The Architecture of St Davids Cathedral: Chronology, Catastrophe and Design

This article reassesses the design of the nave of St Davids Cathedral in the light of modern scholarship, arguing that the cathedral has been a victim of an overly historicist approach to architectural writing. New documentary evidence is presented, including information about the existence of two churches on the site. Anomalies in the west bay are defined and some of the explanations offered by Lovegrove (1922, 1926) are rejected. Following an analysis of the design, the background of the scheme is firmly located in an English west-country environment and suggestions of French influence are dismissed. Although a vault may have been envisaged when the nave was first begun, it is unlikely that a stone vault was ever erected. Nonetheless, the design of the nave emerges as a more significant and creative piece of architecture than is generally realized.