Porth-y-Tŵr (
Welsh for Tower Gate) is a
gatehouse
A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...
and
bell tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
overlooking
St Davids Cathedral
St Davids Cathedral () is a Church in Wales cathedral situated in St Davids, Britain's smallest city, in the county of Pembrokeshire, near the most westerly point of Wales.
Early history
Monastery of Saint David, Wales, A monastic community was ...
in the small city of
St Davids
St Davids or St David's (, , "David's house”) is a cathedral city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun and is part of the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's ...
,
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, UK.
It is the sole survivor of four medieval gates to the walled Cathedral Close. The 13th-century octagonal tower, adjoining the gateway, now contains the cathedral's bells.
Location and description
Porth-y-Tŵr is located less than 100m west of St Davids' main Cross Square and a similar distance southeast of the main south door of the cathedral. The bell tower to the north is a high two-storey octagonal stone building with pointed louvred windows.
The gateway and rounded tower to the south are a lesser height and built from a rougher rubble stone.
It looks down on the cathedral from an elevated position. ''The Buildings of Wales'' describes the slope as setting "the cathedral and Bishop's Palace in a green bowl" with 39 steps leading down the steep incline from the gateway.
History
Porth-y-Tŵr is the sole survivor of four gates to the Cathedral Close, an ancient enclosure which dates back to at least the 12th century
and has been described as an "ecclesiastical palladium" encircling the cathedral with a of crenellated parapet.
The bell tower of Porth-y-Tŵr dates to the late 13th century, with the gateway and its south tower probably being added in the 14th century.
What is nowadays the bell tower was used by the
bishops of St Davids
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
for their
consistory court
A consistory court is a type of ecclesiastical court, especially within the Church of England where they were originally established pursuant to a charter of King William the Conqueror, and still exist today, although since about the middle of th ...
and a record office for the
episcopal see
An episcopal see is 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, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
. The south tower and the range of rooms above the gate were used as a council chamber. Well appointed apartments, suitable for the mayor, were accessed via a doorway on the town side of the tower.
Joseph Lord's 1720 map of the Cathedral Close clearly shows a plan of Porth-y-Tŵr, describing it as "The East gate and rooms adjoyning to it where the Bishop's & Mayor's courts were held".
Porth-y-Tŵr was in ruins by the 20th century and, in 1929, the octagonal tower was substantially restored by ecclesiastical architect
W. D. Caroe W. may refer to:
* SoHo (Australian TV channel) (previously W.), an Australian pay television channel
* ''W.'' (film), a 2008 American biographical drama film based on the life of George W. Bush
* "W.", the fifth track from Codeine's 1992 EP ''Bar ...
,
with funding coming from an anonymous donor.
In the 1930s a
ring of bells
A "ring of bells" is the name bell ringers give to a set of bells hung for English full circle ringing. The term "peal of bells" is often used, though peal also refers to a change ringing performance of more than about 5,000 changes.
By r ...
were installed in the octagonal tower – the bells in the tower of St Davids Cathedral had been removed in 1730 to prevent the cathedral's tower collapsing.
Two further bells were added in 2001, donated by the American Friends of St Davids Cathedral. There are ten bells in total, ranging from 269 kg to 1227 kg and hung for
change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in ...
.
One of the original cathedral bells is exhibited at Porth-y-Tŵr.
The towers and gateway gained a
Grade I heritage listing in 1963.
[
]
See also
* Grade I listed buildings in Pembrokeshire
Sources
*
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porth-y-Twr
Buildings and structures completed in the 14th century
Grade I listed buildings in Pembrokeshire
St Davids
Tourist attractions in Pembrokeshire