In the late 1800s, an Italian breeze blew through the mossy slopes of Cader Idris and over the waters of the Mawddach Estuary. Just ten miles apart, two churches, inspired by the architecture of the Mediterranean, reside in perfect harmony in the rugged Welsh landscape.
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St Philip’s, Caerdeon came first in 1863. The rusty, rubble-slate construction includes a loggia with stone benches and round-headed, Romanesque windows, and a bellcote-cum-chimney, which shelters four bells that are rung by large wheel found in a shelter on the northside.
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Inside, St Philips is quite simple. The walls are white-washed and bare. The pews are plain. Decoration is saved for the sanctuary, where the mosaics and marbles give a Byzantine feel.
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The church was designed by Rev’d John Louis Petit. Petit was one of the leading architectural writers of his age, and this church, which we saved last year, is his only surviving building.
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Move westwards along the A470 and into the 1890s to St Mark’s, Brithdir, where, on a roadside, sulky granite walls enclose an interior of blazing burnt sienna a swirling ceiling of royal azure. But the Mediterranean vibe doesn’t end there…
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St Mark’s, Brithdir was built in the 1890s. Louisa Richards commissioned Henry Wilson to design the church in memory of her husband, the Rev’d Charles Tooth, founder of St Mark’s church in Florence. He had died within a few months of their marriage.
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Wilson was inspired by Tooth’s legacy in Florence, but also by “those delightfully simple churches just south of the Alps”.
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Both Caerdeon and Brithdir, are highly unusual and distinctive churches. Their designs are bold, original, unique but united with and respectful of the rich and ancient Welsh landscapes they occupy.
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