Explore Churchs and Chapels
Caldey Island Priory
The medieval priory was built on the site of an earlier chapel and there is an Ogham stone telling of the earlier settlement. The Priory and its church are dedicated to Saint Samson, the 6th century monk who is said to have first settled on Caldey.
St Davids Cathedral
The magnificent Cathedral of St Davids, jewel in the crown of the United Kingdom’s smallest city, began life as little more than a hermit’s cell beside the river Alun in the Valley of Roses.
St Dogmaels Abbey
St Dogmaels Abbey on the opposite shore of the Teifi estuary from Cardigan, was the dream of the Norman Knight Martin de Turribus. In his last years Martin had turned to religion and was laying plans for the construction of an Abbey when he died in 1086.
St Govans Chapel
St Govans is hardly the kind of chapel one would want to visit for worship every Sunday for this tiny stone edifice is reached by a precipitous descent down a long flight of stone steps to the spot under the cliffs where the 5th century hermit Govan established his cell.
St Nons Chapel
6th century chapel of St Non and the nearby holy well which is said to have curative powers is situated at St Davids. Non was the mother of St David, Patron Saint of Wales, and it is said a miracle occurred at this spot overlooking St Non’s Bay when St David was born there around 500 AD.
Lamphey Bishop's Palace
Lamphey, which appears to have been a favourite country residence of the Bishops of St Davids, is a magnificent ruin, which came under the care of the Ministry of Works in 1925 and is now looked after, maintained and managed by CADW, the successor to that authority.
In medieval times Bishops were regarded as Princes of the Church and, as such, were accorded almost the same level of respect as Royal personages. They had splendid palaces placed at convenient intervals throughout their dioceses so that they could travel from one to the other relatively quickly and in great safety and comfort.