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St Asaph

This small town on a ridge between the River Clwyd and Elwy has city status because of its cathedral. Standing on a hill and constructed on the site of a Norman building, St Asaph’s Cathedral is not only Britain’s smallest medieval cathedral but it has also had to endure a particularly stormy past. It was founded in AD560 by St Kentigern (also known as St Mungo). Born in Scotland, St Kentigern left in AD553 after Christianity collapsed in the Kingdom of Strathclyde, and made his way to Wales, founding churches as he went. He eventually settled in Llanelwy (St Asaph’s Welsh name, meaning church, or parish, of Elwy) and founded a monastery there. When he returned home in AD573 he left the monastery in the hands of his favourite pupil, St Asaph.

The cathedral was sacked by Henry III’s forces in 1245, and then destroyed during Edward I’s conquest of Wales some 37 years later. Edward wished to rebuild at nearby Rhuddlan but Bishop Anian II insisted that the new cathedral remain at St Asaph. The building as we see it today was begun by Anian and completed by his two successors.

In 1402 the woodwork was burnt during Owain Glyndwr’s rebellion (it was subsequently restored by Bishop Redman), and by the 17th century matters were so desperate that many of the possessions were sold and the Bishop’s Palace became a tavern! However, St Asaph’s Cathedral has survived and today it holds several treasures, including a first edition of the William Morgan Welsh Bible (dating from 1588) that was used at the Investiture of Charles as the Prince of Wales in 1969.

Bishop of St Asaph from 1601 to 1604, William Morgan began his mammoth task of translating the Bible into Welsh while he was a rector. His work was not as well regarded then as it is now, and during his ministry over the parish of Llanrhaeadr ym Mochnant his congregation grew so upset with his neglect of his pastoral duties for his translation work that he had to be escorted by armed guards to the church. Not only was the finished work of importance to the Welsh churches, each one of, which received a copy, but it also set a standard for the Welsh language, which, without being codified, could have been lost forever. A special monument, the Translator’s Memorial, commemorates and names those who, under Morgan’s guidance, assisted him in translating the Bible.

In the centre of St Asaph is Elwy Bridge that is believed to date from the 17th century, although it was the fine renovation work by Joseph Turner in 1777 that allows it to carry today’s heavy traffic. The River Elwy is linked with a particularly fishy tale about Bishop Asaph, after whom the town is named. One day, Queen Nest, the wife of Maelgwn Gwynedd, King of North Wales, lost a precious ring – the ancient and sacred ring of the Queens of the North – while bathing in the river. Upset and fearing her husband’s anger, the Queen went to St Asaph to ask for his help in retrieving the ring. Comforting the lady, St Asaph invited the royal couple to dine with him the following evening where he told Maelgwn about the loss of the ring. The king’s terrible rage could only just be contained by St Asaph and he suggested they begin their meal. As the king cut into the locally-caught salmon that started the feast, the sacred ring fell out on to his plate!

However, Glasgow – where Kentigern founded that city’s cathedral – claims the events took place there, though the circumstances are slightly different.