evolution of new england church architecture
DESCRIPTION
Prophet of the Soul: Evolution of Early New England Ecclesiastical Architecture in Relation to ReIigious Thought. This is a paper I wrote in high school in 1991. Along with memorizing the first 40 lines of the prologue to the Canterbury Tales in Middle English, writing the so-called "church paper" was a legendary rite of passage for seniors at my school. (We all have McSweeney to thank for that.) This paper included a set of annotated photos of churches, which I have uploaded separately. Some of the text is garbled because of the challenges of optical character recognition, and because of McSweeney's margin notes.TRANSCRIPT
A PRO P H E T o F THE SOU L
. Evolution of Early New EnglandEcclesiastical Architecture inRelation to ReI igious Thought
A MitchellMcSweeney
Honors English29 October 1990
,
Prophet of the Soul
I. Introductory Statement
II. Background of European Influence
III. Early Fort-like Buildings
IV. Hip-roof Meetinghouses
A. Hingham
V. Towers Added
A. Old South
B. Wethersfield
VI. Towers Recessed
A. Ki 11ingworth
B. Asher Benjamin
VII. Greek Revival
A. Old Lyme
7
Colonial meetinghouses sprouted from and flourIshed In duallty~~
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The Separatists and Puritans had broken with the Anglicans,
physically as well as philosophically, and came to America to
begin a second society, a New England. The two dominant forces
in most societies -- this one is no exception -- are government
and religion. So although the colonies never lived under an
organized theocracy, they felt the influence of God in every-
thing. The two worlds of religion and government blended
naturally, creating a social harmony In the colonies. As the
need to congregate manifested, a place to do so became
increasingly important.
The buildings that emerged from this need were one form with
two functions. A government official was as welcome, and as
enltled, to speak there as any minister. But when questions
arose as to who was more entitled, the tacit agreements raged
into loud debates. The relation of church to state became an
issue of the highest concern, and the subsequent separation
reshaped the Puritan life. This reshaping is evident in the
ecclesiastical architecture of the perIod. The structural flow Jlfrom stockaded forts to hipped roofs to towers and Pal ladlan ~
windows illustrates the evolution of religious and political ~
thought in colonial New England.
The establishment of the church of England in 1559 brought
dissension quickly, from those known as the Puritans and the
Separatists. They met secretly In private houses In the late
sixteenth and early seventeenth century, while the followers of
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the national church worshiped in churches and chapels.
The Separatists, led by Robert Brown, believed in the
sovereignty of each congregation, a proposition set forth In his
1582 A treatise of reformation without tarrying for any.1
Though Brown returned to the Anglicans in 1586, the movement
continued, fighting repression and looking for a way to worship
freely. Freedom came by way of Amsterdam.
With Francis Johnson and H~~~pworth as leaders,
Separatists settled In a reluctant Amsterda~ThOU9h the
the
Immigrant Separatists and Dutch Calvinists had their differences,
the former were able to develop their religion freely. It was
perhaps here where their abhorrence of idolatry and images took
hold. When James I took the throne in 1603, the Separatists
requested In the Puritan Millenary Petition that
all monuments of Idolatry ...dedlcated heeretofore bythe Heathens or Antichristlans to their false worshipought ...to be rased and abolished. 2
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As with everything these Separatists did, this Idea had Its
roots in the scriptures. The connection Is not difficult to see
In this case, as the Separatists viewed all the Anglicans as
pagans, and the Bible "condemneth the antichrlstian worship, for
idolatrle and worship of divils."3
In England, the Separatists continued to worship in private
houses. Because they still gathered secretly, they arrived "2 or
3 in a company ...and all being gathered together, the man
appointed to teach stands in the midst of the Roome and his
audience gather about him."4 Crowds are known to have
•
" -3-
accumulated to more than one-hundred fifty at a time. But they
never had the internal strength or cooperation to establish their
own building program which met the standards of their worship.
