ORDINANCE NO.2136

Asheville and Buncombe County. Any application for the demolition of this building shall require the waiting period set forth in Part 3C of Article 19 of Chapter 160A of the North Carolina General Statutes.

For purposes of this designation, "significant features" shall be understood to include:

a. The exterior of the church.

b. The exterior of the rectory.

c. The grounds, including the wayside shrine.

3. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to prevent the ordinary maintenance or repair
of any architectural feature in or on the said building and property that does not involve a
change in design, material or outer appearance thereof, nor to prevent the construction,
reconstruction, alteration, restoration, demolition or removal of any such feature when a
City of Asheville building inspector or similar official certifies to the Historic Resources
Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County that such action is required for the public
safety because of an unsafe or dangerous condition. Nodiing herein shall be construed to
prevent the property owner from making any use of this property not prohibited by other
statutes, ordinances or regulations.

4.  A suitable sign or plaque shall be posted indicating the property has been designated as a
local historic landmark and containing any other appropriate information. If the owner
consents, the sign or plaque shall be placed upon the building or property. If the owner
objects, the sign or plaque shall be placed on nearby public right-of-way.

5.  The owner and occupants of the building known as "St. Mary's Episcopal Church,
Rectory, and Grounds" shall be given notice of this ordinance as required by applicable
law and copies of this ordinance shall be filed and indexed in the offices of the City Clerk,
Buncombe County Register of Deeds, the City's Chief Building Inspector and the
Buncombe County Tax Supervisor as required by applicable law.

Read, approved, and adopted this 23rd day of  August  1994.

CITY CLERK                                                                          MAY'OR,                   \

Approved as to form:

CITY ATTORNEY

EXHIBIT "A"

BEGINNING at a stake at the intersection of the eastern margin of Charlotte Street with the northern margin of Macon Avenue and runs thence with said margin of Macon Avenue North 47 deg. 34' East 147.36 feet to a stake in the same margin; thence still with said margin of said Avenue North 51 deg. 20' East 75.54 feet to a stake in the same margin; thence still with said margin of said Avenue North 64 deg. East 39.82 feet to a stake at the intersection of said margin of said Avenue with the western margin of an alley; thence with said margin of said alley North 2 deg. 10' East 197.01 feet to a stake at the intersection of said margin of said alley with the southern margin of another alley; thence with said last named alley South 60 deg. West 85.05 feet to a stake in the same margin; thence still with said margin of said alley North 89 deg. 40' West 98.18 feet to a stake at the intersection of said margin of said alley with the eastern margin of Charlotte Street; thence with said margin of Charlotte Street South 5 deg. West 87.1 feet to a stake in the same margin; thence still with said margin of Charlotte Street South 7 deg. 44' West 234.29 feet to the Beginning, the same being lots Nos. 1, 2 and 3 of Block D of the Map of Proximity Park, which is duly registered in the Office of Register of Deeds of Buncombe County and being also the same land and premises conveyed to E.W. Grove by deed of the Proximity Park Company, which is registered in said Office, in Book 157 at Page 336.

Application for Local Landmark Designation St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Name of Property: St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Name and Address of Current Property Owner:St. Mary's Church, 337 Charlotte Street,Asheville, North Carolina 28801

Location of the Property: 337 Charlotte Street, Asheville, North Carolina 28801

Date of Construction: 1914, 1925

Church Rectory

Historical Significance: St.   Mary's   Church   meets   both   criteria   B designation and C   for  purposes   of  local

Criteria B:    Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past.

Criteria C: Embodies the distinctive characteristic of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work  of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction.

Areas of Significance:

Period of Significance: 1914 -  Present

Architect and Builder : Richard Sharpe Smith

Landscape Architect: Chauncey Beattle

Description

Architectural Classification

Foundation Walls Roof Other

Architecture

Landscape

Religious Development

Materials: Stone , Brick, Asphalt Shingle, zinc cross on roof

Narrative Description

Designed by Richard Sharp Smith, and built in  1914 St. Mary's is English Gothic in style and cruciform in plan.      The red brick church is picturesque, with its stone foundation, concrete embellishments, and steeply pitched gabled roof.   The windows are pointed arch with leaded glass diamond panes.

