A Brief History of the Old Parish Church
Only one year after their first Town Meeting in March 1800, the people of Weston voted to build a meeting house. A group of the principal landowners established The Weston and Landgrove United Society for that purpose. Proceeding with some deliberation to develop their plans – from 1801 to 1815, a period of 14 years – the subscribers were finally ready to call a meeting. The announcement read:
“A Notice of Meeting Meetinghouse!”
How long, o ye, will ye dwell in your ceiled houses and this house lie waste. The subscribers respectfully solicit their fellow citizens of Weston of every religious denomination to cooperate with them in what they deem a laudable object: the building of a meetinghouse for the public worship of God and for Town Meetings. For this desirable purpose, they are earnestly requested to meet at the house of William Y Henry, Esq. in Weston on Saturday the fourteenth day of October next at one o’clock p.m.
-- Weston Sept. 26, 1825Construction of the building began in 1816 and was completed in 1832, financed by subscription and the sale of pews, and allotted to the use of all religious societies in the town a stated number of Sundays in proportion to their respective memberships. Nathanial Tucker, the builder, was paid $2605.75, one half in cash, the other in salable neat stock (calves) or material for building the house. The plan of the building was, as it is today, fifty feet long and forty feet wide with a balcony on three sides. It became the Weston-Landgrove Union Meeting House.
In 1866, just after the Civil War, the Meeting House was deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church by the Weston-Landgrove Meeting House Society. At this time a floor was built at the balcony level. The second floor was for church services; the lower section sold to the Town to be used for Town Hall. The town agreed to pay half the cost of maintaining the building,
In 1972, when the Weston Playhouse became available for public use, the Town, no longer needing the lower half of the building, sold it back to the Methodist Church. This transaction made possible the restoration. The floor was removed, reopening the balcony and restoring the sanctuary as it is today. A detailed account of these events can be found on page 145, Waters of the Lonely Way.
What's it like to be a part of the Old Parish Church? It's like getting a big hug, like a special greeting after not seeing close friends for awhile. Being a part of the Old Parish Church reminds us of the definition of the early Christians: "See how they love one another."
-- Flo and Dave Hare
In 2006, 34 years after the last significant program to restore the Church, it was determined that a number of important repairs were essential to insure its structural integrity and preserve its beauty. During the period 2007-2009 a comprehensive program of repair and restoration has not only addressed needs of the present but has had the objective of assuring the health of the building for at least a generation to come. Work on this project, directed by Pres Sloterbeck, extended from the very foundation to, as the accompanying photo indicates, the top of the clock/bell tower.
The restoration program was funded by a Capital Campaign that was not only supported by the congregation, but also the greater Weston community and by multiple granting agencies, most notably the Preservation Trust of Vermont. This support recognizes that the Old Parish Church is not only a beloved place of worship for its members and visitors, but that it is valued by the community and recognized as a truly historic building.
The program of restoration has been enhanced by the gift of Shirley Knowlton of a set of new front doors, given in loving memory of her husband, John. The new doors, like the old, do a fine job of welcoming entrants, but do a far better job of keeping out the cold and the drafts. In keeping with the precepts of historic preservation, the new doors are quite exact replicas of the old.
