The Diocese of St Davids is a diocese of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

, a church of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. The diocese covers the historic extent of

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

and

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

, together with a small part of western

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

. The

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

is the Cathedral Church of St David in the City of St Davids,

. The present cathedral, which was begun in 1181, stands on the site of a monastery founded in the 6th century by

Saint David Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; la, Davidus; ) was a Welsh bishop of Mynyw (now St Davids) during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail ab ...

. The diocese is divided into the three archdeaconries of

St Davids St Davids or St David's ( cy, Tyddewi, , "David's house”) is a city and a community (named St Davids and the Cathedral Close) with a cathedral in Pembrokeshire, Wales, lying on the River Alun. It is the resting place of Saint David, W ...

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

and Cardigan (additionally, Mones Farah was collated on 12 August 2018 as Archdeacon for New Church Communities). The bishop's residence is Llys Esgob in

Abergwili Abergwili () is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, near the confluence of the rivers Towy and Gwili, close to the town of Carmarthen. It is also an electoral ward. The community includes the settlements of Peniel, Llanfihangel- ...

, Carmarthenshire.

History

The history of the diocese of St Davids is traditionally traced to that saint in the latter half of the 6th century. Records of the history of the diocese before

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times are very fragmentary, however, consisting of a few chance references in old chronicles, such as ''

Annales Cambriae The (Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ed ...

'' and ''

Brut y Tywysogion ''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Bru ...

'' (

Rolls Series ''The Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages'' ( la, Rerum Britannicarum medii aevi scriptores), widely known as the is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials and primary sources publish ...

). Originally corresponding with the boundaries of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...

(Demetia), St Davids eventually comprised all the country south of the

River Dyfi The River Dyfi ( cy, Afon Dyfi; ), also known as the River Dovey (; ), is an approximately long river in Wales. Its large estuary forms the boundary between the counties of Gwynedd and Ceredigion, and its lower reaches have historically been c ...

and west of the English border, with the exception of the greater part of

shire, in all some . Until 1852 the diocese also included some parishes in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

. The diocese assumed its current extent in 1923, when the

Diocese of Swansea and Brecon The Diocese of Swansea and Brecon was established as a Diocese of the Church in Wales in 1923 with Brecon Priory as the cathedral. The area of the diocese had formerly been the Archdeaconry of Brecon within the Diocese of St Davids. The dioc ...

was created from the eastern part of the diocese. The office of

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the St Davids, city of ...

has existed since the founding of the cathedral. The current bishop, the 129th, is

Joanna Penberthy Joanna Susan Penberthy (born 1960) is a Welsh people, Welsh Anglican bishop. Since November 2016, she has served as the Bishop of St Davids in the Church in Wales. She was the first woman to become a bishop in the Church in Wales, when she was co ...

, whose

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

on 30 November 2016,Church in Wales — Election of Wales’ first woman bishop is confirmed
(Accessed 5 January 2017) whose consecration was scheduled for 21 January 2017 at Llandaff Cathedral and her enthronement at St Davids Cathedral was scheduled for 11 February 2017. She became the first woman ordained a bishop in the Church in Wales upon her consecration. In 2019 the diocese began to reorganise its churches into 23 Ministry Areas, plus the Cathedral. This process was completed in 2021 and the ministry areas are now coterminous with the deaneries.

History

Archdeaconries and deaneries

List of churches: Archdeaconry of Cardigan

Deanery of Aberystwyth

Deanery of Bro Aeron Mydr

Closed churches

Deanery of Bro Padarn

Closed churches

Deanery of Bro Teifi

Closed churches in this area

Deanery of Bro Wyre

Closed churches in this area

Deanery of Emly

Closed churches in this area

Deanery of Glyn Aeron Coastal

Closed churches in this area

Deanery of Lampeter

Closed churches in this area

Archdeaconry of Carmarthen

Deanery of Bro Aman

Closed churches in the area

Deanery of Bro Caerfyrddin

Deanery of Bro Cydweli

Deanery of Bro Dinefwr

Deanery of Bro Dyfri

Deanery of Bro Gwendraeth

Deanery of Bro Lliedi

Deanery of Bro Sancler

Deanery of Carmarthen

Deanery of Llandeilo

Archdeaconry of St Davids

Deanery of Daugleddau

Closed churches in the area

Deanery of East Landsker

Deanery of Greater Dewisland

Closed churches in the area

Deanery of Narberth and Tenby

Closed churches in this area

Deanery of Roose

Deanery of South West Pembrokeshire

Closed churches

Deanery of The Cathedral

Deanery of West Cemaes

See also

References