St. Davids No. 1 / Saint Davids / Tyddewi

Main image for St. Davids No. 1 / Saint Davids / Tyddewi

Image copyright © Colin Smith, 2022

Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 12 February 2022)

Results: 6 records

view of font

Source caption: "St David's Cathedral - Font. Inside the 800 year old cathedral, the font [i.e., basin] may date back to pre-Norman bishops while the base is 13th century."
Scene Description: Source caption: "St David's Cathedral - Font. Inside the 800 year old cathedral, the font [i.e., basin] may date back to pre-Norman bishops while the base is 13th century."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Colin Smith, 2022
Image Source: digital photograph 2 October 2021 by Colin Smith
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 12 February 2022)

view of font and cover in context

Source caption: "St David's Cathedral. Rose window and font inside the 800 year old cathedral." [NB: the octagonal font cover stands on the ground, to the right of the font]
Scene Description: Source caption: "St David's Cathedral. Rose window and font inside the 800 year old cathedral." [NB: the octagonal font cover stands on the ground, to the right of the font]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Colin Smith, 2022
Image Source: digital photograph 2 October 2021 by Colin Smith
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 12 February 2022)

design element - architectural - arcade - blind - 16 arches - pointed arches

Source caption: "St Davids Cathedral: c12th font"
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Davids Cathedral: c12th font"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Michael Garlick, 2022
Image Source: digital photograph 7 June 2021 by Michael Garlick [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7058646] [accessed 13 February 2022]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5

view of church exterior in context

Source caption: "The West Front of St David's Cathedral - building started 1180-82 then constructed in the Transitional Norman style using fine-grained, purple Cambrian sandstone."
Scene Description: Source caption: "The West Front of St David's Cathedral - building started 1180-82 then constructed in the Transitional Norman style using fine-grained, purple Cambrian sandstone."
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Colin Smith, 2022
Image Source: digital photograph 2 October 2021 by Colin Smith
Copyright Instructions: Image and permission received from the author (e-mail of 12 February 2022)

view of church interior - looking east

Source caption: "St Davids Cathedral: The nave"
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Davids Cathedral: The nave"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Michael Garlick, 2022
Image Source: digital photograph 7 June 2021 by Michael Garlick [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7058660] [accessed 13 February 2022]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5

view of church interior - looking west

Source caption: "St Davids Cathedral: The nave"
Scene Description: Source caption: "St Davids Cathedral: The nave"
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Michael Garlick, 2022
Image Source: digital photograph 7 June 2021 by Michael Garlick [www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7058688] [accessed 13 February 2022]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-SA-2.5

INFORMATION

Font ID: 09111DAV
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Font Century and Period/Style: 13th century [basin only] [composite font], Medieval [composite]
Church / Chapel Name: St Davids Cathedral Church / Eglwys Gadeiriol Tyddewi
Font Location in Church: Inside the church, in the Chapel of St. Thomas, at the W end of the S aisle
Church Patron Saint(s): St. David [aka David of Wales, Davidus, Dewy]
Church Notes: original monastic site founded before 589 AD; present cathedral started 1181; many restorations underwent since 1793
Church Address: The Pebbles, St Davids, Haverfordwest SA62 6RD, United Kingdom -- Tel.: : +44 1437 720202
Site Location: Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Directions to Site: Located off road A487, 25 km WNW of Haverfordwest, in the westernmost tip of the Pembroke peninsula
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of St Davids
Additional Comments: altered font? (the whole base appears to be a later replacement)
Font Notes:
Noted in the RCAHMW (Pembroke, 1925) as an octagonal font. Listed in Leach (1975) as a font made of Purbeck marble; "supports are modern". Listed in James' Phaidon guide (1985) as "a beautiful 13C double font". Described in Lloyd et al. (2001) as an octagonal font with pointed panels, probably of the 13th century Early English period. The octagonal basin has a moulded upper rim, two pointed panels on each side; raised on a broad central shaft and eight outer colonnettes, on an octagonal lower base, and a three-step plinth.
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Colin Smith for his photographs of this font and church

COORDINATES

UTM: 30U 343878 5750340
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 51.881944, -5.268333
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 51° 52′ 55″ N, 5° 16′ 6″ W

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, limestone (Purbeck marble)
Font Shape: octagonal, mounted
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal

LID INFORMATION

Date: modern?
Material: wood
Apparatus: no
Notes: octagonal and flat; appears modern

REFERENCES

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments and Constructions in Wales and Monmouthshire, An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the County of Pembroke, London: H.M. Stationary Office, 1925, p. 348
  • Leach, Rosemary, A Investigation into the use of Purbeck Marble in Medieval England, Hartlepool: E.W. Harrisons & Sons, 1975, p. 77
  • Lloyd, Thomas, Pembrokeshire, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2004, p. 41
  • Mehling, Franz N., Great Britain and Ireland: a Phaidon Cultural Guide, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985, p. 534