Hungars Cure Parish

FOUNDED IN 1623

The Hungars Cure Parish is made up of two Episcopal churches on Virginia's Eastern Shore. Christ Church is in Eastville and Hungars Church is in Bridgetown.  "Cure" is an old English term; basically it defines a church partnership in which a rector serves two or more churches.

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We are a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. 

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Prayer Book services have been held in Hungars Parish since 1623, when the first rector, The Rev. Francis Bolton, an Oxford graduate, came to minister to the original settlers sent from Jamestown to collect salt. The second rector was The Rev. William Cotton, cousin of Cotton Mather of New England. The third, The Rev. John Rozier, arrived in 1639. His assistant, Nathaniel Eaton, became the first principal of Harvard College. Fifty-three rectors have presided over Christ Church congregations; the graves of eight are in Christ Church yard cemetery. 

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Several rectories have been owned during the Parish's history. The earliest recorded rectory was willed to Hungars Parish by Stephen Charlton, a member of the first parish vestry. Known as "The Glebe", this now beautiful private home is located on Nassawadox Creek and has an interesting history of its own. Glebe is an Old English term referring to church-owned property. In the American colonies, glebe land was often farmed or rented out by the church to cover living expenses and support the clergy who lived there. Sometime after the loss of "The Glebe" following the Revolutionary War, John Eyre, a Vestryman in 1853, gave $3,000 for the erection of a second rectory. Known as "Eyre Rectory" it was located about one mile east of Eastville. The house located directly across the street from Christ Church was built around 1900 and served as the rectory until the mid-1970s. The current rectory lies one-half mile to the south of the church. Acquired in 1985, it was built in 1924 by a parishioner.