The Steeple Restoration Project

Good news – the scaffolding is up, and the work has begun on repairing the steeple. Valley Restoration from Litchfield is doing the work, and they hope to have it up by the end of the year. Our clock face has new gold leafing, and it has been repaired: the bells are ringing on the hour and soon the chimes will be ringing again. Currently there is lead abatement work being done. The heavy construction work will be done next and then the steeple will be hoisted back onto the church. Once it is in place it will be wrapped and heated so that the carpentry work can be completed even during cold weather.

Here’s a video from mid-November of 2023 of Pastor Erick speaking with Valley Restoration’s Paul Bastiaance about the progress so far and what will happen next.

The committee is so grateful for our community’s support and wonderful, generous donations to our fundraising efforts including several challenge grants and gifts. We do want to thank all who have contributed so much to this effort. We are lucky to be part of our community that cares so much for our church and its place in Norfolk.

Thank you from the Raise The Steeple Committee –

Hope Childs, Marie Civco, Rowland Denny, Betsy Gill, Jan Graham-Jones, Kate Johnson, Erick Olsen 

Donations to help restore the steeple may be made below.
If you would like to pledge financial support to this project,
please visit the Steeple Pledge page. Thank you!

Steeple History

In 1835, John Warner Barber rode into Norfolk on the Greenwoods Turnpike to sketch a view of the village for his book Connecticut Historical Collections. Barber described Norfolk as “a village uncommonly neat and beautiful.” As in many towns, the steepled church was an iconic part of the New England landscape.  The artist Thomas Cole described that landscape in his Essay on American Scenery: “from yonder dark mass of foliage the village spire beams like a star.”

Designed in 1813 by David Hoadley, a master builder of outstanding skill, the church soon garnered state-wide recognition. Hoadley’s elegant steeple rises from a square clock tower in two octagonal stages capped by balustrades and a tall spire. The graceful modulation of scale reflects a refined sense of proportion, an important and meaningful component of design when it was built. On its elevated site, the new church with its distinctive steeple was a commanding presence in Norfolk, a beacon of light, and placed the town on the architectural map.

Norfolk Historical Society: Watch the steeple being removed and placed on the ground.