004-0007 St. John's Church

For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF

VLR Listing Date 04/18/1978

NRHP Listing Date 11/16/1978

NRHP Reference Number 78003003

Consecrated in 1852 by Bishop William Meade, St. John’s Church was a product of the reactivation of the Episcopal denomination in rural Virginia during the mid-19th century. It is on the site of a colonial church known simply as Grub Hill Church, a name derived from the “Grub Hill” slave quarters of the Tabb family, who gave the land for the building. The present church, a country builder’s version of the Gothic Revival, has an honest simplicity that yet inspires admiration. It remains relatively unaltered and is enhanced by a pleasant rural setting, on a small but conspicuous knoll in the farmlands of Amelia County, west of Chula. The principal interior furnishings, including an ornamented triptych, are the signed work of a woodcarver, H. Jacob, completed in 1870. Owned by the trustees of Christ Episcopal Church in Amelia, St. John’s Church is used for occasional summer services.

Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

Updated: January 25, 2022