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

Chaptico The Chaptico, also known as the Cecomocomoco, were a group of Native Americans who lived along the Southwestern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in what is today St. Mary's County, Maryland. They were loosely dominated by the Patuxent in the pre-co ...

, St. Mary's County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was constructed in 1736 of

Flemish bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...

brick construction with glazed headers, 60 feet long and 40 feet wide, with an original semicircular brick

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

. In 1913, a three-story brick tower with octagonal

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

and spire was added to the west end of the church. The building was constructed under the supervision of Philip Key, vestryman, who was the great-grandfather of

Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became t ...

. The building was heavily damaged on July 30, 1814, during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, when an admiral of the British fleet came ashore and took possession of the village of Chaptico. Surrounding the church is a cemetery with 18th, 19th, and 20th century markers, including a vault for the Key family. Christ Church Parish was one of the original 30 Anglican parishes in the Province of Maryland. Christ Episcopal Church 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 1994.

References

External links

*, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust
Christ Episcopal Church official website
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Churches in St. Mary's County, Maryland Episcopal church buildings in Maryland Churches completed in 1736 18th-century Episcopal church buildings National Register of Historic Places in St. Mary's County, Maryland Brick buildings and structures in Maryland {{Maryland-Anglican-church-stub