The cornerstone of St. Mary's Church in Asheville, North Carolina, was laid October 21, 1914, on Charlotte Street, near its intersection with Macon Avenue, in a ceremony attended by some 400 people.

St. Mary's Church, Asheville -- conceived, planned, and built, in 1914 -- reflects the "correct" ecclesiastical style of Edwardian Anglo-Catholicism. Add to this the architect Richard Sharp Smith's likely inclination to build his own parish Church like those of his native north of England (Smith was a. member and original vestryman of St. Mary's), you have a building like those dotting the hilly landscape of County Durham, Northumberland, and Cumbria outfitted for catholic worship according to the prescriptions of the best liturgical research of the day.

Interior Architectural Symbolism

Inside/double doors is O the Font where baptisms take place. Behind the Font is a carved oak triptych or screen made by a local craftsman, Rick Peevey.

The Font is octagonally shaped --to remind us of Sunday, the eighth day, the day of Resurrection and new life. The Font is in a direct line with the Altar; the Font at this end of life's path and the Altar at the far end. If the Font is the symbol of the beginning of our Christian journey, the Altar is the symbol of the goal of that journey -- the Throne of God in heaven. Along the way, along both walls of the Nave, are plaques depicting 14 scenes from the Passion of Christ, called the Stations of the Cross. They form the basis of a popular Lenten devotion and were placed in the Church in 1916.

On the upper Choir Screen, there are four diamond-shaped frames surrounding symbols of the four evangelists or Gospel writers. Also, in the choir loft, stands the organ built by Walker of Suffolk, England, a firm which traces its origins to 1789. The instrument is voiced to give a distinctive "English" sound typical of the Edwardian period of St. Mary's founding.

The part of the Church where the pews are found is called the Nave, from the same word from which we get "navy." Dividing the Nave from the Sanctuary altar area, is the Rood Screen at the foot of the Chancel Steps, supporting the 3 figures of Calvary: Christ in agony on the Cross; His holy Mother, ever His most faithful disciple, keeping her mournful vigil; and John, the "disciple whom Jesus loved." Panels on the Rood Screen came from the Howland house, rescued as it was burning, which was also designed by Richard Sharpe Smith. The Howland house was one of the first homes built on Sunset Mountain and burned to the ground in the mid-1920s.

John Horton, Restoration Specialist, with the State Historic-Preservation Office, states: "When the rear of the church was expanded in the 1960s and the altar platform moved, the original rood screen was relocated to its present position. Vertical staining on the brick walls adjacent to the third pilaster along with sections cut out in the crown molding indicate the original position of the screen. The wood flooring was obviously extended from the area where a separating strip of flooring runs from side to side.

The original wood screen consisted solely of the stained post and beam.... The statuary atop the beam also appear to be original however the crucifix has been changed or a least made more elaborate. From the church history, it is documented that the rood screen was "completed1 between 1926 - 1928. From studying the screen...I am assuming that they meant that the decorative oak grillwork and the carving on the posts was completed by that date. Perhaps the .dentil molding at the top of the beam was also added at that time." ]

Moving on up the Chancel Steps, there is a small space called the Choir because the "Choir Offices" of Morning and Evening Prayer are led from here. The Prayer Desks and Pulpit in the Choir were made at the woodwork shop of Christ School in Arden, North Carolina, in 1914 for St. Mary's.

The Sanctuary, that part of the Church inside the Altar Rail is meant to mirror heaven, and the worship offered here is an earthly reflection of the glorious praise of the holy Trinity in heaven. As one would expect, the Sanctuary is adorned with gold and silver, with rich Carpets, fine Needlepoint and embroidered Hangings, and with Flowers and Candles and Incense; all the finest, of what we have to offer. (The only exception to this is during Lent, when decoration is kept to a minimum to reflect the austere and penitential nature of that season.)

