Founded during the sixth century on the banks of the River Alun in what is now Pembrokeshire, the parish of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, is one of the largest in West Wales. InSt. Davids and Dewisland, David W. James offers a comprehensive social history of the parish and the land it occupies, also known as Dewislandthe Land of David. The volume covers the parishs early dayswhen it was a division of the Celtic Kingdom of Dyfedthrough to modernity, detailing the development of this colorful community against the backdrop of the broader history of Wales and Western Europe.
David W. Jameswas an English teacher at and headmaster of Ysgol Dewi Sant, formerly St. Davids County School, between 1959 and 1974.
Place Names of the Parish
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter One: In the Beginning
The Geographical Significance
First Inhabitants. Cromlech and Standing Stone
The Celts. Fort and Farm
The Romans
Old Roads to St David’s
The Celtic Saints
Seaways
Chapter Two: The Coming of Dewi Sant
Genealogy of David
Emergence of the Saint
The Monastic Settlement
Welsh Kingdom and Expanding Diocese
Political Weakness. Viking and Saxon Raids.
Rhygyfarch’sLife
Asceticism
The Holy Wells
Chapter Three: The Cathedral Church
Norman Reorganisation
The Builder Bishops
The Protestant Bishops
Decline and Isolation
Nineteenth-century Reform
Disestablishment
Chapter Four: Rural Life
Celtic Settlements
The Norman Settlement
The Growth of Estates–Cruglas, Dr Jones’s Charity
Sales–The Break up
Old Round-chimneyed Farmhouses
Farming on Ramsey
Farmer and Labourer in the Nineteenth Century
The Lime TradlÓ-
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