St David, Caldey Island
St David, Caldey Island
St David’s is a Grade II* medieval parish church on Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, about 50 metres west of Caldey Abbey chapel, in the Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia.
- Location
- Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire
- Country
- Wales
- County
- Pembrokeshire
- City / town
- Caldey Island
- Address
- Village, Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, SA70 7UJ
- Postcode
- SA70 7UJ
- Built
- Late 12th or early 13th century; restored 1838, c.1900, 1906–7 and 1925
- Architect
- John Coates Carter (1925 restoration); possible earlier work by J. C. Hawes
- Denomination
- Catholic Church
- Dedication
- David
- Diocese
- Cardiff-Menevia
- Parish
- Caldey Island
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Medieval two-cell church
- Materials
- Rubble stone walls; red pantile roofs
- Grid reference
- SN 142 966
- Opening hours
- Caldey Island can be accessed by a regular boat service from Tenby. There is a ticket kiosk at the harbour, and boats run every 20 minutes from Easter to October.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Cadw lists a short nave and short chancel whose plan suggests a twelfth- or early thirteenth-century date. Taking Stock records the island’s medieval parish church, later given its present dedication by the Benedictines. Cabot Kynaston repaired the building in 1838 after the roofs and the south and east chancel walls collapsed, adding new roofs and timber Gothick windows. Further work followed around 1900 under William Done Bushell, then in 1906–7 after he sold Caldey to Benjamin Fearnley Carlyle’s Anglican Benedictines: the chancel arch was reopened and a Portland stone font by Eric Gill was installed. In 1913 most of the community entered the Catholic Church. John Coates Carter restored the church again in 1925, replacing the 1830s windows with lancets and reroofing in clay tiles; many lights have stained glass by Dom Theodore Baily OSB. The fabric is rubble stone with red pantile roofs. Services are now held only on request.
Cadw lists the church at Grade II* as a substantially medieval building with a notable twentieth-century restoration, glass and the Gill font, and group value with the abbey. A Grade II churchyard cross of about 1920, also attributed to Coates Carter, stands to the south.