In the midst of the Sanctuary stands the Altar, the place where sacrifice is offered. Designed by Richard Sharpe Smith, the altar top is of solid oak with a square marble inset, supported by 5 columns of oak alternating with blue panels each with a carved symbol of Christ's passion. The gold lettering across the ratable, or shelf behind the Altar, echoes the call of the Church to her faithful people throughout the ages: Adoremus in Aeternum Sanctissimus Sacramentum (Let us forever adore the most holy Sacrament).

Upon the retable is a small Closet with cloth-of-gold curtains over the doors. This is the Tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is perpetually "reserved", or kept, for emergencies and home Communions during the week. The large

*   September   17,    1993    letter   from   John   Horton    to   Mrs.Mary Gennett

whits Lamp on the left side of the Sanctuary burns continuously to remind all who enter the Church of the Sacred Presence upon our Altar.

On either wall of the Sanctuary are "Credence" shelves for holding vessels and books used in the Mass. Surrounding each shelf are beautifully hand-carved oak canopies by Hike Peevey.

Rectory

In 1925, the English cottage-style Rectory, also designed by Mr. Smith, was built and set in garden-like grounds designed by an associate of William Law Olmstead. The total effect is unmistakably Anglican but entirely at home in its North Carolina ecclesiastical and geographical setting.

NEED AN ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION EXTERIOR & INTERIOR Landscaping

A master landscape plan for the church grounds was outlined quite early by Chauncey Beadle of the Biltmore Estate, and later perfected in exquisite detail by Doan Ogden. Over the years innumerable memorials and other physical embellishments have been most tastefully selected under expert guidance — notably that of artist Leonard Craig who designed (among many other things) the Lady Shrine and painted the great picture of the parish's patron saint that dominates the sanctuary -- with the result that the place of worship is a perfect jewel in a unique setting. That setting now features two columbaria in specially consecrated ground, one of them immediately behind the church and the other beneath the crucifix at the Wayside Shrine near the intersection of Macon Avenue with Charlotte Street.

As you approach St. Mary's Church and grounds from the corner of Charlotte Street and Macon Avenue, you first encounter a large, outdoor Crucifix surrounded by a wrought-iron railing, which itself encloses a pleasant little garden. This is called. the Memorial Garden.  Buried here are the ashes of parishioners and friends of St. Mary's; memorial plaques are located on the back of the Cross.  {The cast bronze Corpus or figure of Christ is an unusual and original work by local sculptor, Dan Millspaugh.)   In the spring and summer, the Garden is carpeted with blue periwinkle — Our Lady's color --to remind us how Our Lord's Mother stood faithfully at the foot of the Cross of her dying Son.

Dan Millspaugh crucifix is the forth one placed at the wayside shrine. " The first one was imported from Germany and was destroyed by vandals. The second one was made of wood and cracked because of the moist air. Father Farnum had the third crucifix a terra cotta one placed there in 1930."- This wayside shrine is "suggestive of the number of wayside Calvaries and shrines that are found in Europe, especially on roads that lead to famous places of pilgrimage. J

Statement of Significance

For 80 years, visitors and native Ashevillians have enjoyed the inviting charm of St. Mary's buildings and grounds for both spiritual and physical refreshment. International attention was most recently brought to the setting by writer Gail Godwin in her novel Father Melancholy's Daughter. Miss Godwin grew\upii,n St. Mary's Parish.

St. Mary " d was founded " for the purpose of Anglo-Catholic worship, /has not been subject to the controversies arising over the introduction of ancient and enriched practices into the Episcopal service that have marked many parishes as a result of the Oxford Movement. This started in the early Victorian period in the Church of England as a return to the realization of the historic continuity and Catholic heritage of the Anglican Church. It has spread throughout the world and its influence has been profound on protestant theology.

. . . .Much of the tradition of the Southern Episcopal church predates the Oxford Movement, so there are not as many Anglo-Catholic parishes in the South as there are in other parts of the country. This makes St. Mary's unique and consequently, a place pilgrimage for isolated Anglo-Catholics in the church province of Sewanee, which is comprised of most of the southern states." St. Mary's is the only Anglo-Catholic Church in the North Carolina.

