The Waterman - St. David of Wales

The Great Rood Screen · Apr 30, 2026

We return to Wales for the first time since Episode 2 to tell the story of its patron saint: Dewi Sant, the Waterman. Born to the holy Non, educated under Paulinus, David built a monastic community at Glyn Rosyn whose austerity made even the Irish monks look comfortable — bread, water, herbs with salt, and monks who pulled their own plows. His story builds to the great Synod of Brefi, where the ground itself rose beneath him as he preached. But the heart of the episode is a paradox: the most extreme ascetic in the British Isles, and his dying words are about gentleness. "Do the little…