Christ Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

located at 43 South Broadway (

US 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, betwe ...

) in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

. Topped by a modest tower, the ivy-covered red brick church was built in 1837 and maintains an active congregation to the present day. The church also includes the San Marcos Mission, a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

-language ministry. It was recognized as a landmark by the

New York Department of Education The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration ...

in 1935. In 1987 it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

for both its association with early American author

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

, who served as a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

man, and its distinctive early Gothic Revival architecture. It has undergone several extensive renovations since its construction, and has had two outbuildings added, but maintains its historic character.

Building complex

The church complex includes three buildings: the original church, a rectory built later, and a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

hall on a 17,120 square-foot (514 m²) parcel at the intersection of South Broadway and Elizabeth Street. All date to the 19th century and are considered

contributing resource In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

s to its status as a Registered Historic Place.

Church

The church itself takes the form of a traditional English parish church, with an engaged tower and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

at the three-quarters point, built of red brick. The front facade is currently covered with a heavy growth of

ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

. The tower and

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

s at the east front and north transept are

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

Limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

and molded brick are used for the various decorative elements in the facade. An iron fence encloses the small churchyard, and a chapel has been added to the south wing. The tower forms a vaulted

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

at the main entrance in front. All walls there and within the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

are white

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

, except around the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. Its recess features marbleized

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

columns and gold paint. The altar itself is made of carved stone, painted a neutral brown, with decorations echoing its surrounding decor and the stained glass window behind it. To its right is a memorial tablet to Maria Phillips, an early member of the church during

colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...

. A similar memorial plaque to Irving is located on the wall next to a baptismal font in the north transept. It is made of Dorchester stone with columns of Aberdeen granite and Caen stone, depicting the symbolic

holly ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

of Irving's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

. Displayed in front is Irving's pew, one of the church's original

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

furnishings. The opposite wall memorializes Dr. William Creighton, founder and first rector of the parish. The south transept contains St. Mark's Chapel, from a church in

Beekmantown Beekmantown is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 5,545 at the 2010 census. The town name is that of William Beekman, an original landowner. It is on the eastern border of the county, just north of Plattsburgh ...

consolidated with Christ in 1951.

Rectory

The rectory, built in 1875, is a two-and-a-half-story rectangular building abutting (and later linked to) the church. It has a large

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

with corbel tables, brick corner

pilaster In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...

s and steeply pitched raking cornice. Entrance is through a single- bay vestibule adjacent to the pavilion. The building also has a small wooden

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

Parish hall

The one-story-with- basement parish hall dates to 1898. It shows some

Tudorbethan Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

features, such as its arched windows, arranged singly in one-over-one sets. The side entrance porch has Tudor archways, and a half-timbered

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

with triple window and a transom embellished with a pinnacle and scrolls.

History

The church was started by Nathaniel Holmes, a New York City

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of libra ...

and devout Episcopalian who retired to Tarrytown in 1835. He taught a Sunday school in the old schoolhouse on Franklin Street, and soon after taking up residence persuaded Dr. William Creighton, former rector of St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in Lower Manhattan, to help him start a church in his new home. It was formally organized on August 8, 1836, with Holmes as senior

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

Minutes from the

meeting two weeks later record a resolution to build a "church of brick, 40' X 55', in the Gothic style". Six weeks later those specifications were amended to say that the church tower should be 40 feet (12 m) high and 14 feet (4 m) square, with a "plain Gothic" window, and the rear of the church square. The conscious choice of a "Gothic" style for the church preceded by several years the debut of the Gothic Revival churches of

Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...

, such as New York's Trinity Church.

