Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/19/1972
NRHP Listing Date 03/20/1973
NRHP Reference Number 73002027
Mattaponi Church is an impressive example of a cruciform church, a plan reserved for colonial Virginia’s larger, more important Anglican churches. Typical of such buildings, the walls are laid in Flemish bond with glazed headers, and the entrances are framed with pedimented frontispieces of gauged and molded brick. A church, designated Lower Church, St. Stephen’s Parish, was built here ca. 1674, when the parish was formed form Stratton Major Parish. The present Mattaponi Church was built ca. 1730-34. The names or initials inscribed on three bricks are probably those of masons. Abandoned by the Anglicans after the Revolution, this King & Queen County church was taken over by Baptists in 1803, who still occupy it. Fire destroyed the original interior in 1922, but the building was repaired and returned to use. The four original altarpiece tablets were saved and reinstalled. Three colonial grave slabs remain in the churchyard.
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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: July 27, 2021
