And this Church is still standing. It is located in Laurel, Delaware, not far from my Aunt’s house. I have been to Laurel many times over the years, but I never noticed this little Church. If you didn’t know it was a Church you would think it was a barn and keep on driving.
One of the days that we were at my Aunt’s house and heading out to do a bit of shopping, Hubby remembered seeing this Church in a book on my Aunt’s coffee table the year before. Hubby loves old buildings and Churches and is always wanting to stop and look at them. We looked it up in the book and got the address onto his GPS and headed over. It was beautiful. Not that it is fancy or anything, but the sheer fact that it was built 300 years ago using timber from the land and iron from the Nanticoke Indian Tribe. And the fact that it has boxed seating and the interior has remained unpainted for 300 years is amazing.
I guess you are wondering how I know all this? Well, after Hubby took a walk about, I got the kids out and wanted to take some photos. When I was finishing up and we were getting ready to pack everybody back in the truck a little red car pulled up. I was thinking, that we were going to be in trouble for parking on the land or walking around or something, but no. The couple that pulled up asked us, “How would you like to take a look inside?”. How would we, we would love it!!! They were the keepers of the Church! They attend the Christ Church in Town and nobody had been taking care of the Church for a few years, so they offered to do it. There are at least four weddings a year, one of which was theirs some 20 years ago, and every Sunday the Pastor holds services there during the summer.
Here is a photo from inside the Church. Each box was owned by a family, the pulpit is on the right wall (This photo has it cut off a bit), and there is a balcony for visitors, which is where I took this photo from. The couple wanted to open all the windows for us, but I stopped them at one. It was such a treat to be able to see inside this piece of history, we felt blessed. For all the years I have been going to Delaware, it was nice to see a little something extra.
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Hello I came from a comment you left on SAJ’s site.
I live in the UK and this chapel, is so like the style of non-conformist Baptist chapel I grew up in (over 200 years old built on the site of an older church), with the wooden box seats and gallery, even the outside with two doors and two windows. Although our chapel is built out of stone on the outside not wood. The interior is plain too so you keep your mind on the preacher, not admiring your surroundings.
How special and amazing! You are so right about the sense of history you get in places like that. Thanks for sharing it with us.
That might be the only red church I have ever seen. How neat that it’s 300 years old.
Forgive me for being cliche but they don’t make ’em like that anymore!
I love looking at old buildings like that, if only they could talk, the stories they could tell 🙂
That is so neat!!! I love history like that, and your photos, awesome!
Wow that is amazing
love places that have so much history.
NZ is very young in comparison with much of the rest of the world.
i felt such a connection with my ancestors while in London two years ago, and a strange sense of pilgrimmage while walking through Notre Dame in Paris too.
must be time for a return trip.
mwah X