ADD A SHORT HISTORY OF RICHARD SHARPE SMITH CHAUNCEY BEADLE

Historic Background and Significance

The Rev'd John Keble, Oxford Don, preached the annual "Assize Sermon" in the University Chapel of St. Mary on July 14, 1833. From that event, we date the beginning of the Oxford Movement, the great revival of catholic teaching and practice within the Anglican Communion. Leaders of the Episcopal Church in the United States were early affected by the clarion call of the "Tractarians", as the original adherents of the Oxford

" unknown magazine article page 18 3 ibid

4 ibid

Movement in England were called because they promulgated their ideas in a series of tracts or pamphlets. Among these was Levi Silliman Ives, second Bishop of North Carolina. Bishop Ives in 1849 was the first American Bishop to call for a resumption of private confession, prayers for the dead, and invocation of the saints among Episcopalians. He was also instrumental in the founding of the first monastic institution in the Anglican Communion since Henry VIII at Valle Crucis, North Carolina, in 1844. Long known as one of the "High Church" dioceses of the Episcopal Church, North Carolina and especially Western North Carolina was no stranger to the influence of the Oxford Movement from the time of Bishop Ives onward.

It was into this fertile Episcopal ground that the Rev' d Charles Mercer Hall stepped in 1913 when he came to Asheville for rest and treatment of respiratory ailments. Coincidentally, he was asked to fill in at Trinity Parish, Asheville, which was without a rector. A convinced and charismatic Anglo-Catholic, as the Tractarians' disciples were now being called, Fr. Hall converted a respectable minority of Trinity's parishioners to the cause, and the rest as they say, is history.

The land in Asheville, North Carolina, upon which St. Mary's Episcopal Church and its rectory stand — on Charlotte Street near its intersection with Macon Avenue — was purchased from E. W. Grove in 1914 in the entirety that remains today.

INSERT PARAGRAPH FROM MAGAZINE ARTICLE ABOUT THE COMMITTEE THAT SELECTED THE LAND PAGES 17 & 18 PLEASE FOOTNOTE CONTROL F7

The cornerstone of the church was laid October 21, 1914, in a ceremony attended by some 400 people. The first services were held in the new building on Christmas of that same year, with Western North Carolina's Bishop Junius M. Horner and the first rector Charles Mercer Hall officiating.

A Wayside Shrine was set in place at the corner of Macon Avenue and Charlotte Street in 1915 at the time of the completion of the church and has remained there, despite considerable vicissitudes, through the years -- a special place in the neighborhood and the city.

The rectory was built in 1925.   All of this property   is directly across Charlotte Street from Grove Park Plaza, as it was called in the early 1920s, but which is known today as   E.W. Grove Park.

The church itself, has been called "the most beautiful Episcopal Church in the South", and the rectory, were both designed by eminent architect Richard Sharp Smith, a vestryman of the new parish, who had come to Asheville at the request of Morris Hunt, chief architect, to help oversee the construction of Biltmore House. Fortunately for Asheville, Smith remained there in private practice until the end of his life, so that the city is full of his creations.

What everyone now knows as "St. Mary's Church" was, in Smith's original concept, "The Lady Chapel of St. Mary's Church", the idea being that a much larger but connecting sanctuary would be built later on, when growth of the congregation demanded it. In the actual event, when that necessity arose "St. Mary's Chapel" was simply enlarged in I960, during the rectorship of Fr. Paul Chaplin, under the guidance of a committee co-chaired by Andrew Gennett and William J. Cocke, and consecrated by Bishop M. George Henry in 1969. The considerable enlargement was so skillfully carried out that a former rector, returning on a visit after some years' absence, did not realize that it had been done.

