St Asaph Cathedral

St Asaph Cathedral

Interior – nave and west end

Diagram of window in St Asaph cathedral, with the names of all the families represented by the coats of arms

The Cathedral Church of Saints Asaph and Cyndeyrn, commonly called St Asaph Cathedral (Welsh: Eglwys Gadeiriol Llanelwy), is a cathedral in St Asaph, Denbighshire, north Wales. An Anglican church, it is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of St Asaph. The cathedral dates back 1,400 years, while the current building dates from the 13th century. It is sometimes claimed to be the smallest Anglican cathedral in Great Britain.

History

A church was originally built on or near the site by Saint Kentigern in the 6th century (other sources say Saint Elwy in 560). Saint Asa (or Asaph), a grandson of Pabo Post Prydain, followed after this date.

The earliest parts of the present building date from the 13th century when a new building was begun on the site after the original stone cathedral was burnt by King Edward I in 1282.

The rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr resulted in part of the cathedral being reduced to a ruin for seventy years. The present building was largely built in the reign of Henry Tudor and greatly restored in the 19th century.

The cathedral made the national press in 1930 when the tower became subject to significant subsidence and the cathedral architect Charles Marriott Oldrid Scott advised of urgent repairs to be undertaken. It was reported that the cause of the damage was by a subterranean stream. It made the papers again when work was approaching completion in 1935.

Geoffrey of Monmouth served as Bishop of St Asaph from 1152 to 1155, although due to war and unrest in Wales at the time, he probably never set foot in his see. William Morgan (1545 – 10 September 1604) was also Bishop of St Asaph and of Llandaff, and was the first to translate the whole Bible, from Greek and Hebrew, into Welsh. His Bible is kept on public display in the cathedral. The first Archbishop of Wales A. G. Edwards was appointed Bishop of St Asaph in 1889.

In August 2018, the cathedral took the controversial step of making its music staff redundant, citing financial pressures. The cathedral have since reestablished the position of Director of music following the appointment of Paul Booth from September 2019. The choir continue to sing for three services a week.

The organ

A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

List of organists

See also: List of musicians at Welsh cathedrals

Year instated	Name
1620	John Day
1630	Abednego D. Perkins
1631	John Wilson
1669	Thomas Ottey
1680	William Key
1686	Thomas Hughes
1694	Alexander Gerard
1738	John Gerard
1782	John Jones
1785	Edward Bailey
1791	Charles Spence
1794	Henry Hayden
1834	Robert Augustus Atkins
1889	Llewellyn Lloyd
1897	Hugh Percy Allen
1898	Archibald Wayet Wilson
1901	Cyril Bradley Rootham
1902	William Edward Belcher
1917	Harold Carpenter Lumb Stocks
1956	Robert Duke Dickinson
1962	James Roland Middleton
1970	Graham John Elliott
1981	John Theodore Belcher
1985	Hugh Davies
1998	Graham Eccles
2004	Alan McGuinness
2018	position abolished
2019	Paul Booth - position reestablished

Assistant organists

• Llewelyn Lloyd 1875–1889 (later organist)
• F. Walton Evans 1897–1901

Assistant Director of Music

• John Hosking (2004–2018)

Burials

• John Owen (bishop of St Asaph), Bishop of St Asaph (1629 to 1651)
• Isaac Barrow (bishop), Bishop of St Asaph (1669–1680)—buried in the Cathedral churchyard
• William Mathias (1934–1992), composer, born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire.
• William Carey (bishop), Bishop of St Asaph (1830–1846)—buried in the Cathedral churchyard
• Joshua Hughes, Bishop of St Asaph (1870–1889)
• A. G. Edwards, Bishop of St Asaph (1889–1934) and first Archbishop of Wales

See also

• Dean of St Asaph—chronological list of Deans of St Asaph

Further reading

• St Asaph Cathedral website

External links

Media related to St Asaph Cathedral at Wikimedia Commons

• Artwork at St Asaph Cathedral