Prince George Winyah Parish Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

church in

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

. Prince George Winyah is one of the oldest continuous congregations in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

, and the church building is one of the oldest churches in continuous service in South Carolina. Prince George Winyah (Anglican) and Churchyard was named to 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 ...

on May 6, 1971. Starting in 1716, Anglican parishes were electoral and administration units in South Carolina government. Therefore, Prince George Parish and Prince George Winyah Parish can also refer to an electoral and administrative district that had the same geographic boundaries as this church.

Early history

As early colonialist spread across the South Carolina Lowcountry, there was a need of a new parish north of the existing St. James Santee Parish. Prince George Parish was established on March 10, 1721. It was named after the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, who became King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) * ...

. There were two potential locations for the church: an inland settlement on the Black River and Winyah on the Sampit River and

Winyah Bay The Winyaw were a Native American tribe living near Winyah Bay, Black River, and the lower course of the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The Winyaw people disappeared as a distinct entity after 1720 and are thought to have merged with the Wacca ...

at the location of today's Georgetown. In 1726, a wooden church was built inland on a bend of the Black River near Brown's Ferry and twelve miles from the present Georgetown. On April 9, 1734, the parish was divided to form St. Frederick's Parish. The wooden church was transferred to the new parish.

Prince George Winyah Church

The earliest

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

records for Prince George Winyah are January 13, 1737. A subscription campaign for a new church at Winyah was begun in 1737. This was supplemented by an import tax at the port and £1,000 from the colonial Assembly. Starting in 1740, the bricks were collected. Land was donated by

William Screven William Screven (c. 1629 – 1713) was a 17th-century Reformed Baptist church planter and preacher from England who founded the first Baptist church in the South. William Augustine Screven was born in the town of Somerton in Somerset, Engla ...

, who was the first Baptist minister in Carolina, and his son Elisha Screven. Construction was begun in the mid-1750s. The cornerstone was laid in 1745. The church was built of English red bricks with local oyster shell mortar. The cornerstone was laid on October 30, 1745. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

has a rectangular plan with five bays. The center bays have side doors with fanlights and the others have windows with fanlights. Brick

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

flank the side doors and are at the corners of the church. The roof is hipped over the sanctuary and has a Jacobean or Dutch gable at the entrance. The nave has a plastered, barrel-vaulted ceiling. The pews are paneled, wooden box pews. There is a center aisle and a cross aisle at the side doors. The floor is

flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other con ...

. The first service was held on August 16, 1747. The church was occupied by British troops in the Revolutionary War. During the occupation, the church's interior was burned. Tradition also indicates that the church was used for a stable. A

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

with a semielliptical

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

and a gallery was built about 1809. A vestibule entrance with double doors and a tower was constructed in 1824. The brick tower had a square cross section topped with an octangular section with cupola and large cross. A clock and

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

d belfry is in the upper section. A Mohler organ was installed in 1850. In 1823, Francis Huger Rutledge was ordained a deacon. He eventually became bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. In 1828, Anthony Toomer Porter, who founded Porter Military Academy in

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, was baptized. On February 25, 1865, the Union Navy occupied Georgetown. The church remained open. In 1871, the chancel furnishings were replaced and the altar was enlarged. In 1874, the church was given a bell and a clock. A stained glass window from St. Mary's Chapel at Hagley on the Waccamaw was installed. In 2012, Prince George disaffiliated from the older Episcopal Church and associated itself with the theologically conservative Anglican Church in North America.

Churchyard

The churchyard is surrounded by a brick wall and contains the cemetery. In addition to parishioners and clergy of Prince George Winyah, the cemetery has the graves of several notable South Carolinians: Paul Trapier, who was a patriot and was elected to the

Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress was a late-18th-century meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolutionary War. The Congress was creating a new country it first named "United Colonies" and in 1 ...

;

James H. Trapier James Heyward Trapier (November 24, 1815 – December 21, 1865) was a career United States Army officer who fought during the Mexican–American War. He also served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, dying shortly after it ...

, who was a brigadier general in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

, Rev. Dr. Anthony T. Porter; Capt. Roger Shackelford,Capt. Roger Shackelford, Died October 3, 1814, Burials, Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church, ancestry.com
/ref> born in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and among the early Shackelford family of Georgetown; and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Robert F. W. Allston.

References

External links

Historic Marker for Prince George WinyahPrince George Winyah Church (Episcopal) and Cemetery, Georgetown South Carolina - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com
* {{Authority control Historic American Buildings Survey in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Georgetown County, South Carolina Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina Churches completed in 1747 18th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches in Georgetown County, South Carolina Buildings and structures in Georgetown, South Carolina Anglican Church in North America church buildings in the United States Former Episcopal church buildings in South Carolina Anglican realignment congregations