Then, in the first year of the Civil War, zealous Confederate soldiers burned Hampton to the ground in order to prevent the quaint Colonial town from falling into Union hands. All that was left of old Hampton was the church, the chimneys of the houses and a few hovels. Church historian Beverly Gundry stands in front of the Pocahontas window, which was given to St. John's by Native American students from Hampton Institute, now Hampton University. The stained-glass image is one of many fine examples that can be seen within the building. More than 135 years later, architectural historians single out those old walls as some of the finest surviving examples of Colonial Virginia brickwork.
Preservationists come from all over to admire the craftsmanship.
Indeed, connoisseurs say one of the most important features of Virginia's Colonial architecture lies in the unique character of its masonry walls. Constructed with roughly made, imprecisely shaped bricks, they have a liveliness seldom seen in the more mechanical-looking walls of other colonies, Loth says. Some churches have ignored that rule, and the result has been tragic. Historians rank St. John's brickwork among the finest to survive from the Colonial period. This brick may bear the initials of Henry Cary Jr., who erected the church in 1728.