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Metropolitan Boston » Neponset River Valley » Dedham » St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Paul's Chapel

St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Paul's Chapel

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1857–1858, Arthur Gilman. 59 Court St. 1875–1876, Bryant and Rogers. 76 Church St.
  • St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Paul's Chapel (Keith Morgan)

Arthur Gilman had just begun his career when he was hired in 1844 to design St. Paul's Church, a wood Gothic Revival structure that burned in 1857. The Episcopal church immediately hired Gilman again to design the Gothic replacement, constructed of pink Dedham granite. Gilman's Gothic Revival design was inspired by small masonry churches by Richard Upjohn, a New York architect he greatly admired. Upjohn's small parish churches featured a nave flanked by an almost freestanding tower and exposed trusses on the interior. In his published writings Gilman expressed a preference for the use of sandstone over granite for Gothic architecture, but he must have found acceptable the softer and darker tones of the pinkish-brown Dedham granite.

The tower of the church was not completed until 1869, and a chapel was built six years latter. Although it is traditional to add the chapel to the existing church, St. Paul's Chapel was built as a separate brick structure across the street. The architects, Gridley J. F. Bryant and Louis P. Rogers, had worked with Arthur Gilman on a number of major projects in Boston during the 1860s.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Data

What's Nearby

Dedham Public Library
Stoneleigh Condominiums (Norfolk County Jail and Keeper's House)
Dedham Common Churches
Norfolk County Court Buildings
Dedham Common Houses

Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Paul's Chapel", [Dedham, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-DH9.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 540-540.

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