341 YEARS AGO TODAY

ABERGAVENNY, BIRTHPLACE OF ST DAVID LEWIS

David Henry Lewis was born in Abergavenny in 1616. He attended King Henry VIII Grammar School in the town. At that time his father, Morgan Lewis, was Headmaster.  David then went to London to study law.  During a stay in Paris, David converted to Catholicism.  Returning to Abergavenny, David lived with his parents until their deaths.  After their deaths, he set out for Rome to study for the priesthood. Shortly after ordination, Fr Lewis joined the Jesuits.

KING HENRY VIII GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Sent on the "English Mission",   Fr David Lewis S J returned to his homeland. During that time of persecution it was usual for priests to work under an assumed name so David Lewis adopted the alias of Charles Baker.  For more than 30 years Fr Lewis laboured tirelessly for his flock. 

THE SITE OF THE CWM

Based at the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at The Cwm, David Lewis traversed the area, usually at night and on foot, ministering to the needs of the people.  His kindness and compassion knew no bounds and extended to all in need.  He was well loved and because of his care to all, he became known as "Tad y Tlodion", "Father of the Poor".

THE GUNTER MANSION, CROSS ST, ABERGAVENNY

It is recorded that Fr Lewis, as well as his fellow Jesuit, Fr Philip Evans, stayed with the Gunters of Cross Street, Abergavenny.  Relatives of David Lewis, the Gunters were staunch Catholics who had a secret chapel in their home.  The priests regularly said Mass there and conducted Catholic services.  David Lewis also stayed at the home of his aunt, Lady Frances Morgan, at Llantarnam.  The Morgans also had a chapel in their home where the priest celebrated Mass and ministered to the people of that area.

LLANTARNAM ABBEY, HOME OF THE MORGANS

The Popish Plot was a fabricated plot spread by the vile Titus Oates and his sordid ilk. When its poison  spread to Wales, Fr Lewis moved from the Morgan's home in an attempt to spare them any trouble that might befall him.  He rented a little cottage at Llantarnam, roughly opposite where the lovely old Church of St Michael and All Angels is situated.  

PLAQUE MARKING SITE OF ARREST OF ST DAVID LEWIS

Early on Sunday morning, 17 November 1678, Fr Lewis was preparing to celebrate Holy Mass. Suddenly, a group of armed dragoons burst into the cottage and arrested him.  Several days later he was incarcerated in Monmouth Gaol.  On a freezing cold day in January 1679, the Jesuit was moved to the prison at Usk. He had been found guilty of high treason for the 'crime' of being a Catholic priest and saying Mass!  Here he remained to await his execution.

THE FORMER USK GAOL 

On 29 August 1679, 341 years ago today, Fr David Lewis was taken from the Gaol on Bridge St and dragged on a hurdle along the river path to the place of his execution.  It was on a makeshift gallows at the hands of a makeshift hangman that Fr David Lewis  met his martyrdom.

THE RIVER PATH TODAY

On 25 October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised Fr David Lewis S J and 39 other Reformation Martyrs.  They are known collectively as the "Forty Martyrs of England and Wales".  Today, the Catholic Church of Ss David Lewis and Francis Xavier stands opposite the site of his martyrdom and St David Lewis is remembered with a lovely shrine in his honour.  

ST DAVID LEWIS

"Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints".

“PRO SACERD ROMAN”

Site of the arrest of St David Lewis

Fr David Lewis S J had been arrested at Llantarnam on 17^th November 1678 and imprisoned in Monmouth gaol.  On 13^th January 1679 he was transferred to the gaol at Usk.  On 28^th March he was again back in Monmouth to be tried at the spring assizes which was presided over by Sir Robert Atkins. 

The Monnow Bridge

 

Fr Lewis was indicted under Statute 27 Elizabeth which deemed it a capital crime to be ordained abroad and return to England for more than forty days.  The charge against him was “David Lewis pro Sacerd Roman”, that is “David Lewis for being a Roman Priest”!  The charge against the priest was read by the Clerk of the Assizes; “Here thou standest indicted of High Treason by the name of David Lewis, for thou being a natural subject of the King of England, hast passed beyond the seas and taken Orders from the Church and See of Rome”.

