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Although this beautiful old brick Church now stands
alone on the old King's highway among the oaks and pines of the
forest, it was once the center of a busy and prosperous community.
North and south along the Santee river were rich rice plantations,
shipping rice in large casks from their wharves to Charleston to
be sent on to England, Holland, Portugal or France. Carolina rice
became famous all over the world as being the very finest.
The prosperity of the planters is reflected in the
beauty and proportions of the St. James Santee Parish Church. The
body of the church is built of brick imported from England but the
columns of the portico pews are made of hand pegged cypress. The
flagstone floor has withstood the ravages of two wars. The vaulted
ceiling still retains the original plaster work.
Changes have been made over the years. Originally,
the building had identical porticos. However, in 1847, the one to
the rear of the building was enclosed to form a vestry room. A
door opens on the west, entering a long aisle leading to a window
in the east. This was the window of the original chancel. The
church was ransacked during the civil war and the chancel
destroyed by northern soldiers. The church was closed until it
could be repaired and the chancel was evidently changed to the
north side at that time.
At the request of the French Huguenots to be
incorporated into the church of England, St. James Santee was
established as a parish on April 9, 1706. It was the second parish
of the province, the first being St. Philip's of Charleston. The
present building was completed in 1768 and was the fourth to be
built in the parish. The first of the four was just a few miles up
the Santee river at Jamestown, a settlement formed by the
Huguenots after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. Jamestown
did not prosper and as the population moved, so did the church in
order to be more convenient to the homes of most of the people.
During this time, English settlers were filtering
into the backcountry of the Santee area from Charleston and soon
became active members of this group. For a time, there was a
language problem. The French were allowed to use the Durel
translation of the English prayer book, but asked that their
sermons be given in French since the older communicants could not
speak English. Since their earliest ministers were French, this
presented no problem at first. Later, the English complained
because they could not understand French.
For a time, sermons were given in English and
French. However, as the younger generations of the Huguenots
integrated themselves into the colony and as marriages united the
French and English families, the problem took care of itself.
A caretaker's house now exists next door to the
church. It was built by the many friends of the church.
Services are held annually the first Sunday after
Easter at 11:00. Bring a covered dish. |