The church itself has of course been the locale for innumerable special events down the years, none of them more memorable than the trilogy of Medieval Mystery Plays performed there during Easter Week of four years in the early 1950's. An attached brochure gives a full account of these unusual cultural events, so it may suffice here merely to quote a few contemporary reactions: The Asheville Citizen of April 10, 1953, recorded that "With even broader scope and more sensitive feeling than last year, the trilogy of mystery plays opened last night in the chancel of St. Mary's Episcopal Church with what certainly is its finest production, and one which would evoke the demand that it forever be a part of the Easter season here". And an editorial in the same paper went on to say "So far as we know, the Mysteries at St. Mary's are unique to Asheville in the South, if not in the whole United States. Here is one nearly forgotten dimension of religious history revived and portrayed in moving fashion. It is worth anyone's patronage". The Charlotte Observer noted that "a small Episcopal parish on Charlotte Street in Asheville will give probably one of the most unusual Easter services to be found anywhere". And Laura Plonk of Asheville's well-known Plonk School stated in an appreciative letter to the editor of The Asheville Citizen - Times (himself a vestryman of the parish) "The whole community is indebted to St. Mary's for this magnificent privilege. May the production of these plays be an annual event".

St. Mary's Parish was organized in June of 1914 "for the maintenance and defense of Catholic principles", as the original by-laws put that fundamental fact. What its founders wanted, what they sacrificed to obtain, and what they in fact achieved, was an Episcopal church home where the full richness of historic Western Christendom was available: Sung Eucharist as the principal celebration on Sundays; Daily Office and Mass; Perpetual Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament in an always - open church; time honored Sucharistic devotions; set hours for private auricular Confession; warm relations with the saints; complete observance of the festivals and fasts of the Church Year -- use of the entire treasury of devotion developed over the Christian centuries.

They continue to have this, and doubtless always will, partly because the parish by-laws also state that no priest shall be considered in the calling of a rector unless he is known to be a believing and practicing catholic of the Anglican ethos. The parish has of course had a succession of rectors in its eighty-year history, each of whom has made his own personal contribution in the ongoing story of the church's history, yet a remarkable continuity has been preserved.

Fr. Hall, the founder who served from 1914 to 1925, laid such a wise and solid foundation that nothing he established ever had to be undone. It could be and was built upon and developed, both in fabric and in practice, but never had to be torn down first and given a new direction. With one accord his successors hewed to his line, so that the "feel" of the parish today is exactly what it was eighty years ago. But the feeling about the parish, viewed from outside, is vastly different now.

Fr. Hall encountered hostility and even vicious opposition to his new congregation where strange doings were alleged to go on. The local ministerial association passed resolutions condemning the establishment of the new church. Vandals tore down and destroyed the crucifix at the corner of Charlotte and Macon, and slashed the tires of the rector's car. A genial Protestant Divine remarked that "He could stand Papists, but not Ape-ists". It was intimated to several young men who wished to cast in their lot with St. Mary's that their jobs might be jeopardized if they did so. Canonical action against St. Mary's was considered — in fact the Father Founder asked that he be tried -- but nobody, including the Chancellor of the Diocese, cared to enter the lists against Fr. Hall's formidable scholarship and redoubtable character. Naturally he was shunned by most -- but not all — of his fellow priest in the diocese. He, and the parish, were granted no real status in the life of the wider church, until at the very end of his tenure Fr. Hall was appointed an Examining Chaplain --which function he never exercised, as he was called to a parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut, almost immediately afterwards.

His successor, Rudolph H. Schnorrenberg, served only briefly, from 1926 to 1928, yet even in that short time succeeded in beginning the long process toward acceptance and even warm welcome which the parish enjoys today. A young man with an attractive personality and no visible horns, hoofs, and tail, he began to draw the growing Grove Park's neighborhood new and young element into the parish. A definite beginning had been made before he left to join the clergy staff at Trinity Church in New York City, and to marry. Years later his widow would return to live in Asheville.

In the nineteen-year rectorship of saintly and dedicated Arthur W. Farnum, 1928 - 1947, that important work was all but finalized. Fr. Farnum came to St. Mary's from within the diocese — from St. James1 Church in Hendersonville, and so was known to be non-diabolic even though he felt at home in St. Mary's. Then by enormous personal sacrifice all through The Great Depression {his stipend for the year 1934 was $324.85) and faithful ministry throughout his years of service to city and congregation he not only eroded all opposition but actually endeared himself and his cause to all. Before his retirement the Diocesan Convention elected his a Deputy to the Church's General Convention, the highest honor, accolade, and mark of affection it could bestow.

