Bangor Cathedral

Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol.

The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship since the 6th-century. The cathedral is built on a low-lying and inconspicuous site, possibly so as not to attract the attention of Viking raiders from the sea. Some visitors to Bangor assume that the Gothic style building on the hill is the cathedral, but this is actually part of the University.

History

The site of Bangor Cathedral was originally occupied by St Deiniol's monastery, established in the 6th-century around 525 on land given by the king of Gwynedd, Maelgwn Gwynedd. Deiniol is said to have been consecrated as a bishop by Saint David, making him the first Bishop of Bangor. This monastery was sacked in 634 and again in 1073. Nothing of the original building survives.

The Synod of Westminster in 1102 is recorded as taking measures to restore Bangor Cathedral, but the earliest part of the present building was built during the episcopate of Bishop David (1120–1139) with the assistance of the king of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan, who donated money towards the project and was buried by the high altar on his death in 1137. This was a cruciform building in the Norman style, about 130 feet in length. Gruffudd's son, Owain Gwynedd, was also buried here, as was his brother Cadwaladr. Giraldus Cambrensis describes a service held here in 1188 when the Archbishop of Canterbury celebrated Mass.