Stamp the PastPlay free
Places › Williamsburg and Jamestown, VA

Bruton Parish Church: then and now

1902 vs 2015 · Williamsburg and Jamestown, VA

Bruton Parish Church, 2015Bruton Parish Church, 1902
NowThen
Then, 1902A color print of the church with its steeple, taken from the churchyard. The date is the Library of Congress print date as given on Wikimedia Commons.Photo: Library of Congress print (photographer not named) · Public domain · Source · resized
Today, 2015The brick tower and roof of the church today, in a black-and-white photo cropped to match.Photo: Smash the Iron Cage · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source · resized, cropped

The story

Bruton Parish was formed in 1674 by merging two older parishes. Col. John Page gave land and money for a brick church in 1678, and that church was dedicated on January 6, 1684.

The present church came later. Governor Alexander Spotswood drafted plans for a cruciform church, the first such church in Virginia according to Wikipedia. The first building contract was awarded in 1711 and the church was finished in 1715, with Rev. James Blair overseeing the work.

From 1905 to 1907 Rev. W. A. R. Goodwin led a restoration of the interior. He later started the effort to restore Williamsburg's historic area. Today it is still an active Episcopal parish, so check service times before you visit.

Did you know? Bruton Parish is still an active Episcopal parish, with four Sunday services.
Historians argue about this. Wikipedia's infobox gives 1677 as the build date, but its text dates the brick church to 1681 to 1683 and the present church to 1711 to 1715, so 1677 matches neither. A story that a secret vault under the church holds Francis Bacon's writings is not supported: a 1992 Colonial Williamsburg dig to about twenty feet found no vault.

Fact or tall tale?

Sources

More: Look for historic photos at the Library of Congress

Stamp it in person

Go there, answer the question that only someone standing at Bruton Parish Church can answer, and add the stamp to your passport. Free, no sign-up.

Play Williamsburg and Jamestown

More in Williamsburg and Jamestown

Next: Governor's Palace. Written from the cited sources, not yet walked on site unless noted.