Because of this, the Separatists had no ideas for religious
architecture when they settled Plymouth, save for the rejection
of the English parish churches,
The Puritans, meanwhile, remained in England while they~,
denied the supremlty of the monarch In the Church of England and-------
called for the abolishment of the episcopacy. The Puritans ob-
jected to any ornamentation for which they found no justification
In the Bible. But they worshiped in their parish churches
whenever they could. At the very least, the Puritans had some
~ea what form a meetinghouse should take, and after the settle-
ment of the Massachusetts Bay In the 1630's, they built the first
New Engiand meetlnghouses.5
In the earl iest settlements, there were three important
uses of the meetinghouse. The first was to serve as a gathering
place to discuss the administrative and societal desires of the
colonies. The second, sometimes primary, reason was to act as a
place of worship. Thirdly, the buildings protected the colonists
from Indian attack. And though the palpable effects of this
third function became somewhat obscured over the years,
Indirect influence can be seen in churches built nearly
hundred years later.
trac;~fl
two '-l0
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With these three functions In mind, the colonists built
very simple, purely utilitarian structures. They had no
•. . -4-
ornamentation, no exquisite craftsmanship. These buildings
without any definite style closely resembled stockaded forts.6
But as the threat from ~nger waned somewhat
became more stYliZed'~w forms developed.
and architecture
The critlcai period of transition into somewhat similar
meetinghouses was the Great Migration of 1630-1642, the arrival
of John Winthrop to the Civil War in England. In these twelve
years, forty meetinghouses were built: twenty-nine in the Massa-r
chusetts Bay colony, six In Connecticut, and one on Long Island.
All records Indicate this Is the first appearance of meeting-
houses, though it cannot be determined whether the colonists
wanted to build "meetinghouses" as distinct from "churches."7
On March 4, 1628 a charter was granted to the Massachusetts
Bay colony. In it there was no mention of a building program.
But in the secret "Cambridge Agreement" of August 26, 1629, there
was a request that all stockholders intending to go to New
England should by all the shares possible In the company and
assume control of everythlng.8 It was here that political
separatism and rei igious independence developed, then combined,
clearing the way for a theocracy In the colonies.
Soon after, the leaders of the enterprise had met in London
to discuss the "buiiding of fforts ...and convenyent churches."9
On August 6, 1629, a congregation was organized in Salem, Mass.
A visitor from England described this group as meeting in "a
falre house newly built for the governor.,,10 Within a year,
John Winthrop had decided in his journal to build a "new
meet! nghouse" at Dorchester, Mass. From that day -- March
/
~----5-
19, 1631-- t~e.~types of buildings
houses. "11 c.pwere referred to as "meetlng-
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In Charlestown, Mass, a "Great House" was built In 1628,
made of timber with a large chamber for meetings. The
arrangement was the same as Winthrop's house.12 Four years
later, the congregation at Boston and Charlestown "began the
meetinghouse at Boston, for which ...they made a voluntary
contribution of 120 pounds."13 This was the beginning of
ecclesiastical architecture in Boston. Little is known of this
building, except that in 1640 it was declared "decayed and too
small" and torn down.14
Connecticut was moving at much the same pace. A letter to
a Lady in England tells of Sir Richard Sal ton, who "hath also ~
much building at his own house, and fencing, ploughing, and / f"(plant!ng, ...and first a house for God to dwel I in.ool5 New
Hampshire Is not known to have built such a building until 1640
when they voted on May 25 for a "parsonage house with chapple
thereunto united." This combination was not an Innovation of
Yankee Ingenuity, however. It was well known In England.16
Some of the first meetinghouses were probably timber-framed
with daubing and thatched roofs, but there are few records to
prove it. From 1630 - 1640, progress was made in the general
areas of construction. Clapboards and a stalred porch were used
In 1640 In Hartford; Dedham, Mass. had oak and pine floorboards;
Salem used glazed windows; a meetinghouse In New Haven had a
turret which could be entered by a watchman. Other meetinghouses
had small roofs on posts to shelter bells, and some, such as
.
