A shrine for David and his mother

The early Christian figure known today as St David was canonised and declared patron saint of Wales in the 12th century more than 500 years after his death (supposedly on 1 March 589). Today's St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire stands on the site of a monastic community founded by David in the 6th century. He was an important figure in the region well before canonisation, certainly if the story of a visit to the site by William the Conqueror is true. His canonisation probably helped cement Norman influence in the region. The pope who canonised him, Callixtus, declared St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire as a place of pilgrimage so important that two pilgrimages here were equivalent to one in Rome. 

And it effectively remains a place of pilgrimage today, albeit for tourists as well as worshippers.

The Shrine of St David was constructed in the 12th century but damaged during the Reformation. The version seen today is a 21st century restoration, featuring icons by artist Sara Crisp that include David (centre), and fellow national saints Patrick and Andrew.


About a mile from St David's Cathedral on a headland overlooking the Irish Sea is St Non's Chapel and holy well. This is the site of David's birth according to Rhigyfarch's 11th century account of the saint's life. In the story, David's mother Non is raped by the King of Ceredigion and the saint is the product of this violent act.

Ruins at the site of St Non's Chapel include an early Celtic cross



Non is associated with sites in Devon, Cornwall and particularly Brittany. In the case of the latter she is said to have travelled here with her son - her tomb is located at Dirinion near Brest. Appropriately though, Non is included on the modern shrine at St David's Cathedral.
 So extend your St David's Day commemorations by recognising Non and her resilience - conveniently her feast day is either on the 2 or 3 March (suggested dates for her death). 











Location: St Davids, Haverfordwest SA62, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Victorian post boxes

Image
Familiar, but not mundane They are among our most familiar items of street furniture; indeed there are more than 115,000 throughout the UK. Yet how many of us walk past a post box without considering how long it might have been there? Letter boxes have been a feature of our streets since the 1850s, when demand for postal services grew following the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840. The novelist Anthony Trollope is remembered as the Post Office official responsible for recommending the introduction of pillar boxes to allow easier posting of private letters. These were first installed on the Channel Islands in 1852, though were introduced to the mainland the following year. Wall boxes started to appear a few years later. Early boxes were green, but red had become the standard colour by 1879. Here are a selection of boxes, both pillar and wall variety, bearing the VR (Victoria Regina) cipher of Queen Victoria. Enjoy a little slice of everyday Victorian history: Abingdon wall...
Read more

What's in a name? Blake's Oak near Abingdon

Image
"One Blake hung upon an oak in the way to Abingdon, beyond the half-way gate. This traitor betrayed three Christian kings, and would have betrayed the fourth ; upon which he was hanged, within two days after his design was discovered, upon the said oak, which is still called 'Blake's Oak.'  The wood was formerly a haunt of robbers, and here St. Edward* of Abingdon was once attacked by them, but his protestations of poverty being found to be true, he was allowed to proceed unharmed."  A Handbook for Travellers in Berks, Bucks, and Oxfordshire , London: J. Murray, 1860 A very small copse named Blake's Oak exists on land north of Abingdon near to where a proposed large housing development will be built. It lies relatively close to the slightly bigger Sugnell Copse and is adjacent to the main Oxford to Abingdon road. The OS Six Inch map (1888-1913) shows what is still effectively the modern extent of both copses (though I wonder if both copses were once joi...
Read more

Many urban rivers are hidden underground – 'daylighting' them would bring nature back to cities

Image
The hidden rivers of London, such as the Fleet, the Tyburn and the Walbrook, are pretty famous, but they aren't examples of a rare phenomenon - as my fascination with the Farset in Belfast and the Stert in Abingdon can testify. We have been burying and managing waterways in numerous places for as long as we have needed to live in places.  Read on for an illuminating article by David N Lerner, Emeritus Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Sheffield. The article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article , published in December 2019. Two small rivers meet in the ‘Cathedral’ under Bradford city centre. Martyn Sutcliffe , Author provided David N Lerner , University of Sheffield Ever noticed how few rivers you can see in most city centres? It’s easy enough to spot the big, usually tamed, main river such as the Thames in London, the Seine in Paris, the Aire in Leeds or the Don in Sheffield. But you...
Read more