Aquia Episcopal Church, Jefferson Davis Highway, Stafford, Virginia

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Aquia Episcopal Church

Aquia Episcopal Church is the parish church of Overwharton Parish in Stafford County, Virginia. It is located on a heavily wooded hilltop at the northeast corner of the intersection of US Route 1 and State Route 610. The church is accessed by a steep, curving drive which due to its location at the junction of two busy main roads is very easy to miss.

Overwharton Parish was created around 1700. At the time, the parish was about 80-miles long and 20-miles wide. Regular services were held at Potomac Church (now demolished) which stood a few miles northeast of Fredericksburg on Potomac Creek, and at two chapels elsewhere in Stafford County. In 1731, the size of both Stafford County and Overwharton Parish were reduced considerably when the House of Burgessses created Prince William County.

By 1751 the location of the old Potomac Church was becoming too inconvenient for the parishioners in the northern part of the parish. On June 6, 1751, the Virginia Gazette carried the following advertisement:

The Vestry of Overwharton Parish, in the County of Stafford, have come to a Resolution to build-a large Brick Church, of about 3,000 Square Feet in the Clear, near the Head of Aquia creek, where the old Church now stands. Notice is hereby given, That the Vestry will meet at the said Place, to let the same, on Thursday, the 5th Day of September next, if fair, if not, the next fair Day. All Persons inclinable to undertake it are desired to come then, and give in their Plans and Proposals.

Mourning Richards, a local builder, submitted the winning proposal. Richards, as was the practice of the time, used his own money to cover the costs of construction as they incurred. Meanwhile, the vestry levied a special assessment on the parishioners to periodically pay Richards. The price was 110,900 pounds of tobacco.

On March 17, 1755, the church was nearing completion after three years of construction when fire destroyed all but the walls. Given no choice, the vestry had to tax the parishioners once more to rebuild the church, which Mourning Richards did by the spring of 1757.

Aquia Episcopal Church, Jefferson Davis Highway, Stafford, Virginia

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Today, Aquia Episcopal Church stands as a unique example of colonial Virginia’s ecclesiastical architecture. Cruciform churches were quite common in colonial times, however, the true Greek Cross plan used for Aquia was very rare. Two-story rural churches were even more uncommon, which together with its sophisticated architectural detailing increases its stature among the surviving colonial churches. The church is constructed of brick laid in Flemish Bond with quoins, door frames and keystones of Aquia sandstone. The overall impression is one of a solid, monumental structure.

Of the 50 or so surviving colonial churches in Virginia, only three still have their interiors essentially intact. Only Aquia, along with Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County and Christ Church in Alexandria have their original pews, pulpits and alter-pieces.

Befitting its unique, sophisticated architecture and unusual design as well as its historical importance, Aquia Episcopal Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in November 1969. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in July 1991.

Colonial Churches of Virginia by Don W. and Sue Massey is one of the best resources covering all the colonial churches still in existence in Virginia.  It has information on over 50 churches from 1632 to 1791, most of which are still in use for weekly services.  The information in this book is the main source for this post along with the entry in the National Register of Historic Places.

General Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue, Sheridan Circle, Washington DC

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General Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue

The General Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue is located on Sheridan Circle on Massachusetts Avenue in Northwest Washington DC. It is one the eighteen statues and monuments spread out through central and northwest Washington collectively known as the Civil War Monuments.

General Sheridan was the leader of the Union Cavalry and commander of the Union Army of the Shenandoah during the Civil War. His horse “Rienzi” carried him through eighty-five battles and skirmishes. On October 19, 1864, Rienzi carried his master on a furious ride of over twenty miles to rally the retreating Union troops at the Battle of Cedar Creek near Winchester, Virginia. Sheridan’s arrival rallied his forces, who eventually won the day, ending the Confederate resistance in the Shenandoah Valley. After the victory, Rienzi was immediately renamed “Winchester”.

