St. Mark's Episcopal Church

About this property

Saint Mark's Episcopal Church is an Episcopal church located at 1625 Locust Street in Rittenhouse Square in Center City Philadelphia. It is a parish of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. The church was founded in the mid-19th century as part of the Oxford Movement revival in the Anglican Church. The building was constructed by John Notman in the Gothic Revival style between 1847 and 1849, based on an original design by English architect Richard Cromwell Carpenter. The tower was designed by Notman, and completed in 1865 by George Hewitt. The main entrance, with polychromed figurers depicting "Christ in Majesty", are part of the portal designed by Milton Bennett Medary of the Zantzinger, Borie, and Medary firm in 1923. The Lady Chapel was designed by Cope and Stewardson in the late decorated Gothic style. It was built in 1900; the ceiling is the first known example in the US of a stone vault. Both construction of the chapel and its furnishings were donated by Rodman Wanamaker in memory of his late wife. Because of its architectural quality and significance, the building has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL). The church contains several ornaments by Charles Eamer Kempe; the Lady Chapel was originally decorated entirely according to Kempe's designs. When it was later redecorated, the altar was moved to the head of the north aisle to become the St. John's Altar. The polychromed figures were moved throughout the church, while the original stained glass remains in place. The church also has several Kempe frontals, representing a significant proportion of the surviving embroideries from that firm, some of which are still in occasional use. The Lady Chapel now contains a world-renowned silver altar with nearly 150 individually sculpted saints and scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. It is humorously said of this altar that it is "The only place where one can worship both God and Mammon at the same time." The tower is one of about 50 in North America hung for change ringing, with a ring of eight bells. The bells, which were cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London in 1876 and 1878, were restored for change-ringing in 1999. The Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ, op. 948 (built 1936-1937) at the front of the church was designed and voiced by G. Donald Harrison. It is an early example of Harrison's American Classic style. The church also contains a string organ given by Rodman Wanamaker and installed by Wanamaker Organ. The screen organ, which resides in a carved case situated between the Choir and Lady Chapel, dates from the 1902 Austin organ, which was voiced by British organ builder Carleton Michell.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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