Little Fork Church - General Architecture

General Architecture

It is a church of late construction, begun in 1773 and completed in 1776, having characteristics of a rectangular church combined with the contemporary, two story churches of Northern Virginia that stretch in a geographic swath from Falls Church to St. Paul's, King George County. It retains elements such as orientation, south and west doorways, compass windows, and Flemish bond, yet includes elements such as a deep church configuration, a hipped roof, movement of southern door to the center of the southern wall, classical door pediments, and a pulpit on the northern wall opposite the southern doorway. It lacks elements of deep churches in Northern Virginia such as two tiered windows and cruciform structure. The general doorway plan and placement of the pulpit is remarkably similar to that of Lamb’s Creek Church, designed by the same architect, and resembles several extant middle colony meeting houses.

Unlike most colonial churches, the designer and builder, John Ariss (circa 1725-1799) is known and designed another similar religious edifice, Lamb's Creek Church, that is a virtual twin of this building. It replaces a wooden church built on or near the same site that burned to the ground in 1773. An older wooden church reportedly burned in 1750. Instead of another wooden church, apparently planned by Edmund Bass who was paid five pounds for his work, this brick edifice was erected. However, according to the parish website and its well-researched brochure, William Phillips built the church for a fee of 35,000 pounds of tobacco and John Voss designed it.

It derives its name from the junction of the Hazel and Rappahannock Rivers that are nearby. The name recorded on some plats like the USGS topographical maps of Oak Shade Church has no validity.