To Sheridan, the depiction of his horse was as important as that of the rider. Sheridan had commented on the statues that were being placed around the District of Columbia, and to put it mildly he was not impressed. He is reported as saying to his wife “”Whatever you do after I’m gone, don’t put me on a horse like that.” Following his death in 1888, when the equestrian statue of her husband was being planned, Irene Sheridan insisted that the horse be as “proud and courageous as its rider.”

General Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue, Sheridan Circle, Washington DC

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The original commission to erect the equestrian statue of General Sheridan went to John Quincy Adams Ward in 1892. He was to complete the work by 1898. He not only missed the deadline but did not produce a statue satisfactory to Irene Sheridan and her son, Philip Sheridan, Jr. When they visited Ward’s studio they both hated the work describing it as a stout older officer atop a stilted horse.

Gutzon Borglum, who is best known for his design for Mount Rushmore, had been closely following Ward’s procrastinations and the comments on his final design as the two men had an argumentative past. Borglum was determined to do a better job. He also needed the money. He studied General Sheridan’s life, reading biographies and memoirs. He managed to secure an invite to a party where Irene Sheridan would be in attendance. He was able to impress her with how much he knew about her husband.

General Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue, Sheridan Circle, Washington DC

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On January 17, 1908, Borglum received approval for his design. He depicted Sheridan atop Rienzi rallying the retreating troops at Cedar Creek. The horse has been described as hard-muscled, triumphant and proud. No other equestrian statue in Washington has the tempo of this one. Borglum was equally effective in his depiction of Sheridan. The General was a short, slight man but a born leader of men.

The General Philip Sheridan Equestrian Statue, along with the seventeen other Civil War Monuments, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September 1978 and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites in March 1979.

As visitors to this web-site will know by now, I have a penchant for second hand books.  One I picked up a few years is The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, DC by James M Good. This book was first published in 1974 and is long out of print.   The book contains traces the history and significance of over 400 open-air sculptures in the Washington metropolitan area.  It is well worth hunting down a copy.

Rockingham County Courthouse, Court Square, Harrisonburg, Virginia

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Rockingham County Courthouse

The Rockingham County Courthouse is located on a square in the center of Harrisonburg, Virginia. It was built in 1897 and is the fifth such building to be located on this prominent site in the center of town.

Rockingham County was formed in 1788 from Augusta County to the north. Harrisonburg was named for Thomas Harrison who in 1737 settled in the Shenandoah Valley. Harrison eventually laid claim to over 12,000 acres surrounding the junction of the Spotswood Trail, now US Route 33, and the main Native American road through the valley which would in time become US Route 11, also known as the Valley Pike.

In 1779, Harrison deeded 2.5 acres right at the junction of two main roads for the construction of a courthouse. The following year Harrison deeded a further 50 acres surrounding the courthouse for the development of the town which has now become the Harrisonburg Downtown Historic District. Most Virginia county seats developed from rural villages and have a quite linear structure with no obvious center on which to locate the main public building. Harrisonburg’s Court Square, being the center of the land donated by Thomas Harrison, puts the Rockingham County Courthouse in the prominent position it deserves.

When the fourth courthouse fell into disrepair and the estimates to renovate the building proved too expensive, the county requested bids for a replacement. The winning design was submitted by T.J. Collins. Collins, although without formal training, came from a distinguished family of architects. His grandfather, John Collins of Washington, won second prize in the White House design competition in 1792.

Rockingham County Courthouse, Court Square, Harrisonburg, Virginia

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T.J. Collins seemed to rely on current publications for the basis of his designs. In 1892 a design for the US Court in Wilmington, Delaware appeared in the Annual Report of the Supervising Architect of the US Treasury. Collins used this as the start of the design for the Rockingham County Courthouse. He had a personal preference for French Renaissance and Richardson Romanesque elements, both of which are prominent in the design. Collins added his own touches, specifically the triple arched portico with the heavy balustrade protecting the front doors. This portico design appears in a five-arch form on the two side elevations.