Salem In 1636 and
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SMhamptoo. NowYock. hod hooti OQ s,stoms. n0/As the 1640's arrived, more records were made describing
the actual nature of these meetinghouses. It is believed that
most were square or close to It, with an entrance on three sides.
They usually had galleries on the same sides as the entrances.
Galleries were often necessary to increase seating capacity, but
not always part of the original building plan. There was not
yet any preference as to which side the galleries were on.18
Two rows of windows, one to shed light on the ground floor, the
other for the galleries. The windows were with leaded, dlamond-
shaped panes. The building was capped with a steep hlp roof
which had a turret in the center. A watchman with a drum or a
bel I stood in the turrets.19 If not, a bell tower may have
been built separately. Some churches, like Springfield, Mass.,
1644, had both a tower for a bell and a tower for watchman,
placed on either end. Gables were also first being used, an
architectural design considered symbolic In contemporary EnglIsh
literature, but probably used her only for the medieval
effect.20
Inside, the puipit was placed on whatever side was opposite
the main door. A "broad alley" connected the two, with simple
bench pews on the sides. Behind the puipit was the pulpit
window, placed between the two rows of windows. The building was
often oak-framed, the wal Is were planked, and the ceiling left
off. Eventually, the congregation added backs to the benches,
then changed them into box pews.21 No ornamentation or
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artistry was found In these, as It conjured remembrances of ido-
latry and Papists. A simple, drop-leaf communion table stood In
front of the pulpit. Later, the altar was placed opposite to the
east or south entrance, contrasting directly with the English
tradition. For hour after hour, Puritans would stand to pray.
When this became too tiresome, they tilted the benches so that
they might lean back slightly. The Puritans might sit, but would
never kneel to pray.22
This building was the gathering place for Sabbath and town
meeting, as well as for any crisis. Community life revolved
around the meetinghouse, bringing the whole town together beneath
one roof. Whether it was a prayer service or guest speaker, any
Important occasion would be recognized here.
But most Important of all was the Sabbath and the oppor-
tunity to save the soul. Twice, sometimes three times, each
Sabbath the congregation would come to the church and stand
raptured, taking in the expounded glory of the sermon. And if rfthis was not enough, they could return on Thursday for more (
Inspiration. The weekly pi igrlmage to the meetInghouse seems to
have had an almost divine nature about it, but the house Itself
was supposed to have no sacred nature. Sti II, the colonists
often referred to their meetinghouse as the "house of the
Lord."23 Unintentionally, the Puritans seem to have given
their house of worship a certain degree of divinity, or at least
considered It a representation of God's grace. It was at the
meetinghouse they could pray In congregation to God, It was at
the meetinghouse they could save their soul, It was at the
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meetinghouse that all good things came.
Among these good things was the pure democratic form which
stemmed from the town meetings. Within the meetinghouse, all
decisions of the town could be made by simple vote. One man, one
vote was the structure they believed to be living under. But on
Sunday, this Image of equality fell apart. The seats were
assigned by name In order of social honor or prominence.
