Editing St Davids Cathedral (section)

==Present cathedral==
[[File:StDavidsCathedral Tower&SouthTransept.JPG|thumb|Tower and south [[transept]]]]
[[File:StDavids-wyrdlight-2N16.jpg|thumb|West end, [[nave]] south transept and tower flying the dean's flag]]
[[File:St Davids from Cloisters Pembrokeshire.JPG|thumb|St Davids from renovated cloisters]]
There is a pronounced slope to the floor of the cathedral, amounting to a height difference of nearly four metres between the east and west ends, and the building is still shifting minutely.<ref>{{cite web|website=St Davids Cathedral |title=About us|url=https://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/about-us|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref>

The Welsh architect [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] was commissioned to restore the west front in 1793 to repair the damage done two hundred years previously. Eclectic in style (with Gothic and Perpendicular characteristics – the latter attributed partly to his destruction of the windows of the chapel of St Mary's College in order to reuse that tracery for his west front), his work soon proved to be substandard (as had his previous work on the chapter house). Within a century the Nash west front had become unstable and the whole building was restored by [[George Gilbert Scott]] between 1862 and 1870. The [[lady chapel]] was restored by public subscription in 1901 and the eastern chapels were restored through a legacy of the Countess of Maidstone, granddaughter of Bishop [[John Jenkinson (bishop)|John Jenkinson]], between 1901 and 1910.

The cathedral suffered the pains of [[disestablishment]] in 1920, as did the whole Church in Wales. The [[Diocese of St Davids|diocese]] was made smaller by the removal of the Archdeaconry of Brecon to form the new [[Diocese of Swansea and Brecon]] in 1923. However, this left a large area as a diocese to govern and St Davids began to deteriorate as the centre of the diocese, being nowhere near the centre – the bishop's residence had been at Carmarthen since the 16th century, but administration and the focus moved from the cathedral to the diocese's now largest town.

The 1950s saw the appointment of the Reverend Carl Witton-Davies as [[Dean (religion)|dean]]; appointed in his thirties, his driving vision and energy was short-lived as he was offered what some was believed as a preferment as [[Archdeacon of Oxford]], but did not leave that position for the rest of his service in the church. The cathedral began to have life again and the famous Welsh Youth Pilgrimages to St Davids (Cymry'r Groes) led many to a life of service in the church and provided the Church in Wales with inspired clergy for a decade following. It was Grade I-listed by Cadw in 1951.<ref>{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=12538 |desc=St David's Cathedral |grade=I |access-date=25 August 2019 }}</ref>

The 1960s saw the restoration of St Mary's College as the cathedral hall, for the use of the cathedral parish and for use as an area for art exhibitions and poetry readings. It was dedicated by Archbishop [[Alfred Edwin Morris|Edwin Morris]] in 1966 and the inaugural event was a poetry reading by the poet [[R. S. Thomas]], who served as a vicar in the Bangor diocese.

During the 1980s a number of official events in cathedral life took place: in 1981, [[Charles III|Charles, Prince of Wales]], visited to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral; and on [[Maundy Thursday]] 1982, [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] distributed the [[Royal Maundy]] at the cathedral. This was the first occasion that the ceremony had taken place outside England. In 1989–90, the 1,400th anniversary of the death of St David was presided over by the [[Archbishop of Wales]], [[George Noakes]], who was also diocesan [[Bishop of St Davids]].

The decades leading to and immediately following the year 2000 have been the most notable in the cathedral's history since its construction.{{citation needed|date= August 2016}} First, the British Government decided to reinstate the title of "city" to St Davids and this was formally conferred by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 June 1995. The task that lay before the dean, the Very Reverend Wyn Evans, on his appointment in 1994 was huge: a new organ was badly needed and the west front needed extensive restoration. It was also thought to be time for the cathedral to invest in its future by creating a visitor centre within the bell tower, enlarging the peal of bells from eight to ten and by the "reconstruction", or completion, of the cathedral [[cloisters]] to house the cathedral choir, vestries, an education suite, rooms for parish use and a [[refectory]] as a reminder of the monastic beginnings. The first project was the restoration of the west front, with the original quarry that was used for stone at Caerbwdi Bay being reopened. This phase was completed in 1998, in time for the organ to be dismantled and rebuilt by the organ builders Harrison and Harrison of [[Durham, England|Durham]]. The organ was completed in the middle months of 2000 and dedicated on 15 October that year.

The ring of bells was cast by [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] of London and presented as a gift by the American Friends of St Davids Cathedral. The substantial task of rebuilding the cloisters as an education centre and refectory began in 2003 and was completed in May 2007. The translation of Wyn Evans from dean to bishop led to the appointment of Jonathan Lean as dean in 2009.

The bells are not hung in the central tower of the cathedral but in the old gatehouse, Porth y Twr. There are 10 bells, with the heaviest weighing {{long ton||24|3|25|lk=on}} in D. The back eight bells were cast in 1928 by Mears & Stainbank, London and two trebles added in 2000 cast by Whitechapel Bell Foundry, London.
Details of the bells:

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan=2| Bell
! colspan=3| Weight
! rowspan=2| [[Musical note|Note]]
! colspan=2| Diameter
! rowspan=2| Cast year
! rowspan=2| Foundry
|-
![[long ton|long measure]]
! lb
! kg
! inches
! mm
|-
| 1 || {{long ton||5|1|3|disp=table}}   || F♯ ||  ||  || 2000 || Whitechapel Bell Foundry
|-
| 2 || {{long ton||5|1|23|disp=table}}  || E  ||  ||  || 2000 || Whitechapel Bell Foundry
|-
| 3 || {{long ton||5|2|22|disp=table}}  || D  || {{convert|30.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
| 4 || {{long ton||5|3|23|disp=table}}  || C♯ || {{convert|31.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
| 5 || {{long ton||7|0|13|disp=table}}  || B  || {{convert|33.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
| 6 || {{long ton||8|2|3|disp=table}}   || A  || {{convert|35.75|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
| 7 || {{long ton||10|3|13|disp=table}} || G  || {{convert|39.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
| 8 || {{long ton||11|2|23|disp=table}} || F♯ || {{convert|41.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
| 9 || {{long ton||17|1|2|disp=table}}  || E  || {{convert|46.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|-
|10 || {{long ton||24|3|25|disp=table}} || D  || {{convert|52.00|in|mm|0|disp=table}} || 1928 || Mears & Stainbank
|}

The restored Shrine of [[St David]] was unveiled and re-dedicated by the [[Right Reverend]] [[Wyn Evans]], [[Bishop of St Davids]], at a [[Eucharist|Choral Eucharist]] on [[St Davids Day]] 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stdavidscathedral.org.uk/index.php?id=951|title=News Archive 2012|website=St Davids Cathedral}}</ref>