First Congregational Church Newbury Vermont
by Nancy Griswold
Title
First Congregational Church Newbury Vermont
Artist
Nancy Griswold
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
10/20/2021 TOP FINISHER in the contest titled “Cathedrals Chapels and Churches” on Fine Art America, 629 works were submitted
I photographed this earlier in the week on a jaunt up Rte 5 to Newbury, Vermont which runs along the Connecticut River.
First Congregational Church, Newbury, Vermont, built in 1856 is an outstanding example of Greek revival architecture by master builder Archibald Mills.
The 4 x 3 bay gable-front plan with four-tiered steeple was a historical derivative of the New England meetinghouse and, ultimately, of the church designs of Christopher Wren and James Gibbs in England. Its chief features, both typical of the Greek Revival style, are the use of flushboard siding over the entire facade and steeple, and a tetrastyle monumental portico, composed of a pediment which projects out from the middle half of the front gable, supported by four fluted Greek Doric columns. Behind the portico are two entrances with plain pedimented surrounds and double-leaf doors; blind gallery windows are overhead. The portico's pediment is silhouetted by the larger pediment on the front gable. Other facade detail includes molded box cornices around both pediments and each stage of the steeple. Plain headboards are applied over the tall, narrow window openings, now filled with c.1890 memorial stained glass. The second stage of the steeple has clocks on all four faces; the third stage, the belfry, has corner pilasters and fluted during columns framing rectangular louvers; on top is an octagonal metal spire with weathervane.
38. Congregational Vestry, 1843.
Small, 1-1/2 story, 3 x 4 bay, clapboard gable-front structure with abundance of Greek Revival detail. The facade is particularly decorative, and unusual; it has panelled Doric pilasters at the corners as well as on the interior of the facade; the latter support the deep long cornice returns. The molded entablature is quite wide and is distinguished by its molded cornice. The central entrance has a relatively plain, panelled surround with raised bullseye corner blocks. A gabled hood is supported by small fluted Doric columns. On each side of the entrance are narrow rectangular windows with a muntin pattern generally common to the Queen Anne style era, and probably added later in the century. Above the entrance is a large, wide window with 15/15 sash. The side elevations have windows with 9/9 sash.
Attached to the rear is a 1-1/2 story, two-bay addition. It also has clapboard siding and corner pilasters and entablature identical to those of the main portion. Beyond the addition is a smaller, one-story, shed-roofed, clapboard addition.
Although small in scale, the building's unusual and extensive facade detail makes a significant contribution to Newbury's stock of Greek Revival architecture
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February 27th, 2015
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Comments (6)
Christiane Schulze Art And Photography
Beautiful light and mood, a wonderful image Nancy. Glad you like my Antelope Canyon Gallery. F/L
Nancy Griswold replied:
Christine, thanks for dropping in for a visit and the comment and f/L, much appreciated