The ruins of the Old Sheldon Church lie among majestic oaks and scattered graves in northern Beaufort County, South Carolina.
Yemassee, South Carolina
Nov 2018
Old Sheldon on film by
Paul Sager, on Flickr
Known also as the Sheldon Church or Old Sheldon Church, the building was originally known as Prince William's Parish Church. The church was built as a chapel of ease in the English Georgian style, using the Roman Tuscan or Doric order, between 1745 and 1753. The Parish Church was one of the first Greek-Revival structures built in the United States.
Old Sheldon ruins Local tradition records that the Prince William's Parish Church was burned by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War, rebuilt in 1826, and then burned again in 1865 during the Civil War. Sheldon Church has lain in ruin for more than 150 years.
Old Sheldon Church The film images in this post were captured using expired Fuji Superia 100 loaded to an EOS 1v with an EF 35mm f/1.4L. The digital images were captured using an EOS 5DIII and EF 50mm f/1.2L.
In 1779, the British General Augustine Prevost invaded the Lowcountry. The church was burned when the British heard rumor the Patriots were storing gun powder inside the church.
Old Sheldon Inside the ruins of the church lie the remains of Colonel William Bull, who "greatly assisted General Oglethorpe in establishing the physical layout of Savannah, Georgia." The tombs of Colonel Bull's wife and children are located behind the church.
Bull Family Tombs When first built, the Prince William's Parish Church bordered the Newberry Plantation of William Bull, who organized the parish and funded the building of the church in the 1740s. The church was named Sheldon in honor of the Bull family's ancestral home in England.
Old Sheldon Ruins -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Live Oak ]
The solid construction of the columns and walls still stand now 250 years after the initial construction and two attempts to destroy the building.
Old Sheldon Church Ruins on film The images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.
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