St. Andrews, California (MD)

A few weeks ago, I drove down to St. Mary's County, but this time to the east side, along the Chesapeake Bay. I am very familiar with the drive down Solomon's Island Road, having done it for two years while in college. 

Just after you cross the bridge, you arrive in California, which is just up the road from Hollywood. And that's where I found the fascinating St. Andrew's Church. 

It was built in 1766 to serve as the parish church of St. Andrew's Parish, which had been established in 1744.

Because the church is set back off the road, at a perpendicular angle, it's hard to get the a handle on how unusual the architecture is. 

It is a rectangular brick box church laid in Flemish bond with a gable roof and round-arched windows trimmed with brick segmental arches. Richard Boulton designed the church in 1766; he was also responsible for the outstanding carving and ornamentation at Sotterley, a plantation on the Patuxent River. 

From the HABS report: On the west front, all convention is abandoned in a flourish of architectural forms. At both the northwest and southwest corners stands a two-story square brick tower with a diminutive spire.

Brick quoins trim the corners of the towers up to the string course. Each tower has two niches on the west side that are framed with a raised brick arch, awaiting some appropriate statue or urn. On the south and north side of each tower is a round-arched window situated above a shallow recess framed with a brick arch. Between the towers at ground level is a recessed one-story loggia. Above the loggia is a two-tiered gallery lighted by a Palladian window centered under the pedimented gable end.

A separate exterior door and staircase lead to the upper tier of the gallery, and an interior step ladder leads to the lower gallery. On the interior, the church has a barrel-vault ceiling over the nave which is supported by columns with Ionic capitals.

Each of the two side aisles has a flat ceiling. The original flagstones pave the floor. The carved wooden reredos has fluted Ionic pilasters which frame Biblical quotations painted by John Friech in 1771. The church has box pews.

Overall, the churches in St. Mary's County have been a disappointment, but there are some treasures like St. Andrew's that have made the trip worthwhile. 

Link to Medusa.