1907 Memorial Church at Historic Jamestowne, part of Colonial National Historical Park

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A church stands near the entrance to James Fort, and to the untrained eye it may appear to be from the Jamestown era. It is, however, a modern church built in 1906-07 to resemble a church from the 17th century. What’s more, it was built on the foundation of an earlier Jamestown church.

The very first church services at Jamestown where held outdoors under an outstretched sail that provided shade. When much of the fort burned in January 1608, the colonists decided to build a permanent church building as part of the fort’s renovation. A new wooden church was built that same year on the spot where the outdoor services were held. Referred to as the 1608 Church, its location was found in 2010 by archaeologist William Kelso. This is the church in which Pocahontas and John Rolfe were possibly married. It was replaced in 1617 by a wooden church that had a one-brick thick outer wall and a cobblestone floor, only this time the location was changed to where the current church now stands.

In 1639, construction on a third church began at the same location, this one built completely from brick. For unknown reasons, construction was delayed and the building was not completed until 1647. A brick tower that abuts to the Memorial Church, but is not attached to it, was for years believed to have been part of this third church, though this is now under debate after recent restoration work suggests that it might have been part of a fourth church on the site that was constructed sometime between 1676 and 1686. This church used the foundation and walls of the third church, which was heavily damaged in 1676 during Bacon’s Rebellion.

17th century church tower abuts the 1907 Memorial Church at Historic Jamestowne, part of Colonial National Historical Park

The fourth Jamestown-era church remained in use until it was abandoned in 1750 for a new building at another location. The church portion eventually collapsed, but the tower remained standing. By then the only residents on Jamestown Island were two plantation families.

Concerned that all traces of America’s first settlement would soon disappear, in 1893 the Association for the Preservation of Virginian Antiquities, which now goes by the name Preservation Virginia, was formed when 22 acres on Jamestown Island were donated by the landowners at the time. Nobody knew that the James Fort site was part of this land, only that this is where the church tower stood, the only structure still standing from the Jamestown era.

With the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown coming up in 1907, plans for a memorial church were concocted. This was to be built on the foundation of the 1647 Church and the subsequent fourth church, but before beginning an excavation of the ruins was conducted. During this process remnants of the 1617 Church’s cobblestone floor were found. The Memorial Church was built so that sections of the 1617 and 1647 church foundations can been seen by visitors through Plexiglas-covered openings in the floor.

Foundation of the 1617 church at Jamestown, Colonial National Historical Park

The interior of the church is decorated with memorial plaques to the important people of the Jamestown colony. There is also one tomb inside that is thought to be that of George Yeardley, an early governor of the Virginia colony. He died in 1627 and thus would have been buried in the 1617 church.

Interior of the 1907 Memorial Church at Historic Jamestowne, part of Colonial National Historical Park

Plaques line the walls inside the 1907 Memorial Church at Historic Jamestowne, part of Colonial National Historical Park

Outside is a cemetery containing graves from the very late 1600s to the very early 1800s, with the majority being from the 1700s. Many of these people are second generation Jamestown natives. A few were born in the early 1700s, a time when most people had moved away due to the capital of Virginia having been relocated from Jamestown to Williamsburg. A few graves no longer have markers, and the dead are not known. Wayside exhibits list names, birth and death dates, and the inscriptions on the tombstones.

Historic Jamestowne Graveyard, Colonial National Historical Park

The Memorial Church was never intended to be a functioning church. I am not sure if services were ever held, but I do know that you can get married in the church. For information, contact Preservation Virginia at (804) 648-1889.

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