Alexander Jackson Davis Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Education Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...

would not publish his ''Rural Residences'', which inspired similarly Gothic board-and-batten churches throughout rural

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, for another year. Christ Church was thus one of the earliest American churches in that style, taking a

Picturesque Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in ''Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year ...

interpretation. The new church soon purchased the current property and by November of that year the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

had been laid. Local construction firm Hall & Boyce received $5,377 to complete the church. It was opened and the first services held in 1837. Creighton served with distinction as rector not only at Christ but at Zion Church in nearby Greenburgh. He is believed to have persuaded Irving to join the church in 1848; the author's presence at services was a frequent attraction for visitors from out of town. He served as a vestryman until his death in 1859, and also contributed the ivy which grows on the church facade, from cuttings he took at

Abbotsford House Abbotsford is a historic country house in the Scottish Borders, near Galashiels, on the south bank of the River Tweed. Now open to the public, it was built as the residence of historical novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott between 1817 and 1825 ...

, the home of Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

. Due to the closure of his Sunnyside estate for many years afterwards, his pew in the church became the primary focus for visitors to Tarrytown looking to pay homage to him. The early years saw some moderate improvements: a

church bell A church bell in Christian architecture is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of religious purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they are used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service, and to ...

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

, the iron fence and sidewalks on the grounds. In 1857 the first major alteration occurred when the church was lengthened and a recess chancel installed. This change, making the spatial separation between clergy and laity more pronounced, reflects the influence of the

Cambridge Camden Society The Cambridge Camden Society, known from 1845 (when it moved to London) as the Ecclesiological Society,Histor ...

and Ecclesiology movement within Anglicanism, which advocated for more authentically medieval architecture in the denominations' churches. This philosophy would inform the design of Christ Church for the remainder of the century. In 1868, three years after Creighton's death, local architect James Bird and his builder brother Seth were contracted to oversee some more major improvements as an alternative to demolishing the church, which had grown structurally unsound. They put in a new ceiling and sidewalls, added the south wing, removed the organ gallery and moving the organ itself to the new north transept, put in

gas lighting Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly ...

and refitted the windows for stained glass. It is believed that the decorative wall painting was added at this time as well. The last major alteration, in 1896, focused mainly on the interior decoration. The original pine benches were replaced with oak, and the pews arranged so that they had a single center aisle rather than just the two on the sides. All the new furnishing boasted carved wooden elements such as

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

piercings that enhanced the Gothic feel of the church. They were complemented by the stenciled walls, polychrome tile floor and hanging brass lanterns. While this primarily reflects the ascendancy of

Aestheticism Aestheticism (also the Aesthetic movement) was an art movement in the late 19th century which privileged the aesthetic value of literature, music and the arts over their socio-political functions. According to Aestheticism, art should be pro ...

in popular design at the time, the lingering Ecclesiological influence shows in the center aisle, which puts the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and chancel along a single axis. Later work on the building aimed to restore and

preserve The word preserve may refer to: Common uses * Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment * Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected Arts, entertainment, and media ...

it. In 1931 all buildings were clean, revealing some of the brick additions, and the sanctuary restored to its original white in keeping with the then-popular

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archit ...

trend. Finally, in 1985, all the buildings were repainted with tinted mortar to preservation standards. It was necessary to close the church in 1995 since the bell tower had deteriorated to the point where

structural engineers Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...

it consulted recommended not using the main entrance. Church members also discovered it was necessary to replace the roof as well, since its three layers were decaying at different rates and the building code does not permit a fourth layer. Services were held in nearby Ackerman Hall until $500,000 could be raised to pay for the restoration and repair.

The church today

Christ Episcopal continues to be active part of the Tarrytown community. In 1993 it started San Marcos Mission, a program for the growing

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

immigrant population. It holds services in

and other programs for that community. The church also provides space for the Tarrytown Nursery School for children ages 2–4. Other church programs include Godly Pla

a Montessori method, Montessori-based Sunday school, and an annual

chili cookoff A cook-off is a cooking competition where the contestants each prepare dishes for judging either by a select group of judges or by the general public. Cook-offs are very popular among competitors (such as restaurants) with very similar dishes, s ...

References

External links

Church website
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Episcopal church buildings in New York (state) Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Religious organizations established in 1836 Churches completed in 1837 19th-century Episcopal church buildings U.S. Route 9 Tarrytown, New York National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York Churches in Westchester County, New York 1836 establishments in New York (state)