Any ancient building which has been continuously used by a family or a community has a history somewhat like that of a living body. Old tissues are continually being discarded, new ones being incorporation; alterations, additions, adaptations are made as time goes on; the identity or soul of the structure lives through different material embodiments.

¿ John Stow, "The Growth of the Building", Bermuda Historical Quarterly, XI: 1, 1954

For some, heritage is a form of religion, as it is as much about the spirit, or holiness, of things, as it is about the earthly and physical nature of the cultural object so revered. It is a faith that things from the Past have great import and value to us today.

Like our internal genes, we have inherited material heritage that contains patterns and processes defined by our forebears, which give us a unique identity. For example, I believe that our outstanding Bermudian architecture transmits a firm sense of who we are, not only presently, but also to future generations.

If that heritage, still ample in the landscape but constantly under threat of oblivion, is lost, we would have relinquished one of our greatest cultural icons and anchors. We will tend to become almost completely Americanized, after the style of architecture foisted on us in recent decades, an example of which is the strip mall at Collector's Hill.

Some combine religion with heritage, as the Druids do with the World Heritage monument of Stonehenge, for even pagans have spiritual sensibilities. For those who are fortunate to live in St. George's and worship at St. Peter's Church, part of Bermuda's World Heritage Site, the combining of religion and heritage is but a short walk away to one of the island's most important cultural icons.

John Stow aptly described the church in his quotation above and what you see today has mutated (almost as much as the flu virus), being extensively rebuilt and "repaired" in ancient and modern times, like that other St. George's icon, the State House.

Governor Moore constructed the original church within six months of the true settlement date for Bermuda, which is just to say that it was erected just before Christmas in the year of Our Lord, 1612. Whether exactly on the site of the present church is not known, but due to "negligence of the workmen in charge, but mostly because the church was located on an bleak, exposed hill", a gale tipped over the timber-framed structure.

The Governor next "with the ruins of the wooden church he constructed a very fine house built in the shape of a cross", which served the faithful and may also have been used for the first Court of General Assize in 1616. That second church lasted but four years, at which time in early January 1620, the energetic Governor Butler built a new one: it was there that the first Assembly was held on August 1, 1620.

That event makes Bermuda the fourth oldest such parliament in the world, for a colleague has pointed out that the Isle of Man Assembly is older than Bermuda's, standing before us with Iceland and London.

In September 1712, the church was demolished by a hurricane and the "parishioners rallied round to make a new stone building", which was to be a cruciform with a "southern extension with a welcoming-arms porch and steps". In 1815, under the "moving spirit" of John Till, the church was extensively enlarged.

Gravestones in the way of that development were tossed aside or buried; walls built over graves contributed to the perilous state of the building by the 1950s. In 1841, the southern extension was lengthened for a new main entrance. In the early 1950s, the church was much rebuilt and at that time, "the most spectacular find was the old original 'welcoming' bricked steps" of the 1700s, and a number of headstones which had been "buried" under the main entrance when it was extended in 1841.

The steps and headstones are to be found in the small crypt beneath your feet as you enter St. Peter's Church from the south. Bermuda gravestone expert (yes, we even have an "axepert" for that), Dr. Bruce Elliott, Professor of History at Carleton University in Ottawa, sent these remarks after his recent visit.

"The 28 stones cemented to the walls of the crawlspace, and the half dozen or so piled in the cavity on the far side of the church's original welcoming-arms steps, are an excellent representative sample of the kinds of markers locally produced of Bermuda stone in the first six decades or so of the 18th century.

"Many are at least partly legible by reason of having been freed from the ravages of wind and weather for a century and a half. The earliest legible date is 1718, the latest 1764. The most familiar take the form of a simple round-headed slab with a single or double recessed edge, engraved in large letters with the initials of the deceased and sometimes the year of death. Often there is a straight incised line or two setting off the inscription.

"There are many of these in the churchyard, most of them eroded to illegibility, and their simplicity and ubiquity make it impossible at this point to establish a date range. A number, bearing similarly laconic inscriptions, assume a more elaborate fiddle shape. The dated examples beneath St Peter's are from 1718, 1720, 1725, and 1727; there seems to be an accompanying footstone to the last, lacking the date. Though these are all early, the best example is a later one outside, remarkably in the section for slaves and free blacks, inscribed 'S.H / IULY / THE / 17 / 174[-]'.

"Five stones and a couple of fragments unusually bear (or bore) full inscriptions, the best preserved being a round-headed marker of stone more finely-grained than most, in memory of Richard Skinner who died in 1761. His will reveals that he was a mariner holding lands on St David's Island. Three inscriptions, two dated 1745 and 1755, and the third probably also from the latter year, all appear to be cut by the same hand. All three omit the 's' from 'years' in recounting the age.

"The one in the best condition retains the frustrating custom of identifying the deceased only by initials, despite the completeness of the inscription otherwise. We will likely never be able to identify the makers of these stones, unless some patient researcher trawling through archival collections looking for something else happens upon a reference to ordering gravestones. I do hope that researcher will then get in touch!"

Professor Elliott recently gave a lunchtime talk on Bermuda gravestones for the Bermuda National Gallery and the Maritime Museum. It was an inspiring lecture, complete with pictures of the church beneath your feet at St. Peter's, so much so that everyone seemed to consume their lunch with more gusto, despite the subject, proving yet again that "heritage is good for your health".

Anyone interested in helping with the preservation of the church should contact "The Friends of St. Peter's Church" through the Chairman, Reverend Dr. Erskine Simmons. Drs. Elliott and Harris thank the Rector, Reverend David Raths, for allowing access to the crypt and for his abiding interest in the history of the earliest Anglican church in this hemisphere.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. This article represents his opinions and not necessarily those of persons associated with the Museum. Comments can be sent to drharrislogic.bm or by telephone to 799-5480.