Founding After the establishment of the
Welsh Tract in the
colony of Pennsylvania, the area was settled by numerous emigrants from
Wales, particularly Welsh
Quakers, although
Welsh people of other faiths, drawn by
Pennsylvania's religious toleration and the opportunity to conduct their affairs in their
own language, settled the area as well. In those days, life on the frontier saw exercise of religious beliefs in a limited way (frequently without houses of worship or clergy), which became a concern to many. The
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in London, sent the Welsh
Anglican Rev. Evan Evans to the area as a circuit missionary. He began holding fortnightly services in private houses, including that of William Davis in the area known as Radnor, in the southern part of the Welsh Tract, starting November, 1700. The first mention of a church is in 1700 with historical records mentioning a church made of logs at the location of the current old stone church which was intended to also be used as a shelter against potential attacks from native Americans. In 1708,
John Oldmixon in his book
The British Empire in America noted that After Rev. Evans' departure, the Welsh-speaking Anglicans of Radnor sent the Society a 100-signature petition requesting a shipment of Welsh-language prayer books and Bibles, and especially requesting another Welsh-speaking missionary. A complete response was apparently slow in coming; ten years later, upon meeting their new leader, the parishioners "heartily engaged themselves to build a handsome stone church to be named after the
Patron Saint of Wales". The cornerstone of the new building was laid on May 9, 1715. An early pastor, the Rev. John Clubb, who served from about 1707 to 1715, and later the Rev. Robert Weyman, who served during the 1720s, were paid by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and shared duties between St. David's and
Old Trinity Church, located about 20 miles to the east in
Oxford.
Revolutionary and Federal periods With the coming of the
American Revolution in the colonies, a wave of resentment against the
Church of England (which professed loyalty to the
king) arose among the congregation. A leader of this opposition was
Anthony Wayne, a lifelong member of St. David's who was later appointed major general of the American forces. The rector, the Rev. William Currie, bound by his oath of duty to the king, resigned his position, which remained officially vacant for 12 years (Rev. Currie performed marriages, baptisms, and the like privately until at least 1783). During the war, no services were held in the church. The church building provided shelter for soldiers of both sides and
Continental Army soldiers cut the lead out of the windows of the church to use as bullets. After the nearby
Battle of Brandywine, sixteen British soldiers were buried in the cemetery at St. David's. While St. David's left the organization of the Church of England, it remained in the
Anglican Communion, and the church was represented at the first General Convention of the
Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States in 1784, after the peace treaty was signed. The church was formally incorporated and chartered in August 1792. A church school was organized in 1820. The first confirmation services were conducted by Bishop
William White, who became the first
Presiding Bishop. The first physical addition to the church holdings was the fieldstone "Old Rectory" in 1844.
Suburbanization After the construction of the "
main line" of the
Pennsylvania Railroad in 1832, the once-isolated community began to evolve more rapidly, particularly after the railroad built local stations and offered frequent train service in the Philadelphia area. One of the way stations on the
Main Line was named
St. Davids for the church (the station is approximately 3 miles/4 km from the church), and a community of the same name grew up around the station. The community has no post office of its own, and is served by the nearby
Wayne post office. As Philadelphians began to live outside the city in the late 19th century, the church's parishioners became more suburban. As the congregation grew, the parish expanded accordingly. A parish house (office building), with church school facilities, was built in 1924 and enlarged in 1950. Further growth of the congregation led to heated discussion over whether the parish should accommodate a burgeoning membership or retain its early character; this was resolved by the 1956 construction of a new worship building, several times the size of the original church. On October 13, 1947, a Pennsylvania Historical Marker was placed at St. David's Church to recognize the historical importance of the site. The old church built in 1715 and cemetery were placed on the
National Register of Historic Places on September 20, 1978. A separate building was built for Sunday school classes in 1965, the year the parish celebrated its 250th anniversary at a service attended by the
Bishop of St David's in Wales. The building is named the Knewstub Building for a former rector of the parish. Continued growth of the congregation rendered the chapel too small by the time it was 50 years old. A new, larger chapel, seating 650, was constructed adjacent to the old one in 2006. A three-manual, 48-stop, mechanical action organ was installed in 2007. The old chapel, its pews, etc., removed, is now named St. David's Hall, hosting receptions after services and other church-related activities, and serving as a connector between the new chapel and the parish offices. The church grounds lie at the intersection of three
townships and two
counties. The old church building, along with a small portion of the graveyard, is located in
Newtown Township, Delaware County; the chapel and offices are located in
Radnor Township, Delaware County; and most of the graveyard is in
Easttown Township, Chester County. ==Longfellow poem==