St Davids

This article is about the city in Wales. For other uses, see Saint David (disambiguation).

St Davids
City
Map
St Davids is located in Pembrokeshire
St Davids
St Davids
Location within Pembrokeshire
Area17.96 sq mi (46.5 km2) (community)
0.30 sq mi (0.78 km2)
(urban area)
Population1,751 (2021) (community)
• Density97/sq mi (37/km2)
OS grid referenceSM755255
• Cardiff90 mi (140 km)
• London220 mi (350 km)
Community
Principal area
Preserved county
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHAVERFORDWEST
Postcode districtSA62
Dialling code01437
PoliceDyfed-Powys
FireMid and West Wales
AmbulanceWelsh
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
Websitestdavids.gov.uk
List of places
UK
Wales
Pembrokeshire
51°52′55″N 5°16′08″W / 51.882°N 5.269°W / 51.882; -5.269

St Davids or St David's[1][2] (Welsh: Tyddewi, [tiː ˈðɛwi], lit. "David's house”) is a cathedral city[3] in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun and is part of the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close.[4] It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's patron saint, and named after him.

St Davids is the United Kingdom's smallest city by population (number of residents within the wider community was 1,751 in 2021[5]) and urban area, however it is not the smallest city by local authority boundary area (which is the City of London). St Davids was given city status in the 12th century. This does not derive automatically, but in England and Wales was traditionally given to cathedral towns under practices laid down in the early 1540s, when Henry VIII founded dioceses. City status was lost in 1886, but restored in 1994 at the request of Queen Elizabeth II.

  1. ^ Parish Headcounts for Pembrokeshire Archived 10 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine (based on 2001 Census) at Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  2. ^ As specified in New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors OUP 2005. The name is often spelt without a possessive apostrophe, even by St Davids City Council Archived 1 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "GENUKI: St David's". Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  4. ^ "The Preseli (Communities) Order 1987". legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018. Communities 6. In the District as altered....
    (3) the...existing communities of...Cathedral Close of St. David's,...St. Davids,...shall be abolished;
    (4)...new communities to be known as...St. Davids and the Cathedral Close,...shall be constituted;
  5. ^ UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – St. David's and the Cathedral Close community (W04000466)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 February 2023.