Editing St Davids (section)

==City status==
{{see also|City status in the United Kingdom|List of smallest cities in the United Kingdom}}
In the 16th century, a town was [[City status in the United Kingdom|recognised as a city]] by the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|English Crown]] if it had a [[List of Church of England dioceses|diocesan cathedral]] within its limits, along with a royal charter or borough privileges. This link was abolished in 1888,<ref name="Beckett">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jqqSSOyjBEoC&pg=PA22 |title=City status in the British Isles, 1830–2002 |first=J. V. |last=Beckett |page=22|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd |year=2005 |access-date=31 January 2012|isbn=9780754650676}}</ref> and amid prior borough reorganisation (see [[#Governance|Governance]] below),<ref name=city-status>{{Cite web |title=Agenda Item No: 5 COMMITTEE REGENERATION AND COMMUNITY OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE DATE 4 MARCH 2003 TITLE OF REPORT ROCHESTER CITY STATUS RESPONSIBLE OFFICER Mark Bowen, Assistant Director, Legal and Contract Services |url=https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/data/regeneration%20&%20community%20overview%20and%20scrutiny%20committee/20030304/agenda/report%20(agenda%20item%205)%203.pdf |website=democracy.medway.gov.uk |publisher=Medway Council |quote=St. David's in Wales lost City Status through local government re-organisation at the end of the 19th century |access-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819230219/https://democracy.medway.gov.uk/Data/Regeneration%20%26%20Community%20Overview%20and%20Scrutiny%20Committee/20030304/Agenda/Report%20%28Agenda%20item%205%29%203.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> St Davids lost the right to call itself a city. In 1991, St Davids town council proposed that a case for city status, which the residents had long considered it to have anyway, should be promoted in connection with the 40th anniversary of the coronation of [[Queen Elizabeth II]], and in 1992 the [[Home Office]] agreed to refer the matter to [[Buckingham Palace]]. In 1994, at the Queen's request, St Davids was again granted city status along with the Northern Irish town of [[Armagh]], "in recognition of their important Christian heritage and their status as cities in the last century".<ref name="Beckett"/> The [[letters patent]] conferring city status were issued on 16 September 1994.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Crown Office |journal=London Gazette |date=23 September 1994 |issue=53798 |page=13403 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/53798/page/13403 |access-date=4 August 2022}}</ref> The following year the Queen visited to formally present the letters patent in a ceremony at St Davids Cathedral on 1 June 1995.<ref name="Guardian">{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2001/mar/03/unitedkingdom.guardiansaturdaytravelsection |title=The small city with the big kicks |last=Alderson |first=Alf |date=3 March 2001 |work=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited |access-date=21 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140204053558/http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2001/mar/03/unitedkingdom.guardiansaturdaytravelsection |archive-date=4 February 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The award of city status is typically granted to a [[Local government in Wales|local authority]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Corby City Bid |url=https://www.corby.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Corby%20City%20Bid.pdf |website=corby.gov.uk |publisher=Corby Borough Council |quote=Applications may only be made by an elected local authority – normally, in respect of the entire local authority area.}}</ref> whose administrative area is then considered to be the formal borders of the city. By this definition, the whole community area of St Davids and the Cathedral Close, including the settlement of St Davids, its surrounding rural area, and islands off the coast, is considered to be within the city. St Davids contains the lowest population of all the cities of the UK, and has the smallest urban area, at {{convert|0.23|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}. However, with the formal city area defined by its community council extent of {{convert|17.93|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}, this sizeable expanse including offshore islands mean that several UK cities are smaller in area, with the City of London being the smallest at {{convert|1.12|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}. In Wales, St Davids is the third smallest after the community areas of [[St Asaph]] with {{convert|2.49|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} and [[Bangor, Wales|Bangor]] with {{convert|2.79|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}.