Distinctions were made by age, wealth, birth, education, and
public service.24 The best man sat in the 'foreseats", while
the Indians and blacks were put up In the galleries so that they
might worship in isolation from the others. The seats closest to
the pulpit were held by the minister's family. The pulpit itself
was raised in near exaltation of the position of minister, though
not necessarily the minister hlmself.25 This ironic duality
resulted in a government based on near-pure democracy and a 0/church-seating system based largely on social prominence, both of
which were exercised beneath the same roof. But for the most
tance of Individual responsibility, it is only just that the
Having stressed the impor-part, this fit the Puritan mindset. ,yphysical proximity of man to pulpit be relative to his spiritual c\
closeness to God, as measured by his social accomplishment. ~\O
Just as it was important to be seated near the pupit, it was
Important to live near as possible to the church. Whether this
was because people needed to feel close to God, or simply because
they did not want to travel the poor roads, great debates were
fought over the location of the meetinghouses. These debates
sometimes made it to the county legislator or erupted In
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violence. It was considered a remarkable event If a location was
agreed upon without turmoil .26 Sometimes, meetinghouses
decided the locations of the residential houses, as when the
colony of Massachusetts decided that "noe dwelling house shall be
builte above half a myle from the meetinghouse." The wisdom of
this idea was acknowl edged by an anonymous wr iter: "Suppose the
Towne square 6 miles every waye. The Howses orderly placed about
the midst, especial jy the Meetinghouse, that which we will
suppose to be the center of the wholl Clrcumference."Z7
This plan was used for a 1669 meetinghouse in New Haven, CT,
James Wadsworth drew on a map of the Green. The building faced
east in the center of the mid-most of nine squares in the quad-
rangle, about where the present church is today. It is pictured
with a hlp roof with a turret and weathervane on top. Two rows of
windows (5 bays) Imply a gallery. Dormer windows adorn the sides
of the hlp roof. Also, there are three front doors, unusual for
meeting houses of this time period.28
The interior of this church would probably resemble that of
the second meetinghouse built in Newbury, Mass., completed in
1700. It was described by the Reverend JS Popkins as
filled with long seats. Contiguous to the wall weretwenty pews. The spaces for the pews were grantedto particular persons who appear to have been prin-cipals. Before the pulpit ...was a large deacon'sseat ...where sat the chiefs of the fathers. Theyoung people sat in the upper gallery, and thechildren on a seat in the alley fixed to the out-side of the pews. 29
Between 1661 and 1700, at least 122 meetinghouses were
built, 52 of which were on new sites, 58 were second on site,j
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eleven were the third, and one was the fourth. In this time
period, no new elements were introduced to the basic form of
meetinghouses. The major change was In size. The colonies were
growing larger, as were the parishes, and larger places of
worship were needed.
Already, the expansion was affecting the control the clergy
had over standards of conduct. They were unable to maintain
political power. In 1662, the Connecticut and New Haven colonies
were united under royal charter, and Massachusetts was ordered to
extend the vote to those people outside the Congregational
church.3D
But regardless of what is written, the ways of the past tend
to dominate the present. Thus many towns will continue to build
their meetinghouses in a form similar to other towns. Meeting-
houses of the latter part of the 17th century generally had an
entrance on the south side and a pulpit opposite. Abandoning the
fixed altar of the Angl icans made It possible to use the space in
the east end for seating with either pews or gaileries. More
galleries provided addtional seating, which were originally or
later part of 46 of the 122 meetinghouses built in the forty-year
stretch. Lean-tos, which created a similarity to an English-----parish church, were Incorporated Into several.31 Porches with
stairs became more popular In the 1660's, and, perhaps most
Importantly, the tower and spire combinations began to develop
atop the hip roofs. The Third Church in Boston is shown In
Burgls' "View of Boston" to have three gables on the long side,
and a huge turret in the center. Also, It was described as being
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"completely covered with sheete lead." Medieval decorationsA
continued to be a part of the structures, especial Iy the~ ,
pyramidal motlf.32
The oniy structure stll I standing from this period is the
"Old Ship" Meetinghouse in Hingham, Mass., bull t over three days-in late July, 1680. That year, the congregation had agreed to a
structure "55 footes In length & 45 footes In breadth, and twenty
or one and twenty footes to be the height of the posts, with
galleries one one side and at both ends" to replace the building
demolished 35 years earlier. The location was of considerable