Rockingham County Courthouse, Court Square, Harrisonburg, Virginia

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The three-and-one-half story building has a two-stage tower rising up above the entrance. Collins design differs significantly from the Wilmington building in the design of this tower. Although both are two stage with the clock on the upper, that is about as far as the similarities go. Three narrow, round-arched windows in the first stage of the tower echo the portico below. Above this sits the four clock faces situated within stone arched panels. The tower is topped with a domed, tiled roof with ventilation opening encased in arches. The final element is, appropriately, a statue of Justice.

The prominent position and overall size together with the architectural design of the building combine to make the courthouse the county’s grandest architectural statement. The pride with which citizens regarded the new courthouse at the time is reflected in the speech of Judge John Paul at its dedication in September 1897. He called it “a monument to the energy, industry, and progress of the people of Rockingham …”. Fittingly, the Rockingham County Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 1982.

The information for this post comes from a second-hand book I was lucky to find on Amazon – Virginia’s Historic Courthouses by John O. and Margaret T. Peters. This book was first published in 1995 by the University Press of Virginia. It talks about 110 courthouses in Virginia’s counties and independent cities.

Jud Christie Covered Bridge, Jackson Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania

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Jud Christie Covered Bridge

The Jud Christie Covered Bridge, also known as the Jud Christian Covered Bridge crosses Little Fishing Creek in Jackson Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania. It is located on Ardens Hill Road, off Sereno Hollow Road in the north of the County. It is the second of three remaining covered bridges along with the Sam Eckman Bridge and Creasyville Bridge crossing Little Fishing Creek.  All three can be found within a distance of less than 3.5 miles.

This Queen Post truss bridge was originally built in 1876. This Queen Post Truss bridge is 56-feet 8-inches with board and batten siding and a sheet metal roof. It was built by William L Manning for a cost of $239. The stone and mortar abutments remain in very good condition as does the wooden decking having been rebuilt in 1996. The bridge is owned and maintained by Columbia County and is open to vehicles.

The bridge was named after local farmer and lumberman, Jud Christian. The portal, however, now shows the bridge’s name as Jud Christie.

The Jud Christie Covered Bridge is one of 23 covered bridges in Columbia County, including the Josiah Hess Covered Bridge. This is the third largest concentration of these historic bridges in Pennsylvania.

Like all covered bridges, the Jud Christie Covered Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was listed in November 1979. Unfortunately, the PDF file for this National Register record has not yet been digitized.

The most comprehensive guide for finding and/or learning about Covered Bridges in this area is Pennsylvania’s Covered Bridges: A Complete Guide by Benjamin D. Evans.  It was published quite a few years ago now (but is still available on Amazon) but nothing else even comes close.

Breneman-Turner Mill, Turners Mill Lane, Harrisonburg, Virginia

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Breneman-Turner Mill

The Breneman-Turner Mill is the oldest surviving, fully equipped, pre-Civil War gristmill in Rockingham County, Virginia. It is located on Turners Mill Lane at the junction with Breneman Church Road about 3.4 miles north of Harrisonburg.

One of the first settlers in Rockingham County was Adam Miller, a German native who was living near Williamsburg.  He followed the trail of the Knights of the Golden Horseshoe into the Shenandoah Valley in 1727. Miller moved his family down from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. This started a migration of Mennonite settlers of German descent from Pennsylvania into the Shenandoah Valley including the Breneman family.

The two-and-a-half story, brick mill was built circa 1800 for Abraham Breneman. The Federal style building is unusual for a mill in the Shenandoah Valley as most of them like Lantz Mill and the Andrew Zirkle Mill in Shenandoah County to the north were of timber construction. The mill has a limestone foundation and basement walls. The walls of the first and second floor are brick with a timber interior structure. The walls are five bricks thick where it meets the basement and three bricks wide at the roof-line.

The mill was originally powered by water from a mill pond which took its water from the nearby Linville Creek. The water was then delivered to an “under shot” water-wheel via a millrace. The millpond was washed away in a flood in the early years of the 20th century. The millrace was subsequently connected directly to Linville Creek allowing an adequate waterflow for the mill to continue to operate. The water wheel was replaced with the current 16-foot “over shot” wheel in the 1920s.