Gale D. Webbe, rector from 1947 to 1953, inherited these upbeat circumstances and also was already well known in Asheville because he came there from the chaplaincy at Christ School in Arden, where he had written many a story under the pseudonym Stephen Cole for The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, Good housekeeping, Redbook, and the like, plus helping to establish The Asheville Archers. In his time the parish was fully welcomed into diocesan life, with open arms. Its rector was appointed or elected Editor of the Diocesan magazine, Secretary of the Diocese, President of the Standing Committee, Deputy to five General Conventions, Vice President of the Executive Council, membership on any number of committees.

Fr. Webbe is probably the best known, nationally and even internationally, of St. Mary's rectors because as the years went by the scope of his career widened to include the writing of seven books, notably including his spiritual classic THE NIGHT AND NOTHING, a selection of The Episcopal Book Club. This activity in turn led to his being in demand throughout the United States as a conductor of retreats and quiet days, teaching missions and schools of prayer. He retired in 1974 after several years as Headmaster of Christ School in Arden, where he had been chaplain so many years before, and after having been rector of St. Mary's Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, and the Church of the Incarnation, Highlands, North Carolina). The good feeling toward St. Mary's of his day has obtained there ever since.

Eric W. Veal, rector from 1953 to 1957, born in England and educated at Oxford and Sly, came to St. Mary's from Haiti where he was professor of systematic theology and church history, and soon found himself in demand throughout the Diocese of Western North Carolina as a speaker and lecturer, mainly on matters historical and spiritual. He left St. Mary's for Denver, where he died after a long and distinguished career.

He was succeeded by Paul Chaplin, who came in 1958 from Rutherfordton, within the diocese, and -who served until his retirement 25 years hence, after the longest and in many ways the most productive rectorship in the parish's history. The church's enlargement, its interior beautification, its Golden Anniversary celebration happily attended by several Protestant ministers who were most glad to be there despite the fact that some of their former parishioners were now their hosts, and all manner of other signs of growth in extent and in depth, marked Fr. Paul's rectorship.

He was followed, in 1983, by the present rector,. Edward Meeks, under whose capable leadership now of ten years duration St. Mary's continues to forge ahead "in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" . Indicative of the latter is the ironic (considering how things were with Fr. Hall 80 years before) fact that the Bishop appointed Fr. Meeks Chairman of the Diocesan Ecumenical Committee and one of St. Mary's laymen to be a member to the Commission on Ministry. In addition, another parishioner of St. Mary's has for years been elected and re-elected by the Diocesan Convention to be Treasurer of the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Truly, things have moved 180 degrees.

Scattered across the United States there are a goodly number of Anglo-Catholic parishes, knox^n at least by reputation to every informed churchman. Parishes like the Church of the Advent, Boston ... St. Mary the Virgin, New York City ... Grace Church, Newark ... Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pennsylvania ... St. Paul's, K Street, Washington, DC ... St. Luke's, Evanston, Illinois ... Our Savior, Atlanta .... St. Paul's, Savannah ... and so many others, known far and wide by one and all. St. Mary's Parish in Asheville is one of them.

Its congregation presently numbers about 150 active adult communicants, and always seems to have included a disproportionate number of doctors and lawyers along with its industrialists, businessmen, newspaper folk, teachers, nurses, creative writers, musicians, social workers, politicians, technicians, artisans, retirees, housewives, librarians, members of the City Council — the whole gamut of white- and blue-collar folk involved in striving to make this a better world. In addition to its solid core of dedicated parishioners the parish's stately liturgy, offered every weekday as well as on Sundays, is constantly attended by visitors from far and near because of its reputation throughout the Anglican Communion. Charlton Heston and Grace Kelly, among countless others, have worshipped there. The local parish itself has nurtured such celebrities as astrophysicist Johnston Cocke, co-discoverer of the optical Pulsar in the Crab Nebula, and famed author Gail Godwin, whose recent novel, FATHER MELANCHOLY'S DAUGHTER is redolent of the parish and its Asheville environs, and particularly features the historic desecration of the famous Corner Crucifix.