Sunday, April 29, 2012

The steeple fashion of 1810?


Less than 5 miles east of the Cathedral of St John the Divine is the Newman Congregational Church, which features the same pinnacles on its  tower as the Cathedral.  It is described in the Federal Writers' Project publication, Rhode Island: A Guide to the Smallest State (1937), as follows:


"The square tower of the present structure...is surmounted by a set-back stage or belfry with shuttered windows.  Crowning the belfry are sharp corner pinnacles connected by a low paneled parapet.  A central pinnacle, higher than the rest is topped with a weather vane." (p 397)


Significantly, the Guide states, the church was built in 1810 - the same year as the Cathedral.  The Cathedral (see previous post)  lacked the central pinnacle of the Newman tower.  (Was the cathedral's central pinnacle felled by a storm - or  did the original plan call for only corner pinnacles?)  Was there a glut of these pinnacle-towers in Rhode Island 200 years ago?  Or were there only these two?


The Guide also notes that the 1810 building, situated at 100 Newman Avenue, is within 200 feet of the original church of 1643 (now that's old!), which was conducted by Rev Samuel Newman.  In 1643, this section of East Providence would have been a part of the town of Rehoboth, and later of Seekonk.  Samuel Newman himself was a native of Banbury, England and a 1620 graduate of Trinity College, Oxford.  Religious persecution drove Newman to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635.


On a side note, I wonder if Rev Newman ever visited Wroxton Abbey as a young man.  Wroxton is a Jacobean manor house built by the Pope family in the early 17th century, just 3 miles from Newman's home village of Banbury, and owned by Newman's alma mater of Trinity College, Oxford.  It is now Wroxton College, of which this steeplechaser is an alum.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Time is running out for historic landmark



Plans to close the Cathedral of St John the Divine were announced in a recent  Providence Journal article.  The last service to be held in this historic church is scheduled for April 22nd, 2012.  


The cathedral, at 271 North Main Street on Providence's East Side, had its beginning way back in 1722 as King's Church.  The church, in fact, was closed once before, the article states - when the congregation refused to pray for King George III during the American War for Independence!



The 1810 building features the familiar square clock tower and belfry with spiky pinnacles above it, left.  The Providence Preservation Society's site includes more architectural details.

The Journal article cites the church's outreach to the community (serving up a weekly meal for the homeless), as well as the diversity of its parish (including 40% of Liberian ancestry).  The cathedral is also the ecclesiastical seat of RI's Episcopal bishop.  In summary, this church is not only an historical landmark, and the Bishop's church, but also a community of faith that seems to be meeting needs and keeping up with changes in its community.   

Yet, the article reports, there is just not enough revenue to maintain the old building.  Let's hope the iconic tower remains on the horizon and, more importantly, that the congregation can find another home in which to worship if they truly have to vacate this beautiful old building.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

New life in an old building


This solid-looking pyramidal steeple and bell tower grace the stately old Roger Williams Baptist Church in the Wanskuck neighborhood in Providence's north end.


I discovered this dignified gothic revival building, at the opposite end of Veazie Street from the Wanskuck Branch Library where I worked as branch librarian in 1998-99.  The church sits at the convergence of Veazie and Woodward Road.


The church was built in 1866 (1867 in some accounts) to serve the growing population of Providence's north end.  Much of this growth was related to the Wanskuck Co, founded in 1862 to produce textiles needed to make uniforms and blankets for the Civil war effort.


Sadly, the church closed in 2011 due to low membership, according to a story on the WPRI site.  Perhaps the decline reflects a much earlier population shift resulting from the close of the Wanskuck Co in 1957 as reported in a  short history of the Wanskuck neighborhood.


But there is good news for this old building - a new community of believers has recently purchased the property.  A  Providence Journal article reports that a new congregation, Christ Community Church, will move in later this month.    May God bless them as they bring new life to the building and to the community!




Friday, April 6, 2012

What happened to St. Mark's steeple?

St Mark's Church in Warren, RI presently has no steeple, although a tower existed at some point, as referenced in an Historical discourse delivered in St Mark's Church, Warren, RI [p 15] by rector William Nichols Ackley in 1878.
"On December 21st of this year [1839] a new bell, weighing 1950 pounds, was placed in the tower, the old one having broken.   Either a strange fatality must have haunted the bells of this church, or the good sextons must have displayed a singular energy in the ringing of them." 
Rector Ackley notes that the 1839 bell was the 3rd one purchased in the nine years since the church was built!


It turns out a hurricane weakened the bell tower and it had to be removed in 1945, according to an historical note from the Records of St Mark's Episcopal Church The records, which include annual reports, minutes of vestry meetings, parish registers, images, etc. are archived by Special Collections at the University of Rhode Island.


More curious than the missing steeple, however, is why the church would close its doors 2 years ago, after serving the Warren community for 180 years.  St Mark's, at 21 Lyndon Street, is located in Warren's eclectic historic district, and is currently for sale (asking price is $280,000).  A report on the WPRI web site blames a shrinking congregation and financial problems.  But why did the congregation decline?

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Objectives of the Steeple Project

I have two objectives in creating this blog:  


I.  To maintain an informal catalog of some of my favorite architectural features: the STEEPLES and CAMPANILES (or BELL TOWERS) of Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts.  

Here's a classic example at left: the bell tower of St. Ann's Church on Russo Street in Providence, near where Branch Ave and Charles St intersect.  I see this lofty tower from Rt 146; it's like a guiding light when I'm driving after dark.

* * * * *
II. My second objective is a more philosophical/sociological effort: 
To note recent changes in the local church - particularly the closing of some local churches, the merging of some congregations, new designs of ecclesiastical architecture, and new patterns in which communities of faith choose to gather together - any of which might lead to the vanishing steeple of today's horizon.  It's also worth reflecting on how these changes are impacting our culture.

[Unless a specific source is cited, these observations are my own, as are the photographs.]