Breneman-Turner Mill, Turners Mill Lane, Harrisonburg, Virginia

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The mill was one of the only mills to have survived General Sherman’s two-week Valley Campaign to end the Shenandoah Valley’s role as the “Breadbasket of the Confederacy”. The Union Troops set fire to a vast numbers of mills, barns and other farm buildings in what became known as “The Burning”. On October 6, 1864 the soldiers arrived at the mill, which was owned at this time by George Shaver. Shaver was seriously ill, so it was up to his 77-year old wife, Hannah, to try to stop the destruction of their property. Although sympathetic, the soldiers had to follow orders and set fire to the mill. As soon as the troops left, Mrs. Shaver was able to put the fire out with a broom. Embers from the fire at the nearby barn which had also been set alight by the Union soldiers, set the mill on fire again. Mrs. Shaver was able to summons help from a neighbor, Jacob Wenger who was able to extinguish the fire.

After the Civil War, most of the stone burr mills were converted to roller mills. There is evidence that at some stage a roller mill was installed on the second floor of the mill. Some components remain but the roller mill itself has been removed. When Howard Turner acquired the mill in 1933 he operated the mill as a gristmill “just about the way it was when it was built by Abraham Breneman”. Turner was sensitive to the historic value of the mill. “I guess,” he said, “that’s one of the main reasons I’ve continued to operate the mill and keep it in shape. There aren’t many operating mills still around, and in a few years, people will appreciate even more being able to see one in working condition.”

The mill ceased operations on Turner’s death in 1988. The Turner family donated what has now become known as the Breneman-Turner Mill to the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center in 2003. The Center is restoring the mill and have re-opened it for grinding demonstrations.

Befitting a building that was central to the local economy and which has maintained its integrity for over 200-years, the Breneman-Turner Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in April 2006. In 2010, it was added to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District as a Civil War tour site.

Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County, Christ Church Road, Weems, Virginia

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Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County

Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County is the most perfect surviving example of a colonial church in Virginia. It is located at the eastern end of Virginia’s Northern Neck a couple of miles north of the Rappahannock River. The church has remained virtually unchanged since its completion in 1735. It is one of only three out of the 50 or so surviving colonial churches in Virginia that still have their interiors essentially intact, the others being Aquia Episcopal Church and Christ Church in Alexandria.

The church is closely tied to one of the wealthiest, most powerful families of colonial Virginia. It is believed John Carter first came to Virginia in 1635. He was elected to the House of Burgesses in 1642, the year he began acquiring property on what was to become Lancaster County. He amassed thousands of acres north of the Rappahannock River where he established Corotoman, the plantation which became the family seat. By 1654, John Carter’s name was already appearing on the vestry lists of Christ Church. The names of his eldest son, also named John, and younger son, Robert, also appeared on the list. All the Carter names were in large bold letters and appeared before that of the minister on the vestry list.

The current church was built by Robert Carter, who was to become known as Robert “King” Carter. It replaced a wooden one constructed by his father. The original frame structure was completed in July 1670, six months after John Carter’s death. He was buried in the chancel of the original Christ Church along with four of his five wives and two of his six children, all of whom preceded him. When the original building became too small for the growing population, Robert Carter offered to build a new one at his own expense. The offer to build the new church overcame some agitation amongst the parishioners to move the church to a more convenient location within the parish as well as helping to maintain the legacy of his father.

Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County, Christ Church Road, Weems, Virginia

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Construction of the new church began in 1730. There is a story that the bricks were imported from England. Although there is no definitive proof, Robert Carter had so many ships moving between England and the American Colonies that using the bricks as ballast would have been an economical way to facilitate their import.

