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Helen Whittle (5 years ago)
Michael Davies (6 years ago)
Sonia Rees (7 years ago)
St David's Church was founded in 1187, built on the site where a famous synod was held in the sixth century. According to local legend, it is said that during this synod, which St David addressed, the flat ground rose into a mound beneath his feet, allowing him to be better seen and heard by the vast crowd that had gathered to hear him speak. The church supposedly stands on that same mound. It's possible that, in reality, it was built on the site of a Bronze Age barrow.
The central tower dates from the 12th century, which, in medieval times, had five bells in its belfry. Today there is only one bell, which was given to the church by John Inglis Jones of Derry Ormond in 1874. The 12th century nave and chancel were taken down in 1832, being beyond repair, and replaced in 1833–34. The new building was of poor quality, however, and the nave as it stands today was rebuilt in 1874, and the Chancel in 1886.
References:Saint-Georges de Boscherville Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey. It was founded in about 1113 by Guillaume de Tancarville on the site of an earlier establishment of secular canons and settled by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Evroul. The abbey church made of Caumont stone was erected from 1113 to 1140. The Norman builders aimed to have very well-lit naves and they did this by means of tall, large windows, initially made possible by a wooden ceiling, which prevented uplift, although this was replaced by a Gothic vault in the 13th century. The chapter room was built after the abbey church and dates from the last quarter of the 12th century.
The arrival of the Maurist monks in 1659, after the disasters of the Wars of Religion, helped to get the abbey back on a firmer spiritual, architectural and economic footing. They erected a large monastic building one wing of which fitted tightly around the chapter house (which was otherwise left as it was).