debate, and the governor had to make the decision. Once the
location was decided, the building was built at a cost of 430
pounds, paid for by a progressive tax on the citizens.33
Old Ship was built with a hlp roof, probably adorned with
three dormers. The longer side ran roughly east to west, while
the main entrance was found In the center of the south side,
with two other entrances on the east and west sides. The pulpit
was placed In the north or north-east section. Two rows of
diamond-paned windows graced all four wal Is, with and additional
window centered behind the pulplt.34
The interior was simple as the outside. Two rows of seven
benches were placed on each side of the alley, 9 or 10 to each
bench. Nine shorter seats at right angles to each other were
set on the north side. These benches, surrounded by galleries on
three sides, provided the seating. The communion table, a major
cause of disagreement between the Anglicans in the Puritans, was
attached to the deacon's chair. Old Ship, like other Puritan
· . -12-
churches, emphasized the communal, not sacrificial, aspect of the
Last Supper. No plaster was used, but the wal Is were ciapboarded
Inside. The roof's resemblance to an Inverted ship's hull and
that It was probably built by local shipmen give the church Its
nickname. The compasses found on the cupola and above the pulpit
emphasize this. 35 ,~'VlY"The first mass was held on January 8, 1681. The entire
-<---population of Hingham sat within their new church arranged accor-
ding to age, wealth, and dignity. The women sat on the east, men
In the west, and the young In the galleries. Below the pulpit
were two seats for the elders. At the head of the women's side
sat the minister's wife. This mixture of the wealthy with the
honorable became a common seating arrangement for the next
100 years.36
The Puritan opposition to the beliefs of the Church of
England affected their architecture, and it seems likely that the
Separatist disagreement with the Dutch had a milder, but similar,
effect. Despite the Dutch presence In southern Connecticut, there
is very little Dutch influence on the meetinghouses there. One
exception is in Fairfield, built in 1698, and described by
Alexander Hamilton as
another town in which is an octagonal I church ormeeting built of wood like that of Jamaica uponLong Island, upon the cupola of which is a publicclock. 37
Hamilton refers to the Dutch Reformed Church of Jamaica, 1715,
which was actually hexagonal and a late example of Dutch style.
These are the only two octagonal or hexagonal shaped churches or
meetinghouses known to have been built in 17th century New
--
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England. This wouid indicate that Engl ish settlers were not
particularly enthusiastic about imitating the Dutch architecture,
even though they had been built with a similar religious zeQI.
Mostly, the settlers seemed content with copying or slightly
modifying what they had seen In other towns. Hip roofs became
gabled, then cross-gabled. Dormers were added, as were pronounced
platforms and higher turrets. Though the settlers began with no
single Idea of what a meetinghouse should look like, by the end
of the 17th century, major Ideas had been worked into the
architecture. The meetinghouses had accomplished what the
settlers had wanted -- they were dlstingulshabie from the
churches of England. There was no opulence, there was purpose.
They had combined two functions into one public bui Iding, and
that building, through competition, would become the hallmark of
New England society. I ) I
At last, this competitionYcombined with revised thinking, had
brought about change. The fear of art, music, and poetry began
to subside. The plainness of the first meetinghouses was
decorated with columns or other structural ornamentation. The
early 18th century saw a faltering In the strictness of compul-
sory faith and was a prelude to the Great Awakening. The sheer
utilitarian approach to ecclesiastical architecture lessened. The
basic requirements which had been established since 1642 -- a
room with a pulpit toward the center of one wall -- became some-
thing to be elaborated upon. Beyond just more galleries, more
pews, and a larger belfry, but serious architectural innovations
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to correspond with the new enlightened age.
A sudden change from the squarish to the rectangular buildings
carried over into the early 18th century. There was no single
event which pushed out the sides, perhaps just a need for greater
size. It was architecturally difficult to support a hlp roof on
a square building with sides longer than 50 feet.
In 1699, the first known church with a tower and spire at
one end was built In Boston. The Brattle Street church fol lows
a Wren-like design on the outside. The Burgis view shows a two
story building with a balustraded gable roof, and a square tower
on one end. The tower has a belfry window, another balustrade, a
spice, and a weathervane. At 72 feet long and 52 feet wide, it
was the largest meetinghouse since Boston's third meetinghouse,
1665.38
The first meeting here was held on Christmas Eve, 1699. The
minister preached from Chronicles, asking
will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannotcontain thee; how much less this house which I havebuilt!