The architectural style and shape were quite standard for the time. It is laid out in the shape of a Greek Cross with the nave slightly longer than the transepts and chancel as can be seen in the image above. However, the finishing touches are where this particular building shines. The high walls and steep roof give the church a more vertical character than is usual. The fine wooden moldings below the roof line taken from classic architectural design are of unusual fineness and complexity. The fine detail work continues in the keystones above each of the arched windows and the Doric pilasters and angular pediments that surround the doors.

Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County, Christ Church Road, Weems, Virginia

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The interior details match the exterior in both quality and longevity. The stone pavers on the floor together with most of the woodwork are original. All of the woodwork is solid black walnut. Of particular note are the altarpiece, Virginia’s only surviving high-backed box pews and one of only two triple-decker pulpits to survive from the period: community announcements were made from the bottom tier, the Gospel read from the middle tier and the sermon given from the top tier. The elaborate sounding board above the upper tier helped amplify what was always the most important part of any service held in the church. The grave marker of John Carter, his wives and children can be found to the side of the chancel providing further evidence that this church was constructed on the site of its 1670 predecessor.

Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County, Christ Church Road, Weems, Virginia

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Robert Carter died in August 1732. His sons John, Charles and Landon oversaw the completion of the church. He is buried in a large limestone sarcophagus outside the east end of the church. Next to this is a smaller sarcophagus for his second wife, Betty, who died in 1710 and beyond that another, slightly smaller sarcophagus for his first wife Judith who died in 1699.

Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County is the only colonial era church erected by one man rather than by subscription of the parishioners. It is also only one of that period which has remained completely unaltered. It is now managed by the Foundation for Historic Christ Church, Inc., a charitable foundation created in 1958 to restore and maintain the church and its surroundings. Christ Episcopal Church Lancaster County was designated as a National Historic Landmark in May 1961.  It was later added to the National Register of Historic Places in October 1966.

Colonial Churches of Virginia by Don W. and Sue Massey is one of the best resources covering all the colonial churches still in existence in Virginia.  It has information on over 50 churches from 1632 to 1791, most of which are still in use for weekly services.  The information in this book is the main source for this post along with the entry in the National Register of Historic Places.

Hall Place, Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent

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Hall Place

Hall Place is a stately mansion on the north edge of the village of Bexley in south-east London. It is a Grade I listed building with the surrounding gardens listed as Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.

The Early Days

The property was originally called At-Hall and was owned by a family who took the same name. The last of the family was Thomas At-Hall who, around 1368 conveyed the property to Thomas Shelle of Westerham, Kent. The property remained in the Shelley family (at some point the spelling changed to include the “y”) until 1537 when it was sold to Sir John Champneys. There is no trace of anything relating to the period prior to the acquisition by Sir John Champneys.

The Tudor House

The house that Sir John built followed a commonly used medieval plan which continued to be popular in the early 16th century. A high ceiling Great Hall was the center-piece of the house. At the west end was a two-story structure that contained a parlour on the ground floor with a bedroom on the upper floor. At the other end of the Great Hall was the buttery which would have been used as a store for drink and from which to serve food. From here the kitchen extended to the north. There was a room above the kitchen which was probably the servants’ quarters. This added an east wing to the design forming what is known as a half-H plan.

Hall Place, Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent

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Also consistent with medieval design was the distinctive checkerboard pattern consisting of alternating fling and rubble. There is considerable support for the belief that the rubble used in construction came from the nearby monasteries which were closed after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1524. One of the first to be closed was the nearby Lesnes Abbey, which many think is the source of the materials used for Hall Place. As ex-Lord Mayor of the City of London, Sir John had access to masonry from the destruction of London’s religious buildings. At several points on the outside of the building pieces of the re-used carvings can be clearly seen.

Sir John Champneys died in 1556. His son, Justinian, inherited Hall Place. Justinian continued the development of the property. There is a clear difference internally between the two phases of constructions – Phase I built by Sir John has walls lined with chalk blocks whilst Phase II built by Justinian used red bricks. Phase II appears to be related to the external appearance of the house. The two wings were made the same height and the original bay window in the Great Hall matched with one on the other side. Overall, this additional construction was driven by a desire for external symmetry that was typical of domestic architecture in the latter half of the 16th century.

