Blandford Church Museum

Blandford Church is a rare American treasure, established as part of the Bristol Parish, from a land grant along the Appomattox River in 1643. The Anglican house of worship, built in the 18th Century, was eventually abandoned and fell into disrepair. At the end of the Civil War, The Ladies Memorial Association rescued the structure and commissioned the studio of Louis Comfort Tiffany to create the 15 stained glass windows that still adorn Blandford Church today. The surrounding cemetery is the second largest behind Arlington National Cemetery as a burial ground for both war veterans and civilians. Memorial Hill is the site of over 30,000 Civil War mass burials during the Siege of Petersburg, laid out State by State and all buried by the women of Petersburg  The oldest known grave is from 1702 and Major General William Phillips, British Army, was buried in secret at the direction of Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary War. Take a stroll through the cemetery to see the beautiful ironwork and funereal statuary that grace the grounds, then tour the inside of Blandford Church and experience the exquisite craftsmanship and artistry that went into its Tiffany windows.