This text suggests the sanctity of the new building, however
contrary to Puritan belief, and coincided with the first
reference to such a building as a "church."39
By 1710, radical changes had occured. Along with oblongness
came the steep pitched roof, a cupola mounted atop a square
tower, and traces of decoration. The desire for size created the
pitched roof, but It was the desire for reform which brought the
other effects, forecasting the Great Awakening by 20 years.
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Characteristic of this new type was a main door set In the
middle of a long side, often entered through a porch. Also, doors
were placed at each of the two narrow ends. The type began with
little ornament, and without a tower looked similar to a barn.
The pulpit moved from an end to the broadside, opposite the main
door and close to the congregation. The pulpit was elevated high
enough to facilitate the observing and observance of the
7'
mi nister. A gallery wrapped around three sides, leaving open
the pulpit wal I where a sounding board hung down to give the
1minlster's voice extra verve. The deacon's seat with an attached
~CQmmUniOn table was placed below him. Most of the ornament was
found in the pulpit and the surrounding area. This style
dominated al I parts of New England In the 18th century.46
In 1712, four of these types were built. Guilford,
Connecticut, Concord, Mass., and Portsmouth and Newington, New
Hamphire, all witnessed the birth of a giant in ecclesiastical
architecture. The church in Guilford was 68 feet by 45 feet and
was lit by three stories of windows. The main entrance sat in
the middle of the broad south side, and two doors opened at the
ends. In 1726, a tower was added with a belfry and clock, making
It the first church In New England to have a bell, clock, and
steeple. The church survived until 1830.41
Concord's Second Meetinghouse was simi lar. It also had
three stories, but no tower. A small porch watched over the main
entrance on the broad east or south side. A tower was added in
1791, with an octagonal belfry and spire. The Greek Revival
altered It In 1841, and it burned sixty years later.42
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Portsmouth's Old North Meetinghouse is also similar to
Guilford, with Its three floors, and later Its tower. The main
door was entered through a two-storied porch on the south side.
Two tiers of galleries satisfied demands for a greater size.
The Congregational Church In Newington, NH, is the oldest
Congregational building in the United States. Also built in
1712, it is smaller than its cousins, has a single row of long
windows on either side, and a belfry attached to the roof on the
east end. The pulpit stands at the west end, where a square
tower originally was. Before alterations, the main entrance was
in the middle of the south side, the pulpit was placed on the
north wall, and two rows of windows were divided by a three-sided
gallery, just as the other churches were.43
But perhaps the finest example of this type of building Is
the Old South Meetinghouse in Boston, constructed of brick In
1729. At 94 feet long and 64 feet wide, It Is probably the ~
largest of Its kind ever built in New England. The long axis
runs roughly east to west. In the middle of the broad south side
sat the main entrance, which has since been moved. The two rows
of windows are rounded on top, a departure from the usual
rectangular design. The upper row is slightly larger than the
lower, possibly to bring more light Into and over the galleries.
The west end is home to the 90 foot tower, which houses the bel I,
another deviation from tradition. An octagonal cupola with eight
columns and arched openings rises into an octagonal stage and the
spire, atop which sits a weathervane.
Though the Interior was completely destroyed by the British
·-17-
during the Revolution, enough remains to know that the floor was
covered with square pews, and two tiers of galleries hovered
above, possibly on the east, south and west sldes.44 This
design continued to be prominent for 70 years after its creation.
Because of the problematic times of the early 18th century,
a rel igious movement to pick up the people's spirits, so to
speak, was desired and probable. As Jonathan Edwards launched
his fervorous fire-and-brimstone attacks on sin, a new religious
feeling manifested In the hearts of New Englanders. The Renais-
sance and Christopher Wren had sent Influence across the Atlantic
to give American builders a classical base. Better and grander
ways to please the Almighty became a necessity. And necessity,
as ever, mothered invention, to bring about greater advances In,
among other things, religion and architecture.