Fr Lewis pointed out that it was necessary for the prosecution to prove him guilty of the charge of being ordained overseas and taken Orders from the See of Rome.  Judge Atkins responded to this with a curt rebuff but his words made it clear for all time exactly why the priest was condemned.  “What do you expect?  Shall we search the records at Rome, or bring persons to prove that they saw you ordained?  It is enough that you have exercised the functions of a priest in copes and vestments used in your Church, and that you shall have read Mass and taken Confessions.  HE THAT USES TO READ MASS COMMITS TREASON!”

 

The priest hunter, John Arnold, was allowed to sit next to the Judge and permitted to challenge the jurors one by one until he had achieved his goal – a jury that was anything but impartial and certain to convict the priest! This manipulation of the jury did not go unnoticed and the High Sheriff of Monmouthshire protested that Arnold was guilty of “packing the jury”.  His protestations came to naught when Judge Atkins reprimanded him for being “saucy”.  John Arnold was now secure in the knowledge that his handpicked jury would seal the fate of the hapless Fr David Lewis.

 

At about 10 o’clock the following morning, 29^th March 1679, the trial of Fr David Lewis began.  Several witnesses were called who swore that they had seen him celebrate Mass.  Chief among them were William and Dorothy James.  However, two of the Crown’s other witnesses heroically refused to give evidence against Fr Lewis.  The defendant challenged the character of some of the witnesses brought against him and exposed the sheer malice of Dorothy James.   With John Arnold’s influence, there was no chance of the accused getting anything even resembling a fair trial and the verdict was a foregone conclusion.  It was sufficient that Dorothy and William James had sworn they had seen the Jesuit say Mass and on this evidence the jury was directed that “If you believe what the witnesses swore you must find the prisoner guilty”.  As expected, the jury found him guilty of treason!



Usk Gaol where St David Lewis awaited his execution

Judge Atkins then put on his cap and pronounced the sentence:  “David Lewis, thou shalt be led from this place to a place whence thou camest, and shalt be put upon a hurdle and drawn with thy heels forward to the place of execution where thou shalt be hanged by the neck and be cut down alive; thy body to be ripped open and thy bowels plucked out; thou shalt be dismembered and thy members burnt before thy face.  So the Lord have mercy on thy soul.”

 

Upon hearing the sentence Fr Lewis made a low bow toward the judge and was led away.  He was returned to Usk Gaol where he was to await his gruesome fate.  On 27^th August 1679 Fr David Lewis, the last Welsh martyr, was executed for the crime of being a Catholic Priest and saying Mass.  

 

St David Lewis was martyred near this site

CHRISTMAS 1678

17th century icon, Madonna and Child

 

Christmas of 1678 couldn’t have been a joyful one for Fr David Lewis S J.  Details of that Christmas are scant but we do know for certain that it was the priest’s last Christmas on earth!  As he prepared to celebrate Mass on Sunday morning, 17^th November, Fr Lewis was arrested at Llantarnam.  He was incarcerated in Monmouth Gaol.  The Justice of the Peace, John Arnold, who had feigned friendship with Fr Lewis, promised that he would not allow him to be treated with “any incivility or severity”.  Alas, the promise proved to be as false as the friendship.  That very same day, the perfidious Arnold had ordered that a strict watch should be kept over the prisoner, who was guilty of high treason, i.e., he was a Catholic priest!

Christmas found Fr Lewis in Monmouth Gaol, where a friend of the Jesuit had paid 14/ a week to provide him with a good lower room, a bed, linen, fire and a candle.  Officially, Fr Lewis was in Solitary Confinement but the Under keeper of the Gaol allowed friends to visit him in his cell by day.

Early in December, the Lords ordered an investigation of the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm, where Fr Lewis had been Superior.  Just before Christmas, the Bishop of Hereford, Herbert Croft, led a raid on the Cwm.  He had the enthusiastic help of John Arnold, John Scudamore and Charles Price.  The buildings were ransacked and all books, papers and property confiscated.  Some of the books stolen from the Cwm are today in the library of Hereford Cathedral.  Croft reported that he had found “two horse-loads of books in an adjoining Pig Cot covered with straw, also a great store of divinity books (but they are not yet brought to me, it being Christmas holy days, but they remain in a safe hand) many whereof are written by the principal learned Jesuits”.