The house remained in the Champneys family until 1640 when it was sold to Sir Robert Austen.

The Stuart House

Any plans that Sir Robert had for Hall Place were no doubt interrupted by the English Civil War. It is believed that he took advantage of the reduction in hostilities between the two main periods of the Civil War to commence work on Hall Place. Work began around 1647 and was largely completed by 1653 by which time the house had doubled in size.

Hall Place, Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent

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As can be seen in the image above, there was no attempt to harmonize the two halves of Hall Place. The original Tudor house is seen on the left with the addition added in the second half of the 17th century seen on the right. The grey checkerboard pattern of the 16th century construction gives way to red brick with limestone dressings for this next phase of development.

Very little of the original plan of the Tudor House was altered. Only the south-east corner of the west wing was removed along with the entrance porch on the south side of the Great Hall. Three two-story wings were added to the existing structure. These were laid in a U shape creating a small quadrangle. The main entrance, which you would use today to visit the building, was in the south wing.

The Next 300 Years

The property remained in the Austen family until the middle of the 18th century. The house was purchased by a distant relative, Sir Francis Dashwood. The Dashwood family, especially Maitland Dashwood, grandson of Sir Francis, made significant changes to the building in the 1870s. These included linking the property to the water mains and upgrading the interior with fine wood paneling and parquet flooring. These alterations were made with the intent to lease the property.

During the 19th and early 20th Centuries the property was let out on a series of short-term leases to the aristocratic and fashionable. The last tenant was Lady Limerick who lived in the house from 1917 to 1943. During the tenancy of Lady Limerick, the property was acquired by Bexley Borough Council, predecessor to the London Borough of Bexley Council, in 1935.

As a Top-Secret Intelligence Station

In January 1944, Hall Place was occupied by the US Army’s Signal Corps. The 6811th Signal Service Detachment were part of the Enigma code breaking operation, Ultra. They set what was known as a Y-station code named Santa Fe. This was one of a network of listening posts intercepting encoded messages for onward transmission to Bletchley Park for decryption. The Tudor kitchen and Great Hall were converted into “set rooms” for the banks of radio receivers. The parlour became the soldiers’ dormitory.

Most of the Y-Stations were manned by British Intelligence services. Santa Fe was unusual, being manned by Americans. When the Ultra network of listening stations was revealed in the mid-1970’s, Santa Fe’s location in Hall Place was one of the last to be identified.

Hall Place Today

The estate includes 160 acres of landscaped gardens, an award winning topiary display and a walled kitchen garden which dates to the 18th century. The gardens were opened to the public in 1952 by HRH The Duchess of Kent.

Hall Place, Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent

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Bexley Heritage Trust took over operations of Hall Place in 2000. In 2005 they received a £2 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop and improve the site for the benefit of visitors. Financial support for ongoing operations was provided by Bexley Council up until 2017 when funding was withdrawn. Bexley Heritage Trust ceased operations with the responsibility for operation of Hall place and nearby Danson House being assumed by Bexley Council.

Ben Venue Plantation House (William Fletcher House), Ben Venue Road, Flint Hill, Virginia

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Ben Venue Plantation House

The Ben Venue Plantation House is the central building to one of the best preserved mid-19th century farm complexes in Virginia. It is located just south of Flint Hill in Rappahannock County Virginia.

As the land in the Tidewater area of Virginia began to wear out in the 18th century, the early settlers began moving west. The rolling hills of the Piedmont area below the Blue Ridge Mountains provided the rich soil needed for settlement. By the early 19th century, the area of Rappahannock County was growing in prosperity as symbolized by large farmhouses with their associated outbuildings that formed the nuclei of large landholdings. One such large landholding was the Ben Venue Estate.

