Coventry Parish Ruins are the remnants of a historic Episcopal church located at Rehobeth, Somerset County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Coventry Parish was one of the original 30 Anglican parishes in the Province of Maryland established when Maryland's legislators established the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

as the colony's government-supported religion in 1692. These old parishes often had a church and several chapels of ease near population centers. This building, stands surrounded by farm fields and a historic Presbyterian Church near the

Pocomoke River The Pocomoke River stretches approximately U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 from southern Delaware through southeastern Maryland in the United States. At i ...

in what was then called ''Rehoboth'' but is now Rehobeth, Maryland to distinguish it from a beachfront community in Delaware. Coventry Parish's vestry erected a two-story seven-by-three-bay

Flemish bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...

brick church between 1785 and 1788, one of the most difficult times for the denomination in Maryland, since it reorganized as the Episcopal Church as well as was disestablished (lost state support). At the time of its construction, the 76 foot by 56 foot structure was the largest Episcopal church on Maryland's Eastern Shore, only slightly smaller than Hungars Church further down the

Delmarva Peninsula The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Eastern Shore of Virginia. The peninsula is l ...

Northampton County, Virginia Northampton County is a county (United States), county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 12,282. Its county seat is Eastville, Virginia, Eastville. Northampton and Acco ...

. It was partially built using bricks from an older church nearby, which was dismantled. The church remained in use until the late 19th century, when the few remaining parishioners decided to combine with what had been the chapel of ease, St. Paul's at Marion, Maryland (where Maryland route 667, on which this stands connects to

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 or U.S. Highway 13 (US 13) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina, to US 1 in the northeast ...

down the Delmarva Peninsula, as well as Maryland Route 413). The ruined edifice was stabilized in 1928NRIS available at http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/stagsere/se1/se5/019000/019600/019657/pdf/msa_se5_19657.pdf and again in 2005. The ruin has been reduced to three primary walls, since the south wall rises only a foot above ground level, except for one single-story pier, and was once known for its 10 arches. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1984.

References

External links

*, including photo from 1967, at Maryland Historical Trust Episcopal church buildings in Maryland Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Churches in Somerset County, Maryland Churches completed in 1785 18th-century Episcopal church buildings Ruins on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, Maryland Brick buildings and structures in Maryland {{Maryland-Anglican-church-stub