On 4^th December, Fr Philip Evans, the youngest of the Jesuit missioners in South Wales, was arrested.  He was imprisoned in Cardiff Castle where he was kept in Solitary Confinement for three weeks.  After this time, the Governor was persuaded to allow Fr Evans and a secular priest, Fr John Lloyd, to share a cell.  Other priests had been arrested and some had died of hardship and exposure. 

All of this distressing news would have been conveyed to Fr Lewis by the friends who visited him in Monmouth Gaol.

On the Sunday morning of Christmas week, Fr Lewis was visited in his cell by several magistrates who questioned him about William Bedloe’s allegation that he had supplied information about the Marquis of Worcester’s Agent’s complicity in the Popish Plot.  Fr Lewis deposed that he had neither spoken to nor corresponded with the informer.  He further testified that he had never even heard of the Plot until it became common knowledge throughout the land.  His deposition was sent to London but no more was heard of it.

So passed what was to be the last Christmas of Fr David Lewis.  Early in 1679, the new High Sheriff, James Herbert, decided to move the County Gaol from Monmouth to Usk.  On 13^th January, a bitterly cold and miserable day, Fr Lewis was transferred to Usk Gaol to await his fate.  Later that year, in the lovely month of August, Fr David Lewis was martyred at Usk.  On 25^thOctober 1970 he was canonised by Pope Paul VI  as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales .

FR JOHN EDWARDS S J, REST IN PEACE

Many people are sad today at the news of the death of Fr John Edwards S J.   

Fr John, who had been ill for several months, passed away shortly after hearing Mass on 12^th December, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

The privilege of knowing Fr John was ours through the many retreats he conducted at Llantarnam Abbey.  The Annual Day in memory of the Holy Souls on 2^nd November was always a touching and moving experience. 

It was also our great good fortune to have Fr John with us at the Abbey on the days held in honour of St David Lewis, the Welsh Jesuit who was martyred in 1679.  Fr John’s saintly presence was an inspiration to all in attendance on those occasions.  Fr John Edwards, who counted his lung cancer a gift from God, will surely be remembered with affection and gratitude whenever we gather at Llantarnam Abbey.  

Fr John Edwards S J, conducting a service at
the site of the arrest of St David Lewis
at Llantarnam, Cwmbran

 

Fr John’s Requiem Mass will take place at Farm St Church, London, at 11 am on Thursday, 20^th December.   Fr John, we were honoured to know you.  May your gentle soul rest in peace.

ST DAVID LEWIS, SUPERIOR OF THE CWM

 

 

Three hundred and thirty-three years ago today a Welsh Jesuit priest, Fr David Lewis, was executed at Usk.  His crime was to be a Catholic priest in a time when it was deemed High Treason to be a Catholic priest and to celebrate Mass in England. 

 

Plaque marking site of execution of St David Lewis

David Henry Lewis was a Monmouthshire man, born in Abergavenny in 1616.  He was the youngest of the nine children of Morgan Lewis and Margaret Pritchard.  Although David's Catholic mother brought up eight of the children in the Catholic Faith, David's Protestant father had David brought up in the Established Religion.

 

David attended the local grammar school of which his father was headmaster.   Later he went to London to study law.  He travelled to Paris as tutor to a young nobleman and while in Paris David converted to Catholicism.

 

After the deaths of his parents in 1638 David entered the English College in Rome to study for the priesthood.  He was ordained there in 1642.  Later, following in the footsteps of his Jesuit uncle, David entered the Jesuit Novitiate of Sant Andrea in Rome.  

 

After profession as a Jesuit, Fr Lewis was sent on the English Mission.  After only a year he was recalled to Rome to take up a position in his old college.  However, he soon returned to Wales and here he laboured among his own people for the remainder of his life.

