •  Dartmoor  •  Haworth  •  Rievaulx Abbey  •  Brixham, Devon  •  Conway Castle  •  The Doone Valley, Exmoor  •  Llandovery, South Wales  •  Dartmouth, Devon  •  Richmond, Yorkshire  •  Tintagel  •  Whitby  •  Carnarvon Castle  •  Plymouth  •  Durham and Its Cathedral  •  Raby Castle, Durham  •  Snowdon  •  Harlech Castle  •  Grasmere and Rydal Mount  •  The Lake District  •  St. Davids Cathedral  •  Furness Abbey, Lancashire  •  Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow  •  The Isle of Man  •  Brantwood  •  Fowey  •  Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall  •  The Lake District  •  Keswick  •  Alnwick Castle  •  Lanercost Priory, Cumberland  •  Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.]  •  St. Ives, Cornwall  •  Bamborough Castle, Northumberland

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What to see in England;: A guide to places of historic interest, natural beauty or literary association,
By Gordon Home
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