St John's, King William County Reredos

Some time ago, I found this early Twentieth Century image of the reredos replaced in the recent renovation. Rawlings hypothesizes it was taken from a nearby church, probably Stratton Major.

St John's Chuckatuck

St John's, Chuckatuck N36.85699 W76.56106 1756

This medium-sized church, 60' x 30', has much to recommend itself despite extensive repairs to its brickwork, windows, and interior. It stands in the middle of a copse of beautiful shade trees by the side of a small pond running to Cedar creek.
It is apparently the third church on the site, and is the only church not oriented but has the chancel skewed to the northwest instead of true west. I wonder if the builders oriented the church to the site and only roughly east-west? Another unique feature is that it is laid in Flemish bond below as well as above the water table. Old pictures I found in a book by George Mason in the nearby TCC library show the church with a collapsed roof and report extensive restoration to the brickwork that is evident even to a non-architect's eye like mine. The effect of the windows is greatly diminished by the nineteenth century panes with diamond panes and translucent lights.
Perhaps I've been visiting too many remote churches with superb brickwork or recent, seamless restorations like St John's in King William County. I seem to recall it in a better light when I used it as a stop on bicycle routes home on summer days, so the church has probably remained the same and my eye has been spoiled.
As I mentioned, the brick facades show extensive repairs with some of the windows showing changes in shape and size. The windows on the chancel end are bricked up in an unattractive, contrasting pale brick, and the lunette window over the entry door is cemented over. There is a large brick patch on the south-east center window (this is apparently the original vestry door?) and ungainly metal straps on the sides. Remember that this is nitpicking; the overall impression, especially from the south of the entry door is truly charming and pastoral. The view from the road through the trees is suitable for a moody watercolor.

St John's King William

St John's, King William County1734 N37.61616 W76.92078

The next church cousin Tom and I visited on March 17 is St John's, King William County. It is a rare, T-shaped church with the chancel (altar) on the east and a projecting wing to the north. The north and west doorways are stunning. The north has a triangular pediment with brick column pilasters while the west has a semicircular pediment with identical pilasters. They seem identical in style to those of Stratton Major and St Stephen's we stopped at earlier in the day. According to my reading, the T-shaped and cruciform churches were not designed as a architectural feature symbolizing crosses but rather as a means to enlarge the church economically as well as to provide adequate volume for the parishioners as a rectangular church has a audible limit of 80 feet maximum. The north wing was most likely built circa 1755. The walls are cited as being in poor repair in a 1963 source (Rawlings, James S. Virginia's Colonial Churches: An Artchitectural Guide. Richmond: Garrett and Massie, 1963 -- the canonical reference source) but now seem in good repair. The windows are correct 18th century form with compass (semicircular) tops and, like the doorways and corners, have rubbed brick, made by selecting light colored bricks and literally rubbing them to give them a different pattern. These subtle touches make the buildings all the more interesting to look at. There is a modern rest room building and a kiosk with the church's history well documented that is part of a modern restoration that is itself stunning. The inside is completely restored to the 1755 condition with the correct display of the Lord's Prayer, The Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed in large tablets above the communion table. I wish I had space for all that this church offers. It is available for weddings, etc., at a very reasonable rate. Quixotically, my camera ran out of battery power just as we arrived, to only two pictures are available. I must make another trip and soon. http://www.stjohnswp.org/oldstjohns/ is the church foundation's site. I highly recommend it for more detailed information.