 

He was twice Superior of the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm, on the Monmouthshire-Herefordshire border.  According to a pamphlet published in London in 1679, the Cwm consisted of spacious houses with several entrances and secret passages between some of the rooms.  Underneath the buildings there were extensive cellars, accessible both from inside and outside the houses - useful strongrooms where valuables could be hidden.  From one room a tunnel ran out into the neighbouring woods, in which there were many caves.  Remote and secluded, the Cwm was an ideal meeting place for Catholics on both sides of the Anglo-Welsh border.

 

 

 

The site of the Jesuit College, The Cwm

The Cwm had been known to the government authorities since as early as 1660 and possibly earlier.  However it was not until December 1678 that the Lords ordered an investigation by the Bishop of Hereford, Herbert Croft.  Croft had the enthusiastic support and assistance of John Arnold, John Scudamore and Charles Price. 

 

By this time, all the priests had been evacuated from the Cwm.  In fact, the Superior, Fr David Lewis, was a prisoner in Monmouth Gaol and had been since his arrest at Llantarnam on 17th November 1678.  Some priests found shelter with recusant families, others, including Fr Philip Evans were imprisoned, and others, hunted like wild beasts, sheltered in caves or woods.

 

While the raid did not turn up any hidden priests, it did yield a store of church plate, vestments and books.  Bishop Croft added many of the stolen books to his Cathedral Library. 

 

 

Viewing some of the Cwm books in Hereford Cathedral Library

Recently we had the very great privilege of being permitted to view some of the confiscated books from the Cwm Library.   Dr Rosemary Firman, librarian of Hereford Cathedral, showed us several books which are known to have come from the Jesuit Library at the Cwm.  One of the books was inscribed with the name of Thomas Gunter.  Thomas Gunter had a secret chapel in his mansion on Cross St in Abergavenny where Frs David Lewis and Philip Evans said Mass and administered the Sacraments to the Catholics who crowded into the attic chapel.  Dr Firman imparted many interesting facts about the books and, quite honestly, we were more than a little awed to be looking at books which had very likely been held, consulted or  read by St David Lewis over three hundred years ago.

 

For some very interesting information about the Jesuit Library at the Cwm visit Hannah's excellent blog here

 

Fr David Lewis was executed at Usk on 27 August 1679.  He was beatified in 1929 and Canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970.

DID YOU KNOW?

TEN FACTS ABOUT ST DAVID LEWIS:

1. David Lewis was born in Abergavenny in 1616. He was the youngest child of Margaret Pritchard, a Catholic, and Morgan Lewis, a Protestant.

2. One of nine children, David was brought up in the Established Religion by his father. David’s eight siblings were brought up in the Catholic Faith by their mother.

3. As a young man, during a stay in Paris, David converted to Catholicism.

4. David returned to Abergavenny in 1636 and lived with his parents until their deaths in 1638.

5. David decided to become a priest and, following the deaths of his parents in 1638, he entered the English College in Rome where he assumed the alias of Charles Baker. He was ordained there in 1642.

6. In 1645 David Lewis entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Sant’ Andrea. After profession he was sent to the Cwm, the Jesuit Headquarters in Herefordshire, on the English Welsh border.

7. David was soon recalled to Rome but in 1648 he returned to Wales where for more than thirty years he ministered to his beleaguered Catholic countrymen.

8. On 17th November 1678, while preparing to celebrate Holy Mass, Fr Lewis was arrested at a house in Llantarnam. He was conveyed to Monmouth Gaol where he was held until early 1679. On 13th January of that year he was moved to Usk Gaol to await his fate.

9. In March 1679, at The Monmouth Assizes, Fr Lewis was found guilty of being a Catholic priest and saying Mass. Under the Penal Laws of the time, this was considered High Treason and incurred the sentence of being hanged, drawn and quartered.

10. On 27th August 1679 Fr David Lewis was executed at Usk. Due to the love and respect the people had for this priest, known as ‘Tad y Tlodion’, i.e., ‘Father of the Poor’, he was allowed to hang until he was dead. He was then cut down and, although he was not quartered, he was disembowelled and beheaded. His remains were given a respectful burial in the churchyard of St Mary’s Priory Church, Usk.

THE HORROR BEGINS!

