Enhanced by its quiet rural setting, Christ Episcopal Church, Lancaster County, is without peer among Virginia’s colonial churches in the quality of its architecture and state of preservation. The cruciform structure was commissioned by Robert (“King”) Carter, the most prosperous and influential of Virginia’s colonial planters. Completed by 1735, the exterior is set off by its beautiful brickwork, especially the molded brick doorways, the nation’s finest examples of their type. The tall arched windows of Christ Church, with their original sash, are accented by sandstone keystones, imposts, and sills, as well as by gauged brick voussoirs. The original interior fittings include the paneled box pews, triple-decker pulpit, and walnut altarpiece. In the churchyard are the richly carved tombs of Carter and his two wives. Still a functioning Episcopal church, the property is maintained by the Foundation for Historic Christ Church.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia