Christchurch School in Middlesex County was named to the Virginia Landmarks Register after a March 20 meeting of the Virginia Board of Historic Resources. All landmarks approved by the state are forwarded to the federal government to be considered for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located on 79 acres on the south bank of the Rappahannock River, the school opened in 1921 as one of five schools under the Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia organization, said a news release from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. The Episcopalian organization was founded to provide “a system of reliable, accessible secondary education during a period of rapid population growth and social change in Virginia.”
The listing includes the buildings, structures, and landscapes that have comprised from the school’s opening in 1921 to the present day, according to the online listing. The buildings were largely constructed during two major expansion phases in the 1920s and 1960s, says the listing, reflecting “the changing values of the school.” The number of applications and admissions began to increase in the 1950s and 1960s, says the listing, and the new construction “evolved out of the traditional Colonial Revival architecture of the 1920s core into a more minimalistic, pragmatic style.”
Seventeen of the 31 structures on the campus, or those constructed between 1921 and 1972, are contributing structures for the purposes of the historic designation. Fourteen structures built after that date are non-contributing. The oldest contributing structures are the Headmaster’s Residence and Dining Hall, both built in 1921; Bishop Brown Hall, built in 1923; Christchurch Lane, built in 1924; Saint Peter’s Chapel and Marston Hall, both built in 1927; and the Bell Tower, built in 1929.
