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Connecticut Glebe House considered birthplace of the American Episcopal Church

The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden located in historic Woodbury, Connecticut is often referred to as the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.

News 12 Staff

Jun 3, 2021, 7:07 PM

Updated 1,280 days ago

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The Glebe House Museum and Gertrude Jekyll Garden located in historic Woodbury, Connecticut is often referred to as the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.
The house was built between 1745 and 1750
A glebe is a farm that is given to a minister so that he can support his family.
In the year 1783, the Rev. Samuel Seabury was elected to become the first American bishop for the Episcopal Church in the United States and is why the Glebe House is known as the birthplace of the American Episcopal Church.
In 1786, the home was sold to gain the funds to build Saint Paul's Episcopal Church.
Once the home was no longer in use by the church, it fell into disrepair, and there was talk of tearing it down, but an organization was created, the home was saved, and it was restored between the years of 1920 to 1925.
One of the influential people in the saving of the Glebe House was Miss Annie Burr Jennings.
Jennings was a big fan of the English garden designer, Gertrude Jekyll, and she took it upon herself to take passage to England to ask her to design a garden for this new historic house museum.
Although Jennings received the plans in 1926, for some reason the garden was never put in and the plans were lost.
In the late 1970s, the plans were discovered, and the plans were made to implement putting in a bigger true Chico garden.
Jekyll was a very famous English horticultural designer and writer as well.
She designed hundreds of gardens in the UK for estates, but only designed three gardens for the United States.
The Jekyll Garden has since been taken care of by a group of dedicated volunteers.
People come to the grounds for many reasons.
Some come for a peaceful place to walk, others come to get garden inspiration and design ideas.
Some people come because they are fans of Gertrude Jekyll, and this is the only garden of hers that they can see in North America.