Masonry Magazine December 1961 Page. 9
The Nation's Oldest Standing Church
Miles south of the quaint Town of Smithfield, Isle of Wight County, Virginia, there is a bit of Old England-like St. Luke's Church, more affectionately known as "The Old Brick Church," built in 1632. It is the oldest existing church of English foundation in America and the nation's only surviving original Gothic building.
St. Luke's is remarkable in its resemblance to some of the smaller sixteenth century churches of England. Typical Gothic buttresses uphold the walls with the windows of the nave and tower showing pointed arches and brick tracery. The square tower, Norman in its proportions, was probably battlemented at its crown; the abutting wall still retains this form of decoration.
Historians have for a long time disagreed as to the church's precise age. The parish book, which would have yielded this information, was buried for safekeeping more than a century and a half ago during Lord Cornwallis' Virginia campaign and the record did not survive. The construction date supported by widespread local tradition received startling confirmation some sixty years ago when the church's weakened roof fell and bricks not previously visible were found incised with the numerals 1632.
ONRY-DECEMBER, 1961
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