Jamestown Church

There have been several sites and stages in the church's history, and its later tower is now the last surviving above-ground structure from the days when Jamestown was the capital of Virginia.

The Church of England was central to the lives of the London Company leadership, with all of the men required to take an oath acknowledging the supremacy of King James and the lack of authority over him by the Pope before they set sail to Virginia.

After the introduction of strict martial law by Deputy Governor Sir Thomas Dale in 1611, called Dale's Code, regular church attendance was required, with punishments ranging from loss of food rations to execution for violators who blasphemed "God's holy name" or challenged the authority of a preacher or minister.

Captain John Smith reported that the first church services were held outdoors "under an awning (which was an old saile)" fastened to three or four trees.

When Lord De La Warr arrived as governor in 1610, he found that the church had fallen into a sad state of disrepair, so he had it restored and its furnishings improved.

"[3] Situated nearby the old church, it was wooden and built on a one-foot-wide foundation of cobblestones capped by a wall one brick thick (which are visible under the glass on the floor of the present building).

[4] In January 1639 Governor John Harvey reported that he, the council, the ablest planters, and some sea captains "had contributed to the building of a brick church" at Jamestown.

The present Memorial Church was built by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in 1907 and re-used the original tower.

[11] The associated burial is believed to be that of either Lord De La Warr or George Yeardley, his successor as governor.

[7] The other main burial ground in the area is about 250 yards (230 meters) to the west, near the large wooden Memorial Cross by the Archaearium and Statehouse ruins.

A major rehabilitation project in 2013 and 2014 helped to preserve the tower by repairing, relaying, and occasionally replacing bricks.

The project was part of the collaboration between Preservation Virginia and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation for the operation of Historic Jamestowne.

[14] At the end of November 2016, archaeologists from Jamestown Rediscovery started excavations inside the church to prepare for the 400th anniversary of the first meeting of the General Assembly in July 2019.

Lydia Sigourney published her poem First Church at Jamestown, Virginia, with added descriptive text, in her volume Scenes in my Native Land, 1845.