=The Church.=--An important feature in the general exterior appearance of St. David’s is the walling material. Greys, reds, and purples, and mottle-blends of all three, lend a peculiar richness and warmth to the building on a sunny day, and the converse in wet weather. The quarries from which the cathedral stone was obtained are at Caerbwdy, in the immediate neighbourhood, and as these are almost the oldest sedimentary rocks known, it is conjectured that some part of this locality existed as an island in more than one primæval sea.[2] This ancient cathedral, then, of the British Church has the distinction of being built of more primitive stone than any other important building in the country. Many things combine to render the general character of the exterior architecturally uninteresting. There is a decided feeling of dignity, but not of the grandeur with which one is apt to associate the idea of a cathedral. It lies low; the roofs are of a flat pitch, with the exception of those of the transepts; the highly picturesque and exquisite ruin of Bishop Gower’s palace to the west, with its chequered rampart, and the immense amount of new material used in the very necessary restoration, at present combine to mask the real age of the cathedral; and, finally, there is no hint of the gorgeous work within. =The Tower.=--Few Norman towers, situated on the crossing of the nave, transepts, and choir, have not fallen[3] or been in extreme danger of doing so owing to the early architects having a very limited knowledge of the weight of superimposed masses and of the thrust of arches, which, as the orientals declare, “never rest.” The central tower of St. David’s was no exception; it fell in 1220. But it can hardly be that any tower has suffered worse than has this one from injudicious attentions even till the general restorations under Sir G. Scott in 1862. After the fall of 1220 the western piers and arch were allowed to remain, and the other three arches and piers were rebuilt from the ground. This, however, did not deter Bishops Gower and Vaughan adding, the first a Decorated and the latter a Perpendicular stage on to the same faulty substructure. In the rebuilding after the disaster of 1220 apparently but little effort was made towards fully introducing the new style in vogue. In fact, it is one of the most curious features of the whole of the details of the building that all the work is behind the accepted contemporary types in the matter of architectural advancement.