Church of St Francis Xavier and St David Lewis

After the Reformation, Monmouthshire continued to have a local Catholic community. In 1616, David Lewis was born in Abergavenny, he became a Jesuit, and after his training he returned to work in Monmouthshire for thirty years. He headed the Jesuit college at Cwm, Llanrothal. In 1678, after praying at the Gunter Mansion he was arrested at St Michael's Church, Llantarnam, after being implicated in the fictitious Popish Plot, was executed in 1679, and buried in the graveyard of the Priory Church of St Mary, Usk. In the 1700s, Catholic Mass was celebrated in the home of the Davis family, Llancayo House, in Usk. In 1799, Fr Joseph Hunt was appointed by William Sharrock the Vicar Apostolic of the…

In 1847, the present church was built. Francis McDonnell, a local solicitor, donated the land and paid for half of the construction costs. The architect was Charles Hansom. On 14 October 1847, the church was opened by the Vicar Apostolic of the Welsh District Joseph Brown. In the 1850s and 1860s windows, made by Hardman & Co., were installed in the church. In 1865, the tower, also designed by Hansom, was added.