In 1678, the Popish Plot, also known as the Oates Plot, was spawned in the perverted mind of Titus Oates, who was encouraged and spurred on by his friend, Israel Tonge. It wasn’t long before the country was engulfed in the tide of anti-Catholic passion which it engendered.

The Superior of the Jesuit College of St Francis Xavier at the Cwm, Fr David Lewis (alias Charles Baker), had been living with relatives, the Morgans, at what is now Llantarnam Abbey. From here Fr Lewis ministered to the needs of the people, celebrating Mass in the Morgan’s chapel and administering the sacraments. Realising the danger of the Plot and fearing to put the family in jeopardy, the priest moved out of their home and into a cottage nearby. The cottage was adjoining the blacksmith’s forge opposite the Parish Church of Llanfihangel Llantarnam.

The Government offered a reward of £50 for the apprehension of any priest and to this John Arnold of Llanvihangel Crucorney added his own reward of £200. Arnold, a Justice of the Peace and Member of Parliament, was a fanatical priest hunter but he had always feigned friendship for Fr Lewis. Three hundred and thirty-two years ago today, 17th November 1678, Arnold’s true nature was revealed and Fr David Lewis S J took his first steps on the road to martyrdom.

It was a Sunday morning, about daybreak, and the Jesuit was preparing to celebrate Holy Mass. Six armed dragoons, sent by John Arnold, burst into the little cottage and arrested Fr Lewis. They confiscated all the altar furnishings and anything which they considered ‘popish’. With the prisoner, they set out for Monmouth, stopping first at the house of Charles Price at Llanfoist, where Price, John Arnold and Thomas Lewis, another J P, awaited their arrival.

Of his arrest Fr Lewis wrote: “After my full thirty years poor missionary labours in South Wales, on Sunday morning, a little before day, being the 17th November 1678, I was taken by six armed men sent by Mr John Arnold and Mr Charles Price, until then my two very good friends and acquaintances. I was taken in a little house in the parish of St Michael-Llantarnam in the County of Monmouth. From thence by the soldiers, together with such church stuff of mine they there found, carried I was to the house of Mr Charles Price in Llanfoist”

At about two o’clock in the afternoon Arnold and his clique led the priest away. Guarded by twelve armed men, Fr David Lewis was taken to Abergavenny and then on to Arnold’s house, Llanvihangel Court. Here they spent the night. Early the next morning Fr Lewis was taken, again under armed guard, to Monmouth Gaol where he was incarcerated.

The horror was just beginning!

CONFISCATED PLATE

This post was prompted by a comment from Pedro at Pedro The Fisherman Blog. The Catholic Church in Abergavenny is in possession of some plate, including a chalice, which was used by St David Lewis. Other than that, the following is all that I can discover about the whereabouts of the confiscated plate of Fr David Lewis.

On Sunday morning, 17th November 1678, Fr David Lewis S J, was preparing to celebrate Holy Mass. Just before daybreak, six of John Arnold’s dragoons arrived at his cottage in Llantarnam. The dragoons were led by Roger Seys, William Bedloe and William James, and they had been sent by the arch priest hunter, Arnold, to arrest the priest. The ultimate destination was Monmouth Gaol but first the party was to stop at the house of Charles Price of Llanfoist. Price was another Justice of the Peace and one of Arnold’s henchmen.

When Fr Lewis was taken from his cottage, those who had arrested him also took away all the altar furnishings, vestments, and anything considered “popish”! A report sent to the Privy Council asked for instructions as to what should be done with “all his robes, crucifixes, wafers, books and several other things”. The reply was that they should proceed according to the law, and all objects were to be burnt, “if they shall find the same to be popish or superstitious.”

The following is a list of items confiscated and kept by Charles Price of Llanfoist;
One large silver and gilt chalice and paten,
One pair of small silver flower pots,
One small thurible and cover,
One small silver plate for cruets,
One silver cruet,
One silver bell for the altar,
One small pair of silver candlesticks,
Several small pieces of silver belonging to a crucifix,
One picture of the Virgin Mary, with a silver and gilt inner frame

Charles Price was a rapacious man, hungry for power and wealth. Despite orders from the Privy Council, he was very loath to part with the plate taken from the home of Fr Lewis. In April 1860, the Treasury ordered Thomas Morgan, the Sheriff of Monmouth, to take delivery of this collection of plate from Price and give it to the constables as a reward for their diligence in priest hunting! However, Price still clung to his booty and, when an enquiry into the matter was conducted after the accession of King James II in 1685, the stolen articles were still in the possession of Charles Price.

