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Church of the Redeemer |
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E. M. Ball Collection, (1918-1969), N1610 |
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| Title: | Church of the Redeemer |
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| Creator - Architect: | Dr. Francis Willis (presumed) |
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| Building Address: | 1201 Riverside Drive |
| Subject - Keyword: | Church of the Redeemer |
| Subject - LCSH: | Church of the Redeemer; WNC Diocese; |
| Description: | The Church of the Redeemer is a small,
native stone cruciform chapel one mile north of Asheville. A small
grassy cemetery occupies an embankment just above the chapel and beyond
it is a hilltop covered in a pine forest. Just to the east and slightly
downhill from the chapel is a large, concrete block parish house,
separated from the chapel by a courtyard.
The Church of the Redeemer is a faithful representation of a small Romanesque chapel. Its thick walls are built up of locally quarried, irregularly coursed ashlar with unfinished mortar joints. The building is only about fifty feet in length with a steeply pitched roof made of dark grey slates. A small, simple cross is mounted on the ridge at the chancel end. The Church of the Redeemer is something of an architectural oddity in its southern mountain context. What it represents quite well is the immigration into the Asheville area of a broad spectrum of cosmopolitan personalities and their sometimes exotic dreams following the coming of the railroad in 1880. |
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| Date Building Constructed / Ended: | 1886-1888 |
| Date Building Destroyed: | |
| Building Type: | |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque chapel |
| Building Current Function: | Religion/Church Related Residence |
| Historical Overview: | The Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal)
was constructed on a bluff overlooking the French Broad River near
Woodfin. The solid stone structure was the creation of Dr. Francis
Willis, a British Physician, who built the private chapel on his 100
acre estate so that he could meet the spiritual as well as physical
needs of his patients. The church is made from native stone with a
foundation hewn out of solid rock and is shaped in the form of a cross.
More than two years went into constructing the chapel with the first
service being held by the Reverend H. S. McDuffy on June 15th, 1888.
The Church of the Redeemer is atypical for it's geographical context and represents the opening up of western North Carolina to -- and conversely the importation into WNC of -- national and international culture and following the arrival of the railroad in the 1880's. |
| Tenants: | Congregation |
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| Related Images: |
ball1610.jpg Church of
the Redeemer, Asheville, NC parish_house.jpg Church of the Redeemer Asheville, NC |
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| Rights: | Any display, publication or public use
must credit D. H. Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University of
North Carolina at Asheville. Copyright retained by the authors of certain items in the collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. |
| Processed by: | UNCA |
| Updated: | UNCA 2011-02-23 Cady Barrett |
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