Saint James Santee Interior Photograph by Norma Brandsberg

Saint James Santee Interior

by Norma Brandsberg

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Title

Saint James Santee Interior

Artist

Norma Brandsberg

Medium

Photograph - Photograph

Description

I meander...as my husband will tell you. I do research before I go somewhere to see what I might like to photograph...but I get distracted. On this particular day we were staying in nearby McClellanville in our tiny camper on our way to a nearby Hampton Plantation when I saw a side road and an indication of a church. On a whim, we turned and went on what seemed like forever and were just ready to go back...but just a bit further I said. Not more than another couple hundred feet was this very refined church, St James Santee Parish Church at Wambaw, a French Huguenot Church established in 1768. It is located in the country with no evidence there was once a nearby town, out in the middle nowhere. What wonderful find I determined. I had seen nothing about this tiny church in my research.

This church is related to the Episcopal Church of Ease in McClellansville, part of the same parish. It is in wonderful condition, the doors were unlocked, so I got a peak inside. it has wonderful woodwork and is very refined for a country church. It looks like it would be better placed in a spot like Williamsburg. What a wonderful surprise it was. I have other pictures of the church where you can find more information if you are interested..

Although Wambaw Church stands alone on the old King’s Highway among the
pines and oaks of the forest, it was once the center of a busy and prosperous
community. North and south along the Santee River were rice plantations whose Carolina rice became famous all over the world and the prosperity of the planters is reflected in the beauty and proportions of Wambaw Church. The body of the church was built of brick imported from England, but the columns of the portico were constructed of local wedge-shaped bricks. The pews were made of hand-pegged cypress, the flagstone floor has withstood the ravages of two wars and the vaulted ceiling still retains the original plaster work.

The building had identical porticos until 1852 when the north one was enclosed to form a vestry room. The Palladian window on the east marks the original chancel which was moved to its present location after the Civil War. Although the pews were removed at that time, they were not damaged and the church was closed until it could be repaired.

By 1768 when St. James Santee's Wambaw Church was built, many descendants of the original French refugees had intermarried with English settlers. St. James Santee, though, has always been closely associated with the Huguenot immigrants who first settled the area and has been known variously as “The French Church” and as the “church of the Huguenots.”

Wambaw Church did not escape the desolation characteristic of most of the South after the Civil War. By 1877 the majority of the congregation (only 13 families at that time) had relocated to the village of McClellanville and, once the Chapel of Ease in the Village was built, only occasional services were held in the “old Brick Church.” By 1918 an annual service was being held by the congregation who still welcome friends and relatives the Sunday after Easter for an 11 am service followed by a covered dish picnic in the graveyard.

Between the 1920’s and the early 1970’s, various fund-raising efforts were aimed at stabilizing and preserving Brick Church. In 1972 it was designated a National Historic Landmark and restoration efforts took on a new momentum. In 1994, the Church Restoration Committee was formed and met for the first time that April. Since that time, the preservation and restoration of Brick Church has continued at a
brisk pace.

Today, the Brick Church at Wambaw is valued not only for its architectural and historical significance, but also as a spiritual home for those whose ancestors encountered in it “a mighty refuge.”

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