“TAD Y TLODION”

St David Lewis (Photo J D Smith)

The purpose of this Blog is to disseminate knowledge of the Last Welsh Catholic Martyr, St David Lewis, and consequently increase devotion to this faithful and brave Welsh Jesuit. For those who are new to this Blog, I give again a synopsis of the life of St David Lewis.

David Lewis, (alias Charles Baker) was born in Abergavenny in 1616, the son of Margaret Pritchard and Morgan Lewis. His father, who was headmaster of Abergavenny Grammar School, raised him as a Protestant. As a young man he spent some time in Paris and while there he converted to Catholicism. Subsequently, he went to study at the English College in Rome where, in 1642, he was ordained as a Catholic priest. Three years later he became a Jesuit.

Father David Lewis returned to his native Wales and with the exception of a brief period in Rome, he spent his priestly life labouring for the people of Monmouthshire and area. He was greatly loved and, for his kindness to all, he was known as ‘Tad y Tlodion’, ‘Father of the Poor’. Father Lewis became a victim of the evil Titus Oates. He was arrested at Llantarnam on 17th November 1678 and was brought for trial at the Lenten Assizes in Monmouth on 16th March 1679. He was brought to the bar on a charge of High Treason, that is, for having become a Catholic priest and remaining in the country. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of being an accessory to the Popish Plot but several witnesses claimed they had seen him say Mass and perform other priestly duties. For this he was found guilty and the judge, Sir Robert Atkins, sentenced him to death. The condemned priest was brought to Newgate Prison in London with Fr John Kemble and questioned about the “plot” but Oates and his henchmen were unable to prove anything against him. Lord Shaftsbury advised him that if he gave evidence about the “plot” or renounced his Catholic faith his life would be spared and he would be well rewarded. The heroic priest said in his dying discourse, “discover the plot I could not, as I knew of none; and conform I would not, for it was against my conscience”. He was brought back to Usk Gaol to await his execution.

Fr David Lewis was martyred on 27th August 1679. He was taken from his cell in Usk Gaol and carried on a hurdle to a place known as the Coniger and the dreadful sentence was carried out. His body was taken in procession to the churchyard of St Mary's Priory Church, Usk, and there it was buried. His is the grave closest to the main door of the church. Every year on the Sunday nearest to 27th August there is a pilgrimage to this holy site.

Grave of St David Lewis (Photo J D Smith)

In October 1970, Pope Paul VI canonised the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Fr David Lewis, the last Welsh Martyr, was one of the Forty.

RELICS OF ST DAVID LEWIS

The word “relic” comes from the Latin “reliquiae” and it means “remains”.

Saint Jerome said, “We do not worship, we do not adore, for fear that we should bow down to the creature rather than to the creator, but we venerate the relics of the martyrs in order the better to adore Him whose martyrs they are.”

In August 1679, at the execution of the Welsh Jesuit Martyr, Fr David Lewis, many Catholics were busy dipping cloths in the martyr’s blood. Within a short time of the martyrdom, cures were reported in Monmouthshire. These cures were attributed to the effectiveness of relics of the martyred priest.

There are many known relics of St David Lewis still in existence. At Stonyhurst, there are several small unidentified relics of David Lewis. A small travelling chalice owned by St David Lewis is kept at the Catholic Church in Abergavenny, the saint’s birthplace.

Pieces of the rope with which Fr David Lewis was hanged are in the possession of several churches in this country. The Jesuit house in Farm Street, London, is said to have two pieces, a church at Roehampton has a piece and the Church of St David Lewis and St Francis Xavier, Usk, also has a piece.

The most numerous relics of St David Lewis seem to be cloths stained with his blood. Erdington Abbey has large pieces of linen soaked in his blood. The Church at Usk, as well as its fragment of rope, has a piece of linen stained with his blood. The Carmelite Convent at Lanherne, Cornwall, has a piece of blood stained linen. The Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy at Llantarnam Abbey also treasure a piece of linen stained with the blood of the martyr.

At one time, when Llantarnam Abbey was a private house, it was owned by Lady Frances Morgan, an aunt of Fr David Lewis. For a time, the priest lived with his relatives and regularly said Mass in the chapel there. The spot where he was arrested is opposite the Abbey. The Catholic Church of St David Lewis and St Francis Xavier, Usk, is either on or directly opposite the site of the martyrdom of St David Lewis. It seems appropriate then that relics of St David Lewis are in the safe keeping of the Catholic Church in Usk and Llantarnam Abbey in Cwmbran.

HONOURED AT LAST

Thanks to the devotion and perseverance of Sr Celsus, a Sister of St Joseph of Annecy, of Llantarnam Abbey, a public tribute was at last paid locally to Jesuit Martyr, St David Lewis. On Saturday, 17th November 2007, the Vicar General of Cardiff Archdiocese, Very Rev Canon Robert Reardon, himself a Cwmbran boy, unveiled a plaque at the Old Post Office, Llantarnam, the home of Mr and Mrs John O'Neill. Fr John Meredith, then Parish Priest of Cwmbran, blessed the plaque. Mr Stephen Brooks, K S S, was Master of Ceremonies. The plaque marks the site of the arrest of St David Lewis in 1678. In a corner of their front garden, John O'Neill and his wife, Wendy, have built a lovely Garden of Remembrance. Its focal point is the metal ring that once marked the site of the old smithy and the place of the martyr's arrest. The long overdue event was well attended by people from Cwmbran and surrounding area and Sister David Lewis S S J A, came from Devizes, Wiltshire, to be present at this service in honour of her Patron Saint.

THE METAL RING (A TYRING RING) WHICH ORIGINALLY MARKED THE SITE OF THE OLD SMITHY

SUNDAY, 17th NOVEMBER 1678

In November of 1678, Fr David Lewis S J was living in a cottage adjoining the Blacksmith’s at Llantarnam. He had been living at Llantarnam Abbey with his Aunt, Lady Frances Morgan, but, with the turmoil fomented by the Oates’ Plot, he had moved out in an attempt to protect his relatives.

Fr Lewis continued to minister to the Catholics of the area. On Sunday, 17th November, early in the morning, he was preparing to celebrate Holy Mass when a party of six armed dragoons arrested him. William James, a lapsed Catholic and former servant of Fr Lewis, joined Roger Seys and William Bedloe in leading the dragoons to apprehend the Jesuit. For this despicable act of betrayal, James was paid the sum of £220 – the Government reward of £20 for the apprehension of a priest and the additional £200 offered by the arch priest hunter, John Arnold. The priest was to be taken to Monmouth Gaol but first the group stopped at the house of Charles Price at Llanfoist. Here, three Justices of the Peace, Charles Price, John Arnold and Thomas Lewis, awaited them.

At about 2 o’clock that afternoon, Fr David Lewis, mounted on horseback, was led away from Llanfoist by Arnold and his henchmen. Guarded by twelve armed men, the priest was then taken to his hometown, Abergavenny. It being Sunday, the streets of Abergavenny were swarming with people. The contingent entered the Golden Lion on Frogmore Street where, in a guarded upper room, Fr Lewis was examined by the Recorder of Abergavenny, William Jones. The avaricious and vengeful William James swore that he had seen Fr Lewis say Mass at least twenty times. Fr Lewis was asked if he had played any part in the Titus Oates Plot and the priest swore on oath that he had no knowledge of or part in any plot. Arnold, showing his contempt for all things Catholic, sarcastically remarked that with Catholics, it was no oath to swear on the Bible. Arnold and Price had previously appeared to be friends of Fr Lewis and, curiously, now treated him with a certain degree of courtesy, although Arnold was not above making course remarks to the priest, at one point calling him the “pretended bishop of Llandaff”. The four now adjourned to the dining room, a large room where they had supper together. Fr Lewis, committed on a charge of Treason, was given the choice of spending the night at the Golden Lion, in a guarded room, or of being the guest of John Arnold at his home in Llanvihangel. Arnold assured the priest that he would be “most civilly entertained”. David Lewis left the decision to the others and it was decided that he should spend the night at Llanvihangel Court.

Fr David Lewis and his captors left the Golden Lion at about 10 o’clock that night. It was a moonlit night and a large crowd had gathered to catch a glimpse of the Jesuit prisoner as the party rode off into the night. Many in the crowd would have known Fr Lewis for he had grown up in the town and, as a priest, had ministered to the Catholics there. It would have been between 11 o’clock and midnight when the men reached Llanvihangel Court. Llanvihangel Court was a fine Elizabethan mansion that had been home to several generations of Arnolds. The defenceless priest spent the night here in a room guarded by two “strong men”.

(This recent photograph of Llanvihangel Court shows the main door of the house. This is not the original entrance. To the left of the window and at about the same height as the top of the window, one can clearly see in the brickwork where the original doorway was. On the night of his arrest, St David Lewis would have been brought in through this original doorway.)

THE ARREST OF FR DAVID LEWIS S J

For a time, Fr David Lewis had lived with his relatives, the Morgans, at Llantarnam Abbey. However, with the danger precipitated by Titus Oates and his fiendish plot, the priest did not want to bring trouble to the family so he decided to live elsewhere. He moved into a cottage adjoining the blacksmith’s shop, opposite the Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels, Llantarnam.

On Sunday morning, 17th November 1678, Fr Lewis was preparing for Mass. On the orders of John Arnold and Charles Price, a party of six dragoons descended on the priest. They were led by the motley crew of Seys, Bedloe and James! Roger Seys of Penrhos, was a petty constable of Arnold’s parish of Llantilio Crossenny. William Bedloe was a nephew by marriage of Charles Price, another rabid anti-Catholic Justice of the Peace. William James, motivated by revenge and greed, received a reward of £220 for leading the group to the priest.

Of his arrest, the 63 year old Jesuit wrote;
“After my full thirty years poor missionary labours in South Wales, on Sunday morning, a little before day, being the 17th November 1678, I was taken by six armed men sent by Mr John Arnold and Mr Charles Price, until then my two very good friends and acquaintances. I was taken in a little house in the parish of St Michael-Llantarnam in the County of Monmouth. From thence by the soldiers, together with such church stuff of mine they there found, carried I was to the house of Mr Charles Price in Llanfoist”

The “church stuff” to which Fr Lewis referred consisted of one large silver gilt chalice and patten, one pair of small silver flower pots, one silver thurible and cover, one small silver plate for crewetts, one silver crewett, one silver bell for the altar, one pair of silver candlesticks, several pieces of silver originally from a crucifix and one picture of the Virgin Mary with silver gilt frame.

After months of incarceration and a rigged trial, Fr David Lewis S J, was martyred at Usk on 27th August 1679.

On Saturday, 17th November 2007, exactly 329 years after the arrest of St David Lewis, a plaque marking the site of his arrest was blessed and unveiled at the Old Post Office, Llantarnam.

ALIAS CHARLES BAKER

In November 1638, at the age of 21, Abergavenny born David Lewis entered the English College, Rome. He assumed the alias, Charles Baker. In those dark days of bigotry, fear, mistrust and persecution, it was common practice for priests destined for the “English Mission” to take an assumed name. Upon completion of his studies, he was ordained a priest on 20th July 1642. Three years later he joined the Society of Jesus. After his profession as a Jesuit, Fr Lewis returned to Wales. With the exception of one year in Rome, Fr David Lewis spent the rest of his life ministering to the Catholics of South Wales. He laboured for them for more than 30 years until his arrest at Llantarnam in November 1678. All this time he worked under the name of Charles Baker. He was martyred at Usk in August 1679 and canonised by Pope Paul VI in October 1970. In the Catholic Church of Our Ladye and St Michael, Abergavenny, there is a beautiful stained glass window which commemorates St David Lewis under his alias of Charles Baker.