Little England Chapel and Newtown

Little England