Pop-up study day in conjunction with the St Davids Cathedral Library and the Welsh Stone Forum
When
Where
St Davids Cathedral
The Pebbles, St Davids, Haverfordwest SA62 6RD
As part of the St Davids Cathedral programme for Libraries Week, we have arranged a study day in the Cathedral, in conjunction with the Welsh Stone Forum. The Cathedral has one of the best collections of tomb carvings in Wales, including the tomb of Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII. There is also antiquarian evidence of several lost brasses.
St Davids is a city on the south-west tip of Wales. Famously, two pilgrimages there are the equivalent of one to Rome, three are the equivalent of one to the Holy Land. The Cathedral nestles in an idyllic valley near the Wales Coast Path. It is tempting to regard it as always having been remote: the study day aims to convince you that it has in fact been at the heart of a cultural and trading nexus.
The event is free to CMS and Welsh Stone Forum members, as part of the Cathedral’s programme for Libraries Week, but donations for the Cathedral Library Fund will be welcome – you can donate online at https://donate.mydona.com/st-davids-cathedral-library. Non-members are welcome and the enrolment fee will be £7.50.
Book online at
https://bookwhen.com/stdavidscathedrallibrary#focus=ev-sr6l-20241005100000
For more information, email Library@StDavidsCathedral.org.uk
Programme
10.00-10.30am Arrival and check-in at desk in the north transept. The Cathedral library will be open for visitors and there will be an exhibition of antiquarian books in the north choir aisle.
10.30 – Introduction to the day: the Cathedral librarian Mari James and Bishop Wyn Evans
10.45 – Antiquarian evidence for lost medieval brasses at St Davids (Prof Madeleine Gray of the Church Monuments Society)
11.15 – The stone of the medieval monuments at St Davids (Tim Palmer of the Welsh Stone Forum)
11.50 – Q&A; viewing of displays in north transept exhibition cases; Library open.
12.15pm – lunch in Refectory upper floor + viewing of Cathedral from upper floor of former St Marys College and Consecration Cross.
1.30pm – Tour of the monuments in the Cathedral. Specific monuments will include Prof. Gray on the Purbeck and brass tomb of Edmund Tudor, Turner’s reimagining of the monument to Archdeacon John Hiot and the one remaining brass indent in the choir; Tim Palmer on the stone of the Wogan monuments in the St Nicholas chapel and some of the episcopal monuments.
4pm – tea and Welsh cakes in Refectory and discussion of the remains of Bishop Houghton’s tomb. Led by Bishop Wyn Evans.
If you are making a weekend of it, we can arrange a more informal visit to some other local churches on the Sunday: contact madeleine.gray@southwales.ac.uk if you are interested.
