Bangor Cathedral - Churchyard Cemetery - Wales, Great Britain.
N 53° 13.588 W 004° 07.637
30U E 424745 N 5898056
Bangor Cathedral has been an ancient place of Christian worship, and Burial, since the 6th century. The Cathedral is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol. Located in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales.
Waymark Code: WMHMQW
Location: North Wales, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/24/2013
Views: 2
As far as I can see there is only one conventional headstone, most of the graves are tomb stones, made from Welsh slate and laid flat on the grave, and sparsely dotted all around the outside of the Cathedral.
Many lay flat along the side of the footpaths, so I guess the have been moved, and others used for other purposes.
Over its long history there must be many hundreds buried around this mighty Cathedral Church.
The Cathedral was consecrated in 546.AD. And has been destroyed and re-built, and added to many times, up to the present day.
A full list of destruction, and re-building can be found on the Cathedral web site: (
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"About the year 530AD a man of noble birth named Deiniol settled on this site. Having been given land, probably by Maelgwn, King of Gwynedd, he enclosed it with a fence constructed by driving poles into the ground and weaving branches in between them. The native technical term for this type of fence was ‘bangor’. Within this enclosure Deiniol built his church.
He and his followers erected huts or cells in which to live. They were missionaries, going about to evangelise and encouraging others to join them. All who came, individuals and families, built their own dwelling places and all would worship together in the little church. Thus a Celtic monastery or Clas was formed." Text Source: (
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"The site of Bangor Cathedral was originally occupied by St. Deiniol's monastery, established in the 6th century around c.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." Text Source: (
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Hours of Operation:
The Cathedral is open for visitors Monday to Friday 9am-4.30pm and Saturdays 10.30am – 1pm. with Free admission.