Aquia Church is a historic church and congregation at 2938 Richmond Highway (

US 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

at VA 610) in

Stafford, Virginia Stafford is a census-designated place (listed as Stafford Courthouse) in and the county seat of Stafford County in the northern part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. The population of Stafford County as of the 2010 United States Census w ...

, USA. It is an Episcopal congregation founded in 1711, that meets in an architecturally exceptional Georgian brick building that was built in the 1750s. The building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1991 for its architectural importance. and It maintains an active congregation with a variety of programs and outreach to the community.Aquia Episcopal Church
accessed March 16, 2010

Description and history

Aquia Church is located west of Aquia Harbour and north of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

, at the northeast corner of United States Route 1 and the end of State Route 610, just east of

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

. It is set back from the road on a wooded hilltop. It is a two-story cruciform structure, built out of bricks laid in Flemish bond, with sandstone trim elements. The roof is hipped, and a short square tower rises from one end, topped by a cross-gabled roof, circular cupola, and cross. The building corners are quoined in stone, and the first-floor windows are set in rectangular openings with keystones. The second-floor windows are round-arched, also with stone keystones at the tops. The building is set on a 20th-century concrete foundation with a brick water table, replacing its original foundation in 1915-16. The building's cruciform plan is not common for colonial period churches, and it is also rare for churches from that period to have a full second story. The church was built on the site of two earlier Anglican churches of Overwharton Parish, which was formed before 1680 by the division of Potomac Parish and received its first permanent minister in 1711. Its exterior was built 1751-55, using sandstone quarried nearby for the trim. In 1757 the building was gutted by fire, and was rebuilt in the surviving shell. The interior is largely original, and has richly detailed woodwork, including one of the finest known colonial period pedimented altarpieces in the state.

References

External links

Aquia Episcopal ChurchFind A Grave Cemetery Entry
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Fredericksburg, Stafford, Spotsylvania Historical Markers: Aquia Episcopal Church E-90
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia 18th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches in Stafford County, Virginia Episcopal churches in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia National Historic Landmarks in Virginia Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Churches completed in 1755 National Register of Historic Places in Stafford County, Virginia Anglican cemeteries in the United States

Description and history

See also

References

External links