St David's: A Welsh Village That Became a Charming City, St Davids, Wales

St David’s on the ruggedly splendid Pembrokeshire coast in Wales is utterly charming. When I checked into the excellent Twr y Felin Hotel I had no sense at all of being in a city, albeit the smallest city in the UK. Close to my hotel, at the top of the High Street I found Oriel y Parc the visitor centre for the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park which was designated as such in 1952 and incorporates St David’s Peninsula close by. The National Park was created to protect the environment and sets a fine example with its own visitor centre.

Oriel y Parc is an innovative building utilising state of the art green technologies to provide its own power and water. The building is aligned so that the sun tracks its crescent-shaped roof generating power throughout the day. Rainwater is funnelled from the roof into a huge storage tank under the front courtyard to be used for domestic purposes. There are some delightful nods to tradition as well. In the centre of the courtyard is the St David’s Day Stone. This flat stone has been inscribed with the Pilgrim’s Prayer by former Archdruid James Nicholas. At noon on St David’s Day a beam of sunlight passes through a hole in the adjacent rock pinpointing the exact centre of the building on this stone. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).