The land on which the Ben Venue Estate sits was a tract of 1,556 1/2 acres owned by William Fletcher. The house is believed to have been constructed by James Leake Powers, who reportedly worked under Thomas Jefferson on the University of Virginia. Although there is no documentary proof that Powers had been involved in the construction on either the Ben Venue Estate or the University of Virginia, the cellar chambers at the Fletcher house are an unusual feature which have been derived from similar examples at Monticello.

Ben Venue Plantation House (William Fletcher House), Ben Venue Road, Flint Hill, Virginia

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The house was built between 1844 and 1846. It has many elements of the Greek Revival style which was very popular in Virginia ca. 1820-1866. It is constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond and painted red. The facade is dominated by a one story porch that covers the three central bays. The windows in the house are of the original style – 9/9 hung sashes on the first floor and 6/9 on the second. The house has a formal boxwood garden to the front that provides a nice contrast to the surrounding fields.

The Ben Venue Plantation House and the surrounding farmland is private property and is still owned by William Fletcher’s descendants. The Plantation House together with approximately 73 acres and numerous other buildings associated with the main house and the farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December 1979.

Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse, The Riverfront, North Princess Street, Shepherdstown, WV

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Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse

The Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse is believed to be the oldest stone tobacco facility in West Virginia. Construction was completed around 1796-97. It is located on the banks of the Potomac River allowing for easy export in the period before railroads existed. It is a rare example of late eighteen century vernacular architecture in West Virginia. There are almost no other surviving buildings showing the workings of the tobacco industry in post-Revolutionary Virginia.

Mecklenburg was founded in 1734 when Thomas Shepherd parented 222 acres on the south side of the Potomac River along Falling Spring Branch (now known as Town Run). 50 of these acres were sub-divided into 96 lots with streets drawn up to form a town which was recognized by the Virginia General Assembly in 1762. He named the town Mecklenburg in honor of Charlotte of Mecklenburg who had married King George III of England the previous year.

Shepherd was the sole trustee, owning the town and being responsible for its government. The town changed its name to Shepherds Town in honor of its founder around 1797-1798. After the Civil War, the name became Shepherdstown.

Tobacco was the main cash crop in the early days of the American Colonies. It was also used as a medium of exchange in place of hard currency. Most of the output was exported to England and Europe. Exports began to decline as the Europeans questioned the quality of American tobacco. In 1730, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Tobacco Inspection Act in order to reestablish the quality and rejuvenate the export markets. The law centralized the inspection of tobacco warehouses. These warehouses were privately owned but subject to strict regulations regarding their location, erection, maintenance and operation. One regulation resulting from the earlier wooded warehouses being swept away by flooding of the James River stated that the buildings had to be constructed of stone or brick with “strong doors, to be hung on iron hinges, and with strong locks and bolts.”

Abraham Shepherd, the son of Thomas Shepherd, was granted the right to open a tobacco warehouse by the Virginia General Assembly in November 1788. It is known that the building took almost ten years to build from the lists of tobacco warehouses and inspectors maintained by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The list from 1795 showed a warehouse at Mecklenburg but no inspector. As the warehouse could not function without an inspector, this probably indicates the building was not yet complete. After the name of the town was changed around 1797-98, the warehouse is listed under the new name with John Webley as the inspector.

Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse, The Riverfront, North Princess Street, Shepherdstown, WV

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The characteristics of the warehouse indicate its likely construction by German Craftsmen. The unique roof trusses are a modification of the typical truncated German trusses found in the region. These trusses are notched to carry both purlins and ceiling rafters and had a peculiar change in the pitch to accommodate the piggy backing of the rafters. This design is found at Fort Bowman in Shenandoah, Virginia and the Schifferstadt house in Frederick, Maryland, both of which are known to have been built by Germans. The Germans who migrated from eastern and central Pennsylvania brought a strong stone building tradition with them from the Rhine Valley where they originated which is similar to the warehouse’s stone construction.