Greatly affected by the Awakening and its results was the
Wethersfield, CT, Congregational Church, built In 1761. Wethers-
field and Old South are the only two remaining brick churches
from this period. The pitched roof, and the main entrance on the
long south side are reminiscent of Old South, as Is the great
tower. But the most distinguishing trait of Wethersfield is the
spire, a near mirror of Trinity Church, in Newport, RI, an
Episcopal church. The Inside is filled with rectangular pews and
box pews along the sides. The three-sided gallery Is lit wIth
rows of forty-paned windows.
But as the effects of the Awakening wore off after the
Revolution, New England fell Into social and religious turmoil.
Atheists and Yale students al ike became disenchanted with
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tradition. Social unrest and indecIsion blocked meaningful
development, and America was hit by the post-war economic dive.
As the government reorganized the country, New England was
once again able to get back on Its cultural horse. The shipping
and trade Industries renewed themselves, the agricultural
Interests yielded benefits, and wealth and leisure were enjoyed.
The movements from the hills to the valleys began as people
sought more of the good Iife. Their confidence in religion
surged, yet they also became more tolerant of other reI igions.
And as this freedom expanded, no one church was capable of
meetIng the needs of the town's entice population as wei I as act
as meeting house for public affairs. More people felt that God
should have his own house, separate from the house of the
The secular role in meeting houses declined, and
religious buildings were built, acting as a harbinger
of the separation of church and state.45 Society wanted sepa-
rate buildings for different purposes, and separate Institutions
for different aspects of society.
There were, of course, some transitional churches. Mostly,
these churches simply mOdified the Interior and put the main
entrance at the tower end, and the pulpit opposite. The old
entrance was closed, and the wall on which the pulpit window sat
would be changed accordingly. The other important features
remained. An example of this can be found at West Springfield,
Massachusetts. This meetinghouse was built In 1800, and retains
the look its predecessors save for the entrance at the base of
the tower, and two more on the sides of the front. By standing
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In front of the church, one can see all three doors. A small
Palladian window crosses the bridge from the old to the new.46
As West Springfield shows, the elongated shape of these new
churches remained the same, except with a gentler slope to the
roof. The entrances were moved to one end, the pulpit placed at
the opposite. The doors were In sets of three, one on the
center, one on either side of the porch. Palladian windows were
put above the doors. Over the two-storied entrance bay entrance
stood the steeple, pushed back into the building. This new
steeple was often more ornate than those of the older buildings,
but did not always carry a splre.47
The Inside was graced with far more elaborate carvIng and
designs. The gallery flowed around three sides, stopping at the
fourth where a high pulpit rose. Nearly every church built after
1800 until the Greek Revival used this "Federal" design, sup-
ported by Asher Benjamin in his Builder's Assistant, Charles
Bulfinch, and James Gibbs.48
Benjamin offers a Bulflnch-inspired "Design for a Church" In
his book, which became a great Influence throughout New England,
with the exception of Connecticut and Rhode Island. He proposed
a church with a shallow entrance porch with three doors across
the narrow front side. The middle Is the largest, and three
windows sit above, the center a Palladian. Around the square
tower is a railing decorated with urns which surrounds an open
belfry of eIght columns. Square-topped openings separate them
and stand below another ral ling and more urns. Above this, a
second octagonal stage with pilasters is decorated with painted
-20-
ovals made to look like windows. Al I this Is topped with a
double dome.49
An example close to this proposal is the Congregational
Church in Killingworth, CT, built in 1820. A Jate Federal,
Killingworth has three doors on the two-story front bay; the
center Is the tallest. Three windows are set over the doors on
the second level of the bay. The square steeple gives way to a
two-stage belfry topped with a fish design weathervane. A large
clock Is centered in the tower. Inside, the altar Is surpri-
singly simple, with a few columns and elevated pulpit.
Atypical of the Federal period is the Park Street Church
Boston. Built of brick In 1809, It serves as a model of the
flexibility of a city church. Boston could afford to build a
church such as this, and Peter Banner was a competent architect.
