By Ellie Jones, Cathedral Archivist
Last week, the annual conference of the Cathedral Archives, Libraries and Collections Association of the UK and Ireland (CALCA) took place over three days in the beautiful Welsh city of St Davids in Pembrokeshire. This year, more than 30 members were warmly welcomed by the Dean, Bishop, Canon Librarian and Library Development Officer of the cathedral there.
The programme included inspiring talks, panel discussions and field trips – fuelled by cawl and plenty of Welsh cakes. There were addresses from the Irish Consul and the First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, who spoke passionately about the value of cathedral collections and shared cultural heritage. We visited the shrine of St David and the rarely seen lapidarium with ancient Celtic crosses. We discussed the conservation of cathedral archives, the survival of artefacts in medieval bishop’s tombs (including those of Exeter’s own Bishop Bitton, who died in 1307) and shared the experience of a short contemplative pilgrimage to the coastal shrine of St Non, mother of St David. A sacred site since the sixth century, St Davids has always been a site of pilgrimage, and traditionally two pilgrimages to St Davids were equal in value to one to Rome.
One of the many highlights of the conference, though, was being among the very first people to see – in Wales – the first copy of the first Bible printed in Welsh, which is on loan to St Davids from Westminster Abbey this summer. Printed in the Welsh language in London, this particular copy was given by Bishop William Morgan (who had coordinated the translation) to his friend Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminster. Although very few copies survive today, this 1588 Bible was distributed to all churches across Wales. This act was fundamental in the preservation, formalisation and familiarisation of the Welsh language. Revd Daniel Fleming from the Cotton Library at St Carthage’s Cathedral in Lismore, Ireland also talked about diocesan libraries in Ireland, the history of publishing in the Irish language, and showed us their copy of the remarkable first translation of the Old Testament into the Irish language. Instigated by Bishop William Bedell, it was published in 1685 and was the only version of the Bible in Irish available for 300 years. It was an extraordinary privilege to see these historic Welsh and Irish Bibles brought together like this.
Another feature of the conference was a celebration and exploration of the life and works of Gerald of Wales, the prolific 12th-13th century writer, historian, canon lawyer and priest, perhaps best known for his histories of Wales and Ireland. He was also a would-be Bishop of St Davids (had his election not been barred by the Archbishop of Canterbury, partly on the grounds that a Welshman shouldn’t be a bishop in Wales). Gerald went to Pope in Rome three times between 1201 and 1203 to plead his own case, and the case for the independent metropolitan status of St Davids separate from the province of Canterbury (eventually realised in 1920). “Thrice to Rome” was the name of a highly entertaining dramatisation by Prof Norman Doe KC, using Gerald’s own words, of the three appeals to the Papal Court, which involved audience members enthusiastically waving leeks in support of the Welsh cause.
A final mention goes to the last session, which was a delightful examination of the cathedral’s historic visitors’ books, which included the signatures of Emmeline Pankhurst and other suffragettes who visited Pembrokeshire in 1908 to gain support for their cause.
In his closing remarks, the Very Revd Dr Philip Hesketh, Dean of Rochester and chair of CALCA, said that of all the groups and committees he attends, CALCA is the only one which regularly brings together the cathedrals in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This degree of collaboration is one of the many benefits that membership of CALCA brings to us all.