Old Sheldon Church Ruins, Beaufort, SC

We have been laying low at another Passport America Campground in Beaufort, SC while we continue to struggle with Packrat to get our belongings to Hendersonville.  It appears that worst case our container will be delivered on Dec. 16, but it could be sooner. Tomorrow we are going to start driving north and I found a Days Inn in Hendersonville that will give us a reduced rate it we stay for three weeks so that's what we are going to do.  We will be able to start settling into our new community albeit temporarily because there are no units available yet in the community we want to live in; however, this way we'll have a place for Christmas.

Back in the day I was very interested in archaeology and we discovered the ruins of the Old Sheldon Church in Beaufort yesterday.  It was was accessible via my scooter which was on its best behavior...no bad noises at all!

I will let our photos show the story, but following is some info about it from Wiki. This is a beautiful, peaceful place and you can tell you are on hallowed ground. 

Steve behind the pulpit.

-------------------------------------------------

Sheldon Church Ruins
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Sheldon Church Ruins
Location	Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA
Nearest city	Yemassee, South Carolina
Coordinates	32°37′6.7″N 80°46′49.7″W
Area	4.5 acres (1.8 ha)
Built	1753
Architect	Unknown
Architectural style	Greek Revival
Governing body	Private
NRHP Reference #	70000562 [1]
Added to NRHP	October 22, 1970

The Old Sheldon Church Ruins is a historic site located in northern Beaufort County, South Carolina, approximately 17 miles (30 km) north of Beaufort in the Sheldon area.^[2][3] Known also as the Sheldon Church or Old Sheldon Church, the pre-existing building was originally known as Prince William's Parish Church. The church was built in the Greek Revivalstyle between 1745 and 1753. Prince William's was burned by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War. In 1826 it was rebuilt. The following is from an article in the April 1969 Sandlapper Magazine by Charles E. Thomas, “The Picturesque Ruins Of Old Sheldon Church”. “The official South Carolina report on the “Destruction of Churches and Church Property,” after the War Between the States, described Sheldon’s second burning: “All that was combustible was consumed..., its massive walls survive the last as they did the former conflagration,” Bishop Thomas wrote, “Exactly as it happened a hundred years before in 1779, when General Prevost, marching from Savannah into South Carolina burned the Church, so now in February 1865, General Sherman marching from Georgia into South Carolina, burned it a second time.”

An alternative view has more recently come to light, however. In a letter dated February 3, 1866,^[4] Miton Leverett wrote that "Sheldon Church not burn't. Just torn up in the inside, but can be repaired." The inside of the church was apparently gutted to reuse materials to rebuild homes burnt by Sherman's army.

The ruins lie amongst majestic oaks and scattered graves.

Inside the ruins of the church lies the remains of Colonel William Bull, who "greatly assisted General Oglethorpe in establishing the physical layout of Savannah, Georgia. Bull surveyed the land in 1733 to form the basic grid pattern of the streets and squares."

The site has proven to be a popular site in the Lowcountry for photographers and wedding ceremonies in contemporary times. As of October 2015, the Old Sheldon ruins are not available to the public for hosting wedding ceremonies. An annual service is held the second Sunday after Easter.