THE historic city of St Davids is well known for a number of things including being the smallest city in the UK, its famed cathedral and links to the pilgrimage.
Today we take a look at the history of another St Davids landmark in the form of Bishops Palace.
Bishops Palace is now a ruin adjacent to St Davids Cathedral. It is knot known exactly when the palace was first built but it is known that in 1171 Bishop David Fitz Gerald hosted King Henry II in St Davids and again the following year on his return from Ireland.
In 1188 renowned scholar Gerald of Wales noted how he and Archbishop Baldwin were ‘well received in St Davids by Bishop Peter de Leia when they were travelling to recruit men for the Third Crusade.
Picture: Elizabeth Fitzpatrick
In the 1280s, construction on the palace was carried out by Bishop Thomas Bek, with a number of these pieces still surviving. It is believed that the west range gate with defensive wall and free standing belfry were created under Bek’s leadership according to medievalheritage.eu.
Bishop Henry de Gower carried out more extensive works and he is credited with much of the work on the palace. He had many ruined buildings demolished and the stones used elsewhere in construction. He had the great hall built in the southern range and the two older wings were rebuilt.
When this work was done, the palace had three ranges on the south, east and west side, a spacious courtyard, huge gatehouse and gardens and orchards.
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There was also work carried out on the outer walls which is believed to have involved strengthening. This was the last main construction work carried out on the palace, however, it is known that between 1362-1389, Bishop Adam de Houghton carried out a number of repairs.
Bishops Palace was – as expected from the name – the home of the Bishops of St Davids throughout the centuries but by the 15th century, the bishops were spending less and less time there, mainly spending major holidays there for feasts.
Despite it not being the home of the bishops as by the 16th century they had their new main residence in Abergwili, the palace was kept staffed and in good condition, however this was to change by the mid-16th century.
At this point, there were financial difficulties in the diocese, which meant that the bishops could no longer afford large buildings in remote locations.
This was not helped by Reformation and St Davids began to decline as it was becoming less and less relevant for those alive at that time as a pilgrimage centre.
The palace’s ruinous nature began in 1536 when Bishop William Barlow, the first protestant bishop of St Davids, dismantled the roof to pay for the wreath of his five daughters and the cost of the damage was such that it would take 12 years of income to repair it.
Picture: Robert Chapman
The palace fell into ruin during this period which even involved part of it being demolished.
Some of the palace survived however, as Robert Ferrar, a 16th century bishop, lived in one of the surviving buildings as did Richard Davies in 1564 and Marmeduke Middleton towards the end of the century.
In 1616, Bishop Richard Melbourne applied to have more of the palace demolished but this work was never carried out. The palace was considered to be in a ruinous state and remained that way to this day.
The remains are well preserved and under the care of Cadw and visitors are able to see the palace throughout most of the year.
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