Thursday, November 7, 2024

Historic Jamestown Gifted New Church Pulpit

The Jamestown Archeology Team, Ford’s Colony Woodworkers and James Horn at the pulpit installation. (Photo: Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation)

JAMESTOWN — A group of 11 local master craftsmen recently gifted a hand-carved pulpit to Historic Jamestown’s Memorial Church.

The collaboration project between the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation and the Ford’s Colony Woodworkers Club took over a year to complete.

The design for the pulpit is based on furniture and pulpit research that was done in England. The main carving is based on a King’s Touch Token.

“What I really wanted, when designing this, was something that somebody in the time period would look at and say ‘we could have done that.’,” said Master carver John McElrath, “When they (Jamestown archeologist) sent me a picture of the coin, I looked at it and said I wonder what this would look like blown up. It is a really nice piece and it came out better than I expected.”

Master carver John McElrath. (Stephanie Sabin/WYDaily)

The King’s Touch Token is the most common token found at Jamestown, with 64 specimens in the archives. According to Historic Jamestown, it is unclear what the original use of these tokens was. The name “King’s Touch” comes from the theory that these tokens were “touch pieces” given as souvenirs of the King’s Touch ceremony.

Although these tokens retain the name King’s Touch, it seems unlikely that the tokens found at Jamestown were associated with the ceremony. Documented tokens associated with the King’s Touch ceremony were made from gold or silver, and these tokens from Jamestown are all copper alloy.

King’s Touch token (photo: Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation)

Instead, these tokens could be commemorative pieces made as souvenirs to commemorate King James I’s coronation, which took place in 1603.

James Horn, Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation President, thanked the craftsmen for their hours of work, stating, “I think everyone can see it is a magnificent piece of craft. It is absolutely gorgeous. Of course, we get tens of thousands of visitors that will see this when coming into this remarkable and historic church.”

“We are standing in one of the most historic churches in the Nation,” continued Horn, “What we have tried to do with this church, and the Ford’s Colony Woodworkers have been a major partner in this enterprise, is try to give our visitors a sense of what that early church would have looked like.”

“This is a really important place. This is a place I would like many Americans to come because the message of this church is all about a democratic experiment that started here and has continued ever since. I am very grateful to your group (Ford’s Colony Woodworkers) for helping us build the vision of what this church would have looked like in its period,” Horn added.

The Ford’s Colony Woodworkers have also provided period-appropriate reproduction pews and benches and constructed the church doors and the chancel railing.

The group has at least one more project to complete for the Memorial Church; a communion table.

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