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Historic St. Luke's Church, originally known as the Old Brick Church, or Newport Parish Church, is an historic church building, historic site, and museum, located in the unincorporated community of Benns Church, near Smithfield in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, United States. Historic St. Luke's is the oldest church in Virginia and oldest church in British North America of brick construction. According to folklore the structure was built in 1632 with construction beginning sometime far before that. Dendrochronology,〔The James River Institute for Archaeology, Inc. http://www.jriarchaeology.com/pages/currentproj.htm〕 historical research on funding, and architectural analysis substantiate the 1682 date of construction completion. On October 15, 1966, St. Luke's was designated a National Historic Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its historic and architectural distinction. In 1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower designated the Site a National Shrine in concert with the 350th Anniversary of Jamestown. Since 1954 Historic St. Luke's Restoration, Inc., doing business as Historic St. Luke's Church, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that maintains, preserves, promotes, and interprets the 17th-century, 100-acre historic site. HSLR, Inc. does not receive any federal, state, or municipal funding. All sourcing comes from private corporations, foundations and individuals. ==Architecture== Historic St Luke's Church in Smithfield, Virginia, USA is Virginia's Oldest Church. Once known as "Old Brick Church", Historic St. Luke's is typified by College of William & Mary professor and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation architectural historian Carl Lounsbury as an Artisan Mannerism style of structure blending many influences into a builder rather than an architect-focused structure. Other examples of such architecture include Bacon's Castle in nearby Surry County, Virginia and exhibit Cavalier or Royalist sensibilities. St. Peter's Church in New Kent, Virginia is a later, less ornate style reflecting the Glorious Revolution of Dutch-English monarchs William & Mary. The plan is that of a single room ( × ) with a twenty-foot-square () tower at the west end. The walls are laid in a rough Flemish bond. The buttresses with sloping set-offs project prominently from three bays of the north and south walls. At both the east and west end of the church are crow-stepped gables, while unadorned turrets, corbelled slightly at their bases, decorate the corners of the building. The artisan mannerism style of the building combines several architectural styles without attribution to a specific architect or stylistic movement. This form of provincial American architecture is more builder-driven and designed than architect. The original windows were replaced in the 19th century. Those Victorian windows remain in place today. The stained glass windows above the altar were produced in Germany. The current doors were added in the 1950s. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Luke's Church (Smithfield, Virginia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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