The space between the tower and the face of the building Is
arched forward, making a semisphere across the front. A large
Palladian and four columns on each side give Park Street a
different look than most other churches in New England.
But these city churches had little opportunity to develop
after the War of 1812. As the shipping trade decreased its
activity, people came to work in the factories, and the control
of the church again relaxed, the time and energy to create new
churches with relevance to the mores of New England society was
lost. The classical leanings of the Greek Revival came up from
the South. By 1830, the era of Federal building had passed.
Though there were some architectural problems In smoothly
placIng a steeple atop a temple, some churches were reasonable
-
,
-21-
accomplishments. The basic look was a low pitch roof, a pushed
back, two-staged steeple, Doric columns, and heavy square
doors.5D
The church in Old Lyme, CT, built in 1817, is considered
by many to be the finest example of Greek Revival In the 19th
Century and fits the description well. Four slender Ionic
columns stand on the porch, framing the three heavy doors.
Above, a two-stage square steeple supports a six-sided pll-
Jared belfry. A spire shoots Into the air.
But regardless of the strength of these steepled temples,
they did not speak of the New England religion any longer.
symbolized the falling apart of the small-town way 'which gave us
the Old Ship and "One If by land, Two If by sea." These thIngs
seem Inapplicable to a Parthenon-like fortress stuck on the wrong
continent. The Greek revivals were devoid of feeling, of
personality. And so through the Greek period and the subsequent
Gothic period, New England ecclesiastical architecture lost Its
meaning and fell into a trap of unorlginality and creative loss.
If the pattern of understanding people through their architecture
Is to be fol lowed here as wei I, one could make the case that the
same could be said of New Englanders.
. .I •
ENDNOTES
Sinnott, p. 137.50.
1. Marian Card Donnelly, The New England Meetinghouses ofthe Seventeenth Century (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan UniversityPress, 1968), p. 39.
2. Donnelly, p. 40.3. Donnelly, p. 40.4. Donnelly, p. 41.5. Donnelly, p. 42.6. Edmund W. Sinnot, Meetinghouse and Church In Early New
England (New York: McGraw-Hili, 1963), p. 15.7. Donnelly, p. 7.8. Donnelly, p. 9.9. Donnelly, p. 9.10. Donnelly, p. 11.11. Donnelly, p. 9.12. Donnelly, p. 12.13. Donnelly, p. 13.14. Donnelly, p. 13.15. Donnelly, p. 13.16. Donnelly, p. 13.17. Donnelly, p. 15-16.18. Donnelly, p. 14.19. Sinnott, p. 16.20. Donnelly, p. 50.21. Sinnott, p. 9.22. Sinnott, p. 6.23. Sinnott, p. 6.24. Sinnott, p. 7.25. Sinnott, p. 8.26. Sinnott, p. 8-9.27. Donnelly, p. 25.28. Sinnott, p. 30.29. Sinnott, p. 31.30. Donnelly, p. 64.31. Donnelly, p. 65.32. Donnelly, p. 66.33. Donnelly, p. 72.34. Sinnott, p. 32.35. Sinnott, p. 32.36. Sinnott, p. 36.37. Donnelly, p. 79.38. Donnelly, p. 79.39. Donnelly, p. 79.40. Sinnott, p. 20.41. SInnott, p. 39.42. Sinnott, p. 40.43. Sinnott, p. 41.44. Sinnott, p. 44.45. Sinnott, p. 73.46. Sinnott, p. 73.47. Sinnott, p. 74.48. Sinnott, ij. 25.
49. Slooott. ~~
-
, .
Donnely, Marian Card. TheSeventeenth Century.Press, 1968.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
New England Meetinghouses of theMiddletown, CT: Wesleyan University
Mallary, Peter T. New England Churches and Meetinghouses. NewYork: Vendome Press, 1985.
Rose, Harold Wickliffe. The Colonial Houses of Worship InAmerica. New York: Hastings House, 1963.
Sinnott, Edmund W. Meetinghouse and Church In Early New EnglandNew York: McGraw-Hi I1, 1963.