Chapel of Ease

Hello, welcome to SHIbuckeye.

The sunshine has been abundant on St. Helena Island for the last few days and we've been making the most of it.  It's been chilly but the sun feels wonderful and it's good to be outside.  It was a great shelling and exploring week and an opportunity to learn about our new home.  Pull up a chair and we'll explore together.

A chapel of ease is what we would now call a satellite or outreach church. Ruins from one are about two miles from us.  It was built in the mid 1700's to accommodate plantation owners.  Indigo and later sea island cotton was grown on the island and the plantation owners from Beaufort spent summers here to avoid malaria, keep cool and enjoy the coast.  There were no roads or bridges to Beaufort where the main church was and the trip was too long for families to attend church. 



Chapel of Ease

 It is built of tabby, which is a mixture of shell lime made from burning the shells, oyster shells and water.  It was used because bricks were in scarce supply.   Wooden forms were made and the tabby mixture poured.  Once dried it was durable and long lasting as long as the outer "skin" was kept in good condition and the internal timbers were intact.  

Close up of Chapel of Ease Tabby Wall

 The Federal Army gained control of South Carolina's sea islands early in the Civil War.  As a result the plantation owners abandoned their land.  The church was used by several freedmen groups until it was destroyed by a forest fire in 1886.  It  was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.  As often happens with ruins, folklore and spooky tales abound about the site.  There are some very interesting videos on youtube.com.  Just search for Chapel of Ease.



Outside Looking In

It was a beautiful, sunny day when I took these photos and although it is definitely an "eerie" place, no ghosts made their presence known.  That's a good thing.

Credit to sciway.net, wikipedia.com, youtube.com  and other Internet sites for doing the research.

Thanks for stopping by SHIbuckeye.  Until next time...wherever you are...enjoy!