St Non Chapel, St Davids
St Non’s Chapel, St Davids
The ruined Chapel of St Non stands on the cliffs above St Non’s Bay, about a mile south of St Davids, Pembrokeshire. Cadw cares for the monument, held by tradition to mark the birthplace of St David and named for his mother, St Non.
- Location
- St Davids, Pembrokeshire
- Country
- Wales
- County
- Pembrokeshire
- City / town
- St Davids
- Address
- St Davids, Pembrokeshire, SA62 6BN
- Postcode
- SA62 6BN
- Built
- Medieval chapel of uncertain date on a site of early medieval tradition; ruinous after the Reformation
- Denomination
- Cadw
- Dedication
- Non
- Grade
- Scheduled Monument
- Style
- Medieval chapel ruin (north–south alignment)
- Materials
- Stone footings and ruinous walling
- Grid reference
- SM 750 243
- Opening hours
- Open daily 10am to 4pm. Last admission 30 minutes before closing. Closed 24, 25, 26 December and 1 January.
- Access
- Cadw: car park within about 100 metres; access by uneven footpath and two kissing gates. Terrain described as Level 2 (easy). Open in daylight hours.
Overview
Coflein (NPRN 301109) records a medieval chapel of early medieval association, cited in Rhygyfarch’s late-eleventh-century Life of St David as David’s birthplace, later a pilgrimage site. After the Reformation it fell out of use and was used as a house and then a garden. The chapel is now footings and ruinous wall, aligned unusually north–south. A seventh- or eighth-century cross-incised stone (St Davids 11) stands in the south-west corner. St Non’s holy well lies a short walk to the north-east. Cadw describes crumbling walls of uncertain date in an uplifting coastal setting on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. A separate twentieth-century Catholic chapel and retreat stand nearby and should not be confused with the Cadw ruin. No Cadw listed-building number for the ruin was confirmed; the site is a scheduled monument in Cadw’s care. The official visit page is on cadw.gov.wales.