Bangor Cathedral
Grade I listed church building in Bangor. Cathedral in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales
Bangor Cathedral (Welsh: Eglwys Gadeiriol Bangor) is the cathedral church of Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol.
The site of the present building of Bangor Cathedral has been in use as a place of Christian worship since the sixth century. The cathedral was built on a low-lying and inconspicuous site, possibly so as not to attract the attention of Viking raiders from the sea in ancient times.
History
The site of Bangor Cathedral was originally occupied by St Deiniol's Monastery, established in the sixth century around 530 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 44 yards in length.
“Bangor Cathedral” enters the record as grade I listed church building in Bangor. Cathedral in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Bangor, Cathedral and Grade can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Bangor Cathedral” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Bangor, Cathedral and Grade provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1991360. VIAF identifies the subject as 154753875. The Library of Congress control number is n79011127. Authority coordinates are 53.227, -4.127. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1073, 1102, 1120 and 1139.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Bangor Cathedral” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.