The preservation of the Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse has been undertaken by The Friends of the Shepherdstown Riverfront. The building has been stabilized with several preservation projects both inside and around the building completed to the extent that an open house was able to be held on May 18, 2013. The Friends of Shepherdstown Riverfront was disbanded in the spring of 2015. The Corporation of Shepherdstown has assumed responsibility for the continuation of the restoration project. They will also decide on a suitable use for the building.

A lot of the information for this post has been taken from a report dated March 20, 2010 prepared for the Friends of the Shepherdstown Riverfront by Charles Belfoure. UPDATE – The Friends of the Shepherdstown Riverfront disbanded in April of 2015.  Although their web-site has been archived, the access to to the report appears to have been lost.

The Mecklenburg Tobacco Warehouse is a contributing building to the Shepherdstown Historic District which includes McMurran Hall at Shepherd University.  The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in August 1973.

St Margaret of Antioch Church, Darenth Hill, Darenth, Kent, England

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St Margaret of Antioch Church

St Margaret of Antioch Church is the Parish church for Darenth, about three miles south-east of Dartford in North West Kent. It is reckoned to be the third oldest church in Kent and the sixth oldest in the United Kingdom. Like other churches along the Darent Valley such as St Michael and All Angels Church and St John the Baptist Church which we have visited in other posts, the church is located on a steep knoll above the valley to prevent damage from flooding.

The Parish of Darenth (also spelled Darent) dates back to at least 940. Athelstane, King of England had given the perpetual inheritance of Darent to Duke Eadulf. In 940, with the king’s consent, the duke gave the land to Christ Church, Canterbury. The church of St Margaret of Antioch, as well as the nearby Darent manor, was exchanged by Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury with the monks of Rochester in 1195 for the manor in Lambeth. This became Lambeth Palace which remains the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury today.

St Margaret of Antioch Church is one of 36 in the county of Kent which can date their construction back to Saxon times. Although the Parish can be shown to date back to 940, the church was built in the late 10th or early 11th Century. The church is one of eight in the borough of Dartford mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The original Saxon nave measured 36 feet 9 inches by about 19 feet with walls 19 inches thick and about 19 feet high. The north and west walls remain intact today as well as part of the east wall. The main building material was flint. Of note are the quoins which do not follow the usual Saxon practice of using vertical and horizontal stones. For the construction of this church, tiles from a nearby Roman Villa located about half a mile south have been used.  These tile quoins can clearly be seen in the image below.

St Margaret of Antioch Church, Darenth Hill, Darenth, Kent, England

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The church was extended by the Normans early in the 12th Century. This extension created an unusually long chancel of two compartments. The tower on the south west corner was added in the 13th Century. Additional changes were made during the 14th and 15th centuries. There was an extensive restoration in the 19th Century. This was carried out by Ewan Christian in the 1880s. I have already provided my comments on his work in the post about St Michael and All Angels Church so I will not repeat them here.

What is clear as one studies the building, especially the windows, which each appear to be of a different style, is that the changes as well as the renovations in the 19th Century did not follow a homogeneous plan. Fortunately, one can still see the main split of styles between the original Saxon portion, to the right, and the Norman to the left. The tower does confuse this as it more closely attunes to the Saxon part of the church but is actually Norman.

Today, St Margaret of Antioch Church is part of the Church of England. It is still the Parish Church but is now part of the Darent Valley Benefice. The three adjoining parishes of St Margaret’s Darenth, St Mary’s Horton Kirby and St John’s Sutton-at-Hone work together under a single vicar enabling the churches to pool resources and work more efficiently.  One efficiency comes from the Sunday morning services rotating around the churches rather than trying to provide a service in all three.

St Margaret of Antioch Church is a Grade I Listed Building on the National Heritage List for England (NHLE). A Grade I listing means the church is of “exceptional interest”. Out of the over 500,000 building on the NHLE, only about 2.5% are Grade I.

Another one of my recent second-hand book purchases is Kent Churches by John E. Vigar.  The county of Kent was one of the cradles of Christianity in England with some of the oldest and most interesting churches in the county.  The book provides an introduction to the architecture and history of over 200 Anglican churches in Kent.