The Historic Village at Allaire - Christ Church Historic Chapel

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Chapel Known as Christ Episcopal Church, the Village Chapel, served the Howell Works Company community in three ways: a place of worship, a meeting hall and a school. The church is very unique in that the belfry tower, which houses a three ton iron bell cast at the Howell Works Company, is located at the rear of the building above the alter. James Allaire, a devout Anglican, felt the construction of this building was very important to life in his community and therefore ordered the front portion of the structure erected in 1832. However, the recycled wood used in its construction would not support the weight of the belfry tower or the bell it contained. It was decided when the rear section of the building was completed in 1834 that the belfry tower would be placed here. Visitors to the Chapel can see the demarcation of the two sections by looking at the ceiling.

While the Howell Works Church was an Episcopal Church, James Allaire did not require his employees to attend services here and, in fact, encouraged freedom of religion. In 1835 James Allaire hired Thomas Tanser, an Anglican minister from Warwickshire, England, as the company's minister and school master at a salary of $500 US per annum. Tanser, who it is believed lived in the only surviving row houses, went on to become pastor of St. Peter's Church in Freehold, New Jersey and eventually became pastor of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Mullica Hill, New Jersey where he retired.

Interior As well as being a house of worship and a village meeting hall, the church was also used as the Company School. James Allaire, a major proponent of free public education, probably as a result of his own limited formal education, required all the children living in the Village to attend classes. Allaire believed so strongly in education, that he paid for the schooling using his personal resources, according to the writings of his son Hal, as well as helping to establish one of New York City's first free schools. In 1836, the year celebrated at The Historic Village at Allaire, the Rev. Tanser not only saw to the spiritual needs of the community but also acted as schoolmaster using the Lancastrian System developed by a London Quaker named Joseph Lancaster. Lancaster, who sought an education system for the poor children of London's East End, developed a peer approach using older or more progressed children as monitor to teach the other children leaving the school master as more of an over seer handling the administrative duties of the school, much like today's principal functions.

While the church is no longer consecrated by the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, located in Trenton, for holding Divine Services or Eucharist, the church does hold special sanctioning for Christenings, Weddings and Memorial Services. Simple in its elegance, the Chapel at the Historic Village at Allaire has become a popular spot for weddings.