St. Bartholomew's - Old Green Hill

Enter content here

(Please click on all pictures for an enlargement.)

Green Hill is a church with a rich history. It stands overlooking the Wicomico River on its west banks and is located in a town that never was, Green Hill Town and Port. Green Hill Town was to be a port of entry to the area and was surveyed into lots with the plat being recorded in 1707. Navigators soon found that the river was navigable for many more miles up river and so Green Hill Town was abandoned.

In the early days of Somerset County travel was largely by water; thus, the location of Green Hill Church made it accessible to a large area via waterways. Today the Church stands in an isolated area and is only used for periodic special services.

It is probably because of this isolation that Green Hill Church has remained remarkably unchanged through the centuries. The building is simple and forthright in its lines. The interior is a large room measuring 65 ½ feet by 40 feet with a barrel vaulted ceiling. It has brick floors and 18 inch thick brick walls. There are two brick aisles with box pews along both side walls. Centered on the south wall is a high paneled pulpit. The woodwork is of native pine.

The history of Green Hill Church is closely linked to the beginnings of settlement on the Eastern Shore. Old Somerset County, which comprised the present Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset Counties plus a large area of what is now Delaware, was created in 1666 by a proclamation of Lord Baltimore to honor his sister, Lady Mary Somerset.

Stepney Parish, in which Green Hill Church is located, was formed in 1692 when the records show that a vestry of six members were elected. The first church built in Stepney Parish was a wooden building located about 150 yards north by west of the present church. The exact date of construction is not known.

John Huett was the first rector of Stepney Parish. A number of clergy served the parish in the following years and, at times, the parish did not have benefit of a resident priest. Notable among the rectors was The Rev. Alexander Adams who served from 1704 until his death in 1769, a period of sixty-five years. The current brick church was built in 1773.

There is no record of a Rector in Stepney Parish from 1776 to 1783. This was the period of the Revolutionary War and the Church of England did not receive widespread support at that time. Troops were billeted at Green Hill Church for most of the conflict.

During periods of the late 1800s, services were not held at Old Green Hill. St. Mary's, Tyaskin, was the only church in the lower section of the parish where regular services were scheduled. Currently, St. Mary's vestry (also in Stepney Parish) has oversight of Old Green Hill Church. As well, The Green Hill Church Preservation Committee, formed in 1981, shares in the care and maintenance of this beautiful House of Worship.

As a part of the Diocese of Easton, Stepney Parish/St. Bartholomew's is considered to be the mother and grandmother church of many other Episcopal congregations in the region. Episcopalians gather on the Sunday closest to St. Bartholomew's Day (August 24) to celebrate their oneness in Christ and their common Eastern Shore heritage. Consequently this church continues to serve God in its ministry that began during the formation of our country.

(Please click on all pictures for an enlargement.)

The above material was drawn heavily from the history written for Green Hill Church's Bicentennial which was revised in 1983 for the 250^th celebration of the parish. Grateful appreciation and acknowledgment is extended to the author Charlotte K. Lilly for its use. Select portions have been updated or augmented as appropriate.

Directions to Old Green Hill Church: West on U. S. Route 50, left on Nanticoke Road (Route 349),left on Green Hill Church Road (Route 340) to church.