GOWER
,
HENRY
(
1278?
-
1347
),
bishop
.
According to one source he was b. in
Yorkshire
, but his surname, his possessions in
Gower
, and
his evident interest in
Swansea
, lend support to the common belief that his roots were in
Gower
. He was
doctor utriusque juris
of
Oxford
,
Fellow
of
Merton
, and for a time
chancellor of the university
. About
1314
he was
canon
, and about
1319
archdeacon of S. Davids
; and on
21 April 1328
(according to
Yardley
) was appointed
bishop of S. Davids
, and consecrated on
12 June
—
Yardley
adds that he was then 50 years of age. There are strong hints that he was of the party of
Mortimer
and
queen
Isabella
; but he made his peace with
Edward
III
and represented him abroad more than once, besides
holding royal offices
in
England
on occasion. But by far the greatest part of
Gower
's life as
bishop
was spent at
S. Davids
itself. He d. there in
1347 (on 1 May
, says
Yardley
), and was buried on the south side of the choir. It is as a
generous and splendid builder
that he is justly famous — in this respect, says
E. A.
Freeman
, he left his mark on the place to an extent unequalled by any other
builder
. He enlarged the
lady chapel
and added a chantry to it; the fine stone rood-screen is his; he added to the height of the walls of the church and enlarged its windows; he walled the close, and built within it the magnificent episcopal palace whose walls stand to this day. He removed ‘
Bishop Beck's College
’ from
S. Davids
to
Abergwili
, near
Carmarthen
, and
repaired a good number of the episcopal manor-houses of Dyfed
, together with three at least of the churches in that region. At
Swansea
, he
founded a hospital
, built the fine chancel of
S. Mary's church
, and heightened the tower of
Swansea castle
.
Bibliography:
-
T. F. Tout
in
Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography
(and his references);
-
E. Yardley
,
Menevia Sacra. Arch. Camb.
, Supplement,
1927
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D.,
F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor
