St Daniel's Church, Pembroke
St Daniel's Church is a Grade I-listed church in Pembroke, Wales, situated on a hill approximately 1.1 kilometres (0.68 mi) south of Pembroke Castle.[1] One of the oldest churches in the area,[2] it is located on an ancient, pre-Norman site associated with Saint Deiniol throughout the 6th century. The saint to whom it is dedicated is Deiniol, who according to tradition was the first Bishop of Bangor.[3] It is claimed that Deiniol had a hermit's cell on the site,[4] pre-dating the church, and the site has also been linked to Saint David.[1] The site gained a reputation for miraculous healing, and became a shrine for pilgrims who would drink from the well.[2] The current structure dates to the 14th or 15th century. It underwent repair in 1780, and again in 1849 and 1893. It became a Grade I-listed building on 10 February 1951. Today, the church, a small structure built of rubble stone with a slate roof, is disused. It has a nave, a chancel, and a spire, with a tower on the western side.[1]
By 1832 the building was in private hands and it was being bought and sold along with the land on which it was built.[5] At the end of the 19th century it was in use only as a cemetery chapel.[6]
References
- "Church of Saint Daniel, Pembroke". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- "St Daniel's Church, Pembroke". BBC. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
- Nikki Anderson (15 July 2013). Pembroke & Around Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-4456-1627-8.
- Studies in the Early British Church. CUP Archive. p. 145.
- Saint CARADOC (of Llancarfan) (1832). The History of Wales ... Translated into English by Dr. Powell; and augmented by W. Wynne. John Eddowes. p. 178.
- H. Thornhill Timmins (4 April 2018). Nooks and Corners of Pembrokeshire. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 69. ISBN 978-3-7326-3189-6.