WOLCOTT – There is a pattern, in some forms of human creativity, where one single person has a vision of a project. Then, with remarkable perseverance, this single person is able to begin making it happen and simultaneously inspire others to come together to see it through to completion.
A recent local example of this can be found in Wolcott in Steve Young’s St. Aiden’s Chapel, documented in a new film by Gail Osherenko, shown last Wednesday, evening at the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro.
For some years Young had contemplated constructing a sacred space on his property adjoining Wolcott Pond, which he bought from his father 50 years ago. Already, he had built a very beautiful stone house and he chose a slightly elevated knoll nearby as an appropriate site for a small chapel. Young was strongly influenced by the remains of medieval churches and monasteries such as Iona in Scotland and the wooden stave churches of Norway. Saint Aiden was significant as a Celtic monk in the early spread of Christianity in northern England, founding the famous priory of Lindisfarne.
Fundamental to Young’s vision was a sacred space that utilized local materials from the earth, such as stone and trees, which would last for many generations into the future. His vision included a community gathering place for worship as a joyous celebration and especially for sharing musical performances, the most mystical of all the arts.
Young started the foundations of the chapel himself in 2017, a walk-in cellar of local fieldstone. He began cutting the spruce and hemlock trees on his land, necessary for the post and beam structure to be erected above. With Levi Chase’s portable saw mill, they trimmed the logs into 8-inch by 8-inch horizontal and vertical members. After seasoning, the timbers were assembled on the ground into wall and rafter frames with exact mortise and tenon joints.
Young’s brother, two sons and a grandson, as well as other family, friends and neighbors, then joined in lifting and tipping the very heavy frames into place, a real community effort, all without any kind of crane.
By this time it was 2019, and in the summer of the following year, Kurt Holden came to help frame the roof, upon which thick slates were carefully attached with copper nails by Young and his fearless 14 year old grandson, Roen. The slates themselves had an estimated weight of eight to 10 tons, but were guaranteed to last for 400 to 500 years.
When the exquisitely-crafted doors and windows were installed, the interior and exterior walls finished with vertical boards and a grand piano moved in, the chapel was ready to fulfill its purpose.
Following the showing of the film, there was a question and answer session with Young and Osherenko. One inquirer asked if he had drawn up blueprint plans. Young said he hadn’t, and there was some improvisation along the way. Little mathematics was involved, but templates were necessary. Most of the joints were secured by long screws, rather than pegs, which would have taken much more time. Triangulation at the joints with diagonal braces was important for structural integrity.
The estimated final price of the project was between 25 and 30-thousand dollars, with the slates being a big expense. Young’s own labor and that of volunteers was free, helping to keep costs lower than they would have been for comparable professional carpenters.
Steve Young and his wife, Jan Roy, have already given a conservation easement on one half mile of Wolcott Pond shoreline, and the chapel itself will remain in the family, hopefully taking on a life of its own with community events.
For more information about the 47 minute film, entitled “Steve’s Chapel, Building a Sacred Space,” go online to [email protected].
David K. Rodgers
