J. Wyn Evans – författare

Expert analysis of the history of St Davids Cathedral. This special issue of the Journal of Religious History, Literature and Culture features a series of studies by experts on architecture and church history concerning St Davids Cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Contributions range across the early and modern history of the cathedral, focusing on some events and periods that particularly shaped the building that we see today.

St David’s Cathedral is Wales’s most important medieval church and the principal shrine of its patron saint. The nine chapters in this collection, by prominent scholars of architectural and church history, focus on two periods of activity that most contribute to the building we see today: the period of its first construction, beginning in 1182, and the sustained period of modern restoration which commenced in 1791. The cathedral is shown to be a notable product of Romanesque architecture in Britain that has survived challenges of geography and politics to remain Wales’s most visited cathedral in the twenty-first century. The book’s chapters explore the early and modern history of St Davids, as well as the design, fabric and fittings of the cathedral, as well as their restoration in the modern era.

St David’s Cathedral is Wales’s most important medieval church and the principal shrine of its patron saint. The nine chapters in this collection, by prominent scholars of architectural and church history, focus on two periods of activity that most contribute to the building we see today: the period of its first construction, beginning in 1182, and the sustained period of modern restoration which commenced in 1791. The cathedral is shown to be a notable product of Romanesque architecture in Britain that has survived challenges of geography and politics to remain Wales’s most visited cathedral in the twenty-first century. The book’s chapters explore the early and modern history of St Davids, as well as the design, fabric and fittings of the cathedral, as well as their restoration in the modern era.

This study of a previously unpublished manuscript is a significant witness to the vigorous life of St Davids Cathedral, as well as to the changes to its fabric, especially in the restoration and recovery of the building after the depredations of the 1640s. Highlighting the beginnings of a process that culminated in Scott’s restoration of 1865–73, the author focuses on a period illuminated by the eighteenth-century antiquarian Richard Davies’s selection and collection of manuscript evidence relating both to the fabric and the personalities involved with the cathedral – such as Bishop Thomas Watson, whose removal from office carried national and political implications.

This study of a previously unpublished manuscript is a significant witness to the vigorous life of St Davids Cathedral, as well as to the changes to its fabric, especially in the restoration and recovery of the building after the depredations of the 1640s. Highlighting the beginnings of a process that culminated in Scott’s restoration of 1865–73, the author focuses on a period illuminated by the eighteenth-century antiquarian Richard Davies’s selection and collection of manuscript evidence relating both to the fabric and the personalities involved with the cathedral – such as Bishop Thomas Watson, whose removal from office carried national and political implications.

All aspects of the cult of St David, patron saint of Wales, are examined in this wide-ranging volume.The cult of St David has been an enduring symbol of Welsh identity across more than a millennium. This volume, published to commemorate the fourteenth centenary of the death of the saint, traces the evidence for the cult of St David through archaeological, historical, hagiographical, liturgical, and toponymic evidence, and considers the role of the cult and church of St David in the history of Welsh society, politics, and landscape. The collection includesa new edition and translation of the Life of St David by Rhygyfarch, based on the text in British Library Ms. Cotton Vespasian A.xiv, as well as new evidence concerning the relics of the saint enshrined in St Davids Cathedral. J. WYN EVANS is the Dean of St Davids Cathedral. JONATHAN M. WOODING is Director of the Centre for the Study of Religion in Celtic Societies at University of Wales Lampeter. Contributors: JULIA BARROW,JANE CARTWRIGHT, FRED COWLEY, JOHN REUBEN DAVIES, OWAIN TUDOR EDWARDS, J. WYN EVANS, G.R. ISAAC, DANIEL HUWS, DAVID HOWLETT, T.F.G. HIGHAM, HEATHER JAMES, JOHN MORGAN-GUY, L.D.M NOKES, HUW PRYCE, C. BRONK RAMSEY, MARK REDKNAP, RICHARD SHARPE, BERNARD TANGUY, +GLANMOR WILLIAMS, JONATHAN M. WOODING, W.N. YATES.