St Philip Caerdeon near Barmouth, Gwynedd A Strange Victorian Church

St Philip was built as a private chapel by an artist and amateur architect for an English priest and academic in a Welsh speaking area. What could possibly go wrong? This ecclestiastical oddity which sparked a case in the Court of Arches is in the care of The Friends of Friendless Churches.
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bethenachannel

[@mikehudson8884]

I loved your narration.

[@bethena1855]

Thanks very much 😊

[@ddahodd7856]

such dynamic thought and such refined expression - such wit in presentation . . . and so much more - am won over - brava ! and very many thanks !

[@bethena1855]

Thank you kindly! More of the same sort of thing to come.

[@footfault]

Would love to hear the acoustics, how that building with its irregular ceiling sounds with a choir and organ.

[@timpalmer7972]

That's a very interesting account. Haven't been there since they were doing the roof c. 4 years ago. They've got that ingenious mechanical bell-ringing system that I shall probably never get to hear now. Many thanks for putting it together...

[@ddahodd7856]

why not to hear ? . . . - coincidentally, just now, I met my ex wife in a Waitrose in south west London . . . and she delighted me with word of her newfound part in local ' campanology ' as enacted in our Chelsea, riverside church ! her father, as a 16 year old rang 5 hours of the pealing of bells, in Ashford, Kent . . . as our nation, empire and allies celebrated the end of war in 1945

[@Shineon83]

I actually LOVE that church….It’s so charmingly cosy--I get a strong flavour of William Morris in the glasswork…?

[@rosiemcnaughton9933]

I have to say that this reminds me of a log cabin on the outside. It's really ugly, cold and uninviting on the inside. Imagine sitting on those plain hard benches for any lengh of time. My back would be killing me. The best thing is the stained glass window of the crucifiction. The other two colorful windows are ok. Funny little pipe organ. Thanks for the view of a different kind of church.

[@bethena1855]

I've visited churches that were definitely prettier 😁.

[@Shineon83]

Do you attend church?….I can’t say I’ve attended many that had other than wooden pews ( often without any padding, whatsoever )….

[@rosiemcnaughton9933]

@@Shineon83 It isn't so much that they are wooden but the way they are made with the slatted backs. I don't remember attending a church that didn't have wooden pews either. But they were always solid backed.

[@bookmouse2719]

It looks German, rounder and stockier church.

[@melblues3847]

It didn't really work for me but maybe we are just so used to seeing Gothic churches that it seems strange. It is a bit austere and the outside reminds me of a barn but the stained glass is nice. The organ looks out of place.

[@bethena1855]

Austere is an excellent word to describe it.

[@zyxw2000]

Foreboding and cold, and I couldn't sit on those benches.