History of Ware Church

• Pictures of the church and its grounds
• Ware Church cemetery records and history
• Gloucester County cemetery records
• Read cemetery rules and regulations

In the first days of this parish, almost 350 years ago, people gathered not here, but on Ware Neck.  In 1680, while The Rev'd James Clack was Rector, the Colonial Court and Council in Williamsburg granted permission to construct a new church on the higher ground of the present site.  The building was completed between 1690 and 1713.  The early church records recording such information were lost during the War Between the States in the burning of Richmond.

The solid brick rectangular building, laid in Flemish bond, was built by local craftsmen and artisans from England.  It is the only rectangular colonial church in Virginia with both North and South doors.  The classic pediment doors are the earliest of their kind.  The walls of the church are three feet thick and the foundations five feet thick.  The whole structure is imposing yet elegant in its simplicity.  Its architecture is based on the use of squares, golden rectangles, a pyramid triangle and a circle.

During all of these years, this church has reached out to Gloucester and the world.  Ware Church offers a full program of parish activities.  We hope that you will find here what so many others have found - a place to feel the presence of our Lord, a place to worship, a place to learn, and a place to greet family and friends.  We invite you to make Ware your church home in Gloucester.