St. Mary's Chapel 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 State ...

chapel located at 900 Hillsborough Street in

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

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 ...

, United States. The chapel is on the grounds of St. Mary's School, a college-preparatory boarding and day school founded in the 1840s. The 19th-century building was designed by architect

Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...

in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style and later expanded. It was added 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 ...

(NRHP) in 1970.

History

The Episcopal School for Boys, established in 1833 by the

Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina is a diocese of the Episcopal Church within Province IV that encompasses central North Carolina. Founded in 1817, the modern boundaries of the diocese roughly corresponds to the portion of North Carolina ...

, was located on a 159-acre (64 ha) tract of land acquired from Colonel William Polk. Construction of the school buildings began in 1834, but by 1837, the school was closed due to financial problems. The property was purchased by businessman and politician Duncan Cameron, a wealthy and influential figure in Raleigh. The school was reopened on May 12, 1842, as St. Mary's School for Girls, by Cameron and Reverend Aldert Smedes, the school's first

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

and president. Religious services at St. Mary's were originally held in the parlor of Main Hall, now known as Smedes Hall. Services were later held in a different room equipped with pews and an organ. In 1855, the Cameron family donated funds for the construction of a school chapel. Richard Upjohn, a prominent 19th century architect, was chosen to design the building. His notable works include Trinity Church in New York City and Christ Episcopal Church in Raleigh, both of which are

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 ...

s. Thomas Atkinson, the third Episcopal Bishop of North Carolina, visited the chapel for the first time in 1858 and said "I was gratified by its beauty, its appropriate arrangements, and its adaptation to its purpose."

Transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s were added in 1905, though most of the chapel was left unchanged. The building was designated a Raleigh Historic Landmark on June 16, 1969, and added to the NRHP on November 20, 1970. The building is also designated a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to Saint Mary's School's listing as a historic district on the NRHP.

Architecture

St. Mary's Chapel, a board-and-batten building with steep

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

roof, was designed in the Gothic Revival style. When erected in 1855, the chapel was a rectangular building. The transepts added in 1905 gave the building a

cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described ...

shape. The chapel facade features a

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

on either side of the entrance. A hood above the entrance is supported by curved

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

while the hood gable features a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four rin ...

design. Above the hood is a

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

topped by a

louver A louver (American English) or louvre (British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". Mor ...

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

and cruciform

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

at the roof. There are four triangular-headed lancet windows on the east and west ( liturgical south and north) sides of 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 ...

. The end of the east (liturgical south) transept is similar to the facade. Instead of a hood, this transept features a shed porch that connects to the Smedes building via a covered walkway. A large lancet window and two smaller ones are on the end of the west (liturgical north) transept. The north (liturgical east) side of the chapel features a large stained glass lancet window topped by a louvered quatrefoil.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Marys Chapel, Raleigh, North Carolina 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Carpenter Gothic church buildings in North Carolina Chapels in the United States Churches in Raleigh, North Carolina Episcopal church buildings in North Carolina Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Churches completed in 1855 Richard Upjohn church buildings National Register of Historic Places in Wake County, North Carolina Historic district contributing properties in North Carolina

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links