Name/Title
100 Wentworth Street (Grace Episcopal Church) (a/k/a 98 Wentworth Street)Entry/Object ID
WENTWORTH.100.1Scope and Content
Constructed 1847-48; various 20th century additions; restored 1991; renovated 2003. Edward Brickell White, architect; E.W. Brown, contractor. Charleston's restoration architect Albert Simons once remarked that the silhouette of the steeple of Grace Episcopal Church, with its successive pinnacles, recalled the steeple of St. Mary the Virgin on High Street in Oxford. Edward B. White's approach to the Gothic Revival style apparently emanated from Oxford, and after completion of his initial essay in this form, the Huguenot Church, he embarked on two other commissions in the late 1840s: Grace Church for a new Episcopal congregation on the old glebe lands adjacent to Harleston Village, and a larger structure for the congregation of Trinity Church (now Trinity Cathedral) in Columbia. His contractor, E.W. Brown, supervised construction of both buildings. When completed, the multitiered steeple with corner pinnacles surmounted by tall spire had, as intended, a significant effect upon the suburban landscape. The arched Gothic window over the principal doorway and similar windows down both sides of the structure, as well as Gothic friezes in stucco and other details, hinted at the elaboration of the interior, with its vaulted nave, side aisles and apsidal chancel. Although its chancel tablets and interior plaster are original, the altar window, rear window, twelve clerestory windows, and several other windows were planned by Ralph Sadler Meadowcroft, an Anglican pastor who served the congregation for several decades. In the restoration after Hurricane Hugo, the original paint scheme, intended to create the impression of stone blocks, was restored, as was the gilded decoration in the chancel. Grace Church closed on January 20, 1864, because of shelling of the city by Union forces on Morris Island. Although damaged by a shell, it was the first Episcopal church to reopen in the city after the war. Local tradition holds that when a Union commander ordered the rector, the Rev. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, to pray for the president of the United States, with Union soldiers standing at attention in the aisle, Pinckney replied, "I will gladly obey your order, sir. I know of no one who needs praying for more than the president of the United States." (Buildings of Charleston, Poston.)
File contains newspaper articles about 2003 renovation; building history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston (1984); building history from Tour Guide Training Manual (2011); architectural description from An Architectural Guide to Charleston (Simons & Thomas); Church pamphlet "Self-Guide for Visitors to Grace Episcopal Church"); annotated diagram of Grace Church windows (unattributed, undated); book "Grace in Glass: Looking at Grace Church Through Her Stained Glass Windows" (Sonya Lunde and Tommy Thornhill, 2015); excerpt from The Churches of Charleston and the Lowcountry (Preservation Society, 1944).Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation Property RecordsAcquisition
Accession
WENTWORTH.100.Source or Donor
100 Wentworth Street (Grace Episcopal Church)Acquisition Method
Collected by StaffLexicon
Search Terms
Wentworth Street, Harleston Village, Churches/Synagogues/Houses of Worship, Church buildings--South Carolina--Charleston, Grace Episcopal Church (Charleston, S.C.)Archive Details
Archive Size/Extent
1 File FolderArchive Notes
Finding Aids: Index to Property Files.
Level of Description: FolderLocation
Location
Shelf
Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentDate
February 7, 2023Location
Container
PF Box 112Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentLocation
Container
2Shelf
Prop File Shelves, Property File ShelvesRoom
Margaretta P. Childs ArchivesBuilding
Missroon HouseCategory
PermanentRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
White, Edward BrickellRelated Entries
Notes
2011.022.5, 2016.023.1, 2018.005.43, HUGO.002.043a-b, HUGO.002.044a-b, HUGO.002.045, HUGO.002.046, WENTWORTH.100.2Related Publications
Notes
Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 571-572
Entry in scrapbook (2018.002.015)General Notes
Note
Notes: Also known as 98 Wentworth Street.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
February 12, 2014Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
February 17, 2023