Bruton Parish Church
Duke of Gloucester Street at Palace Green
Colonial Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Home to an active Episcopal congregations, Bruton Parish Church has been in continual use for over 300 since its completion in 1715. The east end of the church (not visible in this photo) was expanded in 1752, the brick wall around the churchyard was built in 1754, and the tower and steeple were added at the west end in 1769.
Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish, had 19th-century changes to the church's interior removed in the 1903-07 period, restoring the interior's 18th-century appearance, and in the 1920s Dr. Goodwin was instrumental in getting John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to undertake the restoration of the colonial city of Williamsburg. The church was refurbished in 1940; the walls and windows continue to be those original to the church in the 18th century. Although in Williamsburg Historic District, which is both a National Historic Landmark (1960) and on the National Register of Historic Places (1966), Bruton Parish Church -- cited as the first church in the British colonies in America to reflect English Renaissance style -- was separately named a National Historic Landmark in April 1970 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in May 1970 (70000861). Two other Colonial Williamsburg buildings are similarly separately listed: George Wythe house and Peyton Randolph house; all three are among the 88 original buildings remaining in the 1920s when restoration of Williamsburg began.
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