The Transition From New England Meeting Houses To Churches – An 1890 Perspective The January 1890 edition of the “New England Magazine” contained an article by A. R. Willard entitled “The New England Meeting-House and the Wren Church.” [497-515] The article discusses the transition from Meeting House to Church style worship buildings which took place in New England in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In the Meeting House style, the pulpit and front door are on opposite long walls. In the Church style they are on opposite short walls. Why did that transition come about? Likely there were many reasons for it, but Willard suggests that noted English architect Christopher Wren played a significant role in it. As Willard wrote, “Sir Christopher Wren must be charged with a considerable measure of the responsibility for driving out the old meeting-house type. It may be said that New Englanders took and used extensively nothing which was distinctively his except the steeple. But the steeple in itself necessitated some other sort of support than could be given in the middle of the church, and served to strengthen the tendency to bring in the end tower, a feature impressed upon our ancestors by early traditions.” “The adoption of the end-tower meant ultimately the drawing of everything around into a different axis and, with that, the destruction of all of the characteristic meeting-house traits. All these features together, steeple, tower, and interior arrangement according to the long axis, were characteristic features of some of Wrens most prominent parish churches [in England], and it is natural enough to suppose that a tendency to copy his leading types in one respect would lead to a tendency to copy them in another.” “I am willing that he should be charged with the undivided responsibility of driving out every one of those ancient and modest New England features which are illustrated in such an interesting manner by the old meeting house at Hingham [Old Ship], and of metamorphosing our manner of church-building into that illustrated in an imposing way by a number of churches built in the large towns between 1720 and 1820, and in a more modest way by hundreds of other churches scattered all over New England.” [502-503] ++++++ Willard’s article discusses and contains images of Hingham’s Old Ship meeting house and other meeting houses and churches in early New England. The article also discusses some of the churches Wren designed in England and shows sketches of their spires. In discussing the Old North Church in Boston, Willard disclosed the following bit of information, which I found of interest: “One of the most curious things about this old steeple is the place where the records concerning it are kept. They are kept in the ball at the top of the spire. In 1847, during repairs, this ball was opened and found to contain a statement of the blowing down at the beginning of the century, also an account of repairs in 1834. The record was supplemented by a description of what was done in 1847, and Dr. Eatons centennial sermon was also inserted.” [510] I wonder if that steeple ball at Old North still contains such records? Here’s a Google Books link to Willard’s article [497-515]: books.google/books?id=3yjZAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false ++++++
Posted on: Sat, 04 Jan 2014 16:57:52 +0000
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