Ties to the Old World
The church was built in 1723 and officially named the Christ Church in the City of Boston. It was an extension of the Church of England, and thus many of its effects were direct imports from the Old World. For example, the statuettes that surround the organ originate from Belgium in the 1620s. The audio clip below explains how the statuettes were pilfered by Captain Grushea, a state-sponsored pirate, during the French war (in 1746). They were originally intended for a church in a settlement up the St. Lawrence River, but never made it that far.
Other ties include the Communion service, which was put together with gifts from a handful of different captains as well as King George II himself, as well as the Bible, which was also a gift from the King. Even today – the original collection box and original doors (with large wrought-iron hinges) still remain. The oaken table used as the altar is also supposed to be the original. Moreover, one of the signs on the walls indicates that the Steeple was a “gift of Honduras merchants 1740 as a guide to mariners,” which evokes memories of the era in which merchants relied on ships as their primary means of transport.
The change-ringing bells at the Old North Church are the oldest of their kind in North America. These eight bells – still here today – are from Gloucester, England and were made in 1744 by Abel Rudhall. In this photograph, they are being rung by a group in 1982, creating a moment of connection between contemporary Bostonians and those who transported the bells here and gave them a home in the church, as homage to its English roots.
All in all, there were – and still are – many items that indicate the church’s ties to England. As I walked around the inside of the Old North Church, I couldn’t help but feel eerily connected to the Bostonians of the Puritan age.
