St Philip's Church, Caerdeon

William Edward Jelf (1811-1875) was a Classical scholar, clergyman and senior censor at Christchurch, Oxford. His entry in the Dictionary of National Biography records that "faults of temper and manner rendered him unpopular", and much of his life was devoted to pursuing a large number of liturgical and ecclesiological controversies.[1] In the 1850s, Jelf purchased the Caerdeon estate and commissioned a church to the designs of his brother-in-law, John Louis Petit.[2] Petit, an artist and architectural critic, was himself a magnet for controversy, spending much of his life in opposition to the prevailing tenets of Gothic Revival architecture advanced by Augustus Pugin.[lower-alpha 1][4]

The construction and operation of St Philip's embroiled both men in further, bitter argument. Jelf was determined that services in his church would be conducted in English, as few if any of his intended congregation of Oxford seminarians could speak Welsh. His intention ran counter to the prevailing legal position, which required that services be conducted in Welsh in all areas where the Welsh language predominated.[5] The Rector of Llanaber took Jelf to the Court of Arches, where Jelf lost his case, but his supporter, James Colquhoun Campbell, Bishop of Bangor, used his position in and influence over the House of Lords to secure the passing of the English Services in Wales Act of 1863,[6] which allowed the conduct of services in English in certain circumstances. This included situations where the church in question was a private chapel, an exemption which applied to St Philip's.[7]

St Philip's continued in use through the 20th century. In that time, the explorer Bill Tilman worshipped at the church and acted as a bell-ringer.[5]   The Church of Wales declared St Philip's redundant in 2014 and it came into the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2021.[5] The Friends have been undertaking a major programme of fundraising and restoration since their acquisition.[8][9]

The architecture of St Philip's is unusual for its time and location. In addition to arguing for a sensitive approach to restoration and against the prevailing currents of the Gothic Revival, Petit, an experienced traveller, contended for the use of European sources. St Philip's, his only church and one of only two buildings known to have been designed by him,[lower-alpha 2] has been described variously as "rustic Mediterranean, Alpine, of French Basque influence or like an Italian farm building".[11]

The church is built of local rubble stone and slate. Entry is through a loggia. The bellcot contains four bells, a mechanism allows for all the bells to be rung by one person using a single bell pull.[2] Originally a Grade II* listed building,[12] its status was subsequently upgraded to Grade I.[2] The lychgate is listed at Grade II.[13]

• Greenhill, William Alexander (1892). "Jelf, William Edward" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 29. pp. 291–292.