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

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. 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 established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

as the colony's government-supported religion in 1692. These old parishes often had a church and several

chapels of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

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 it ...

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 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 in Northampton County, Virginia. 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 Marion Station, also known as Marion, is an unincorporated community in Somerset County, Maryland, United States. It is located at the northern intersection of Maryland routes 413 and 667. After the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railroad arm know ...

(where Maryland route 667, on which this stands connects to

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. ...

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 United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

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 in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, Maryland {{Maryland-church-stub