St Peters Parish Church
VA - Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
8400 St Peters Ln, New Kent, VA, USA
CHURCH
VISITOR INFORMATION
Sunday services are at 9am and 11am.
FREE PUBLIC PARKING
This is an active parish. There is no admission fee, though tour availability, restrooms and parking are not described online; contact the church at (804) 932-4846 for visiting details.
PUBLIC RESTROOMS
SITE FEATURES
Surviving Structures
Religious observances and announced parish programmes may concentrate activity. Sightseeing-specific annual peak months unconfirmed.
April-May or October for a confirmed church/grounds visit beyond summer heat. Check with the active parish and plan sightseeing around services.
HISTORIC SITES NEARBY
Nearby Historic Sites
miles
Landmark
WHO WAS HERE
8
George Washington
Martha Washington
Bartholomew Dandridge
Burwell Bassett Sr.
John Dandridge Jr.
Frances Jones Dandridge
Anna Maria Dandridge Bassett
Jacky Custis
About St Peters Parish Church
Martha Dandridge, who would later become the wife of Col. George Washington, was born at Chestnut Grove on June 2, 1731. She married Col. Daniel Parke Custis, a member of the vestry and former churchwarden in June 1749. Her father, Major John Dandridge, had also served as churchwarden and vestryman, and her great-grandfather had been the first rector of nearby Bruton Parish. After eight years of marriage she was widowed with two surviving children.
The original 1703 brick parish church remains near New Kent as an active Episcopal congregation. Restored interior woodwork, galleries, furnishings, architectural fabric, churchyard, graves, and wooded grounds preserve one of Virginia’s oldest continuously used church buildings and its colonial rural setting.
History happened here at St Peters Parish Church
On the sixth of January 1759 the Rector of St Peter's Parish, the Rev'd Mr. David Mossom, solemnized the marriage of Col. George Washington and the Widow Custis. It has always been assumed that another future First-Lady, Letitia Christian, later the wife of President John Tyler, was baptized in the parish church in 1790.
The original portion of St Peter's Parish Church is one of the few Jacobean structures in America and its 1740 stump tower is also rare. The body of the church is laid in English bond as are only three other colonial Virginia churches. In the church-yard are a number of colonial tombs, and the parish still its Vestry Book (1684-1758) and Register (1685-1786).The parish was represented by Col. William H. Macon at the first Convention of the Diocese of Virginia in 1785. From 1843 when the vestry reorganized and called the Rev'd Edwin A. Dalrymple as rector, Episcopalians and Presbyterians somewhat as one congregation until 1856 by alternating the Liturgy from Sunday to Sunday.
PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE
PEOPLE WHO DIED HERE
PEOPLE AT REST HERE
EXTERNAL LINKS
stpetersnewkent.org: https://www.stpetersnewkent.org/About_Us_Mission_and_Ministries/History/
dhr.virginia.gov: https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/063-0027/
St. Peter's Parish Church is in New Kent County, Virginia; the row's City field says VA - Williamsburg.
Accessed 2026-09-29