Robert Raikes, son of a wealthy Hull banking family, could have chosen
many paths for his life. In the 1840s, a young Oxford graduate with a beautiful, well-connected wife (pictured above
left), he decided to leave his family home and build a house, church and a school in the small Welsh village
of Llangasty.
He did so primarily for religious reasons. Raikes fell under the influence
of the Tractarian movement while at Oxford. It was his goal to bring the spirit, ceremony and ritual of the High Anglican
Church to Wales which at the time clung to the more austere Methodism preached by John Wesley.
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| John Loughborough Pearson |
The 23-year old Robert met John Loughborough Pearson, then
a young architect, through his grandmother who had used his designs in a local church restoration in Hull. Recognising
a kindred religious spirit, Raikes commissioned Pearson to design his new home, as well as a nearby church and school
house.
Pearson was a keen admirer of Augustus Pugin, the leading architect
of the Gothic Revival. The movement, a reaction against classical architecture, drew its inspiration from the abbeys,
fortresses and castles of the medieval period. Developing Pugin's designs and principles, Pearson's work at
Treberfydd helped launch his long and distinguished career, primarily as a church architect.
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