St. Paul's Historic Churchyard
Historic Churchyard
Drawing frequent visitors by bicycle and car, the St. Paul’s Parish, Kent churchyard is a stunningly beautiful, tranquil sanctuary. It covers nearly 19 acres with more than 40 different species of trees as well as large English and American boxwood and contains a scenic millpond, a Memorial Garden with a seven-circuit labyrinth. Adjacent to the church, a 1766 brick vestry house, where church meetings were once held, is one of only two surviving examples of its kind in Maryland. Graves dating from the early 19th century are found close to the church building and beyond that the graves of Civil War soldiers (two Confederate and three Union) can be found. Many visitors come to see the grave of Talullah Bankhead, an early twentieth century award-winning actress. The remains of a 400-year-old “National Champion Tree” Swamp Chestnut Oak, once 120 feet high with a circumference of 24’6” and a crown spread of 92’, is located near the walkway leading to the church with a descriptive marker erected in 2015 when the tree succumbed to old age. It was the largest of its species in the United States. Located to the northeast of the Broad Noc Creek dam, the churchyard was created when Michael Miller sold the original tract of about eight acres of land out of his “Arcadia” holding on February 6, 1696 for 2,000 pounds of tobacco to the Vestry. Mr. Miller was an original member of the 1693 Vestry, whose grave lies near the door of the church. Within a year of the sale, Miller returned the purchase price to the Parish. Another two acres were added through a purchase from Charles Ringgold in 1707. The remainder of the property has been acquired in more recent times, much of it from the Remington Arms Company. The majority of the marked graves in the churchyard date from the 19th and 20th centuries, but there a satisfying number from earlier times. The oldest section of the churchyard is the section around the church itself, and many of the oldest graves are located quite close to the building. One of the more colorful is that of Daniel Coley, who died October 20, 1729. His headstone reads: Behold and see where now I lye, As you are now, so once was I; As I am now, so must you be; Therefore prepare to follow me. Local tradition asserts that the casualties from the battle at nearby Caulk’s Field during the War of 1812 were buried at St. Paul’s. An archaeological survey of the grounds conducted by the University of Delaware’s Center for Archaeological Research in 1992 failed to turn up any supporting physical evidence. There are, however, many other veterans’ graves, including those of men who fought in the Civil War, known by many in Kent County as the War Between the States. Interested visitors will find two Confederate and three Union soldiers buried in the churchyard, including 1st Lieutenant Samuel Beck, Assistant Surgeon on the staff of General John H. Winder, the Provost-Marshall of Confederate Prisons. The grave of actress Talullah Bankhead is located in the northeast corner of the “New Cemetery” on the opposite side of the churchyard from the Church. The churchyard was once dominated by a grove of spectacular White Oaks; all have now succumbed to time and storms. The largest and longest lived – a 120’ tall Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus michauxii) with a trunk circumference of 24’6” -- was designated a Kent County Bicentennial Tree in July 1976 by the Maryland Bicentennial Commission. Named a “National Champion Tree” and officially recognized as the largest tree of its species in the United States, it was cut down in 2015 due to failing health and potential danger to parishioners.
Cemetery
For those who visit, the cemetery offers a quiet space for reflection, prayer, and thanksgiving for the lives of all who are remembered here. It stands as a reminder of the hope we share in the promise of eternal life, and the enduring ties between the past, present, and future of St. Paul’s Parish.
If you have interest in St. Paul's Cemetery being your final resting place, contact the Parish Office.
St. Paul's is happy to help visitors locate burial sites and navigate the cemetery. Please contact the office during office hours (Tues-Fri, 9a-2p)
Memorial Garden
The Memorial Garden, located in the middle of the New Cemetery, north of the Parish Hall, was blessed on the site with a service of Holy Eucharist on August 7, 2005. While its origins are relatively recent, we are beholden to the prescient planners of the 1950s who, when laying out the plan for additional cemetery space, reserved a 20’ x 200’ area in its center designated as undeveloped without planned burial lots. These planners wished it to be used and landscaped the periphery with now majestic oaks and well-developed English boxwood. This serene area of the cemetery has a labyrinth and sitting areas for contemplation. In late 2002, then Rector, The Reverend Robert K. Gieselmann, called an ad hoc committee to plan converting the space into a more organized form suitable for spiritual meditation and perhaps the interment of ashes of those persons who wished their remains to be returned directly to the Earth. After several months of discussion of the elements conducive to meditation and working with a local landscape architect, a design was approved in October 2003 and construction began. The plan consisted of two large courtyards anchoring each end of the Memorial Garden’s east-west axis, with the east end designated as a teaching area or perhaps a place for groups to meet. The west end was designed to accommodate a labyrinth similar to ones used for centuries for increased focus during spiritual meditation. The design selected for the seven-circuit labyrinth is taken from the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. Between the courtyards are two smaller alcoves for additional privacy during meditation. Inside the Memorial Garden, there are no corners and the only sharp edges are at the entrances. This design feature is intended to separate the sharpness of the outside world from the inside peacefulness. This feature of separation is emphasized by the plantings consisting of three levels of growth – the tall oaks, the mid-sized dogwoods and shrubs, and the groundcover. While viewers cannot see into the Memorial Garden very well, the perspective to the outside is softened by the vegetation so that while there is a sense of solitude, there is no sense of isolation. The curving pathway adds to the sense of peacefulness. The Memorial Garden is equipped with its own well and irrigation system. Watering of the plants occurs when the moisture content of the air is low and the irrigation system turns on automatically. The Memorial Garden features four chairs in the alcoves and two long benches in the east courtyard. The general locations of interments are indicated with the installation of memorial bricks inserted in the edging of the pathway.