Introduction and History


Hello, my name is Shel and this is my entry for the PMC Monumental Temple Project where you must create a temple worthy of its patron (or patrons). The idea to build something in a style often called boring and bland and make it something more came to me when I first saw this contest, and this is the result of that. This church was a Puritan church built in the 1690s in Colonial Virginia, but was later converted in the 1740s due to the growing Methodist movement in England started by John Wesley. It is in a wealthy area near large estates, outside the city center. Though technically a cathedral, having a bishop reside there, it is tiny by European standards. To me, the relatively small size of the building (historically, at least) adds to the charm of it.


The Building

The church is quite large for the poor colony in a farm-based economy, so it is naturally the religious administrative center of the city, otherwise known as a Parish. It has one large brick belltower at the front, which also contains the largest spire of the church. Inside you find one long hall with intricate carved ceilings and pillars. The small pews (long benches for the devout to sit on) show that the church can only seat the prestigious enough to worship here. Two smaller entrances come out from the sides of the building with stairs leading to the ground. At the end of the hall, there is a small elevated area for the bishop and pastors to preach. Behind them is a large stained glass window depicting Jesus Christ.


The Blocks

My style of building is very different from most others'. I prefer to use few blocks with sometimes boring shapes and use small detail that can sometimes go unnoticed but adds just that bit more to the whole build. Throughout the whole exterior, I use only 5 different types of blocks: Brick, Granite, Sandstone, Quartz, and Prismarine. In my personal opinion, if you can use fewer blocks to make something better, you are a good builder.


Some important notes

English is not my native language, so please forgive any spelling mistakes.

This Church/Cathedral/Parish was based off of an actual one in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

It took 4 days to build.

Thanks for listening to 3.5 paragraphs of ranting! Have a good day :)