Christ Church, also known as Christ Episcopal Church, is a historic

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located at Sparkill in

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state' ...

. It was designed by architect Charles Babcock (1829–1913) and built in 1864–1865. It is a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style

bluestone Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including: * basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand * diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, ...

rubble church. The stone transepts and

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

were added in 1892, and the stone entrance porch was added around 1900. It has a steeply pitched gable roof and Gothic arched openings. Also on the property is the contributing parish house (c. 1870, c. 1900-1910) and gatepost. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying photographs''
/ref> 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 2011.

Background

This stone church was built in 1865. It is Rockland’s first established Episcopal Church. The first service was held in 1847 in a converted warehouse. Christ Church was designed by the Rev. Charles Babcock, one of the preeminent architects in America at that time, and a founder of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

provided the plans for the church at no charge. The church with its Gothic Revival architecture and Norman-influenced interior, Christ Episcopal Church is quite similar to the many small "chapel-churches" found in the English or Irish countryside. It retains an original chapel altar installed in 1898, and its stone façade is accented by a stained-glass rose window. The window was obtained by the church in 1938 from the

Former Wayside Chapel The Former Wayside Chapel is a historic chapel at 24 River Road in Grand View-on-Hudson, Rockland County, New York. The Flemish Revival building was constructed in 1867–1869 and is a simple, rectangular building measuring . It is built of b ...

in Grand View-on-Hudson when the chapel was converted to a private residence.

References

External links

* Episcopal church buildings in New York (state) Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Gothic Revival church buildings in New York (state) Churches completed in 1865 Churches in Rockland County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Rockland County, New York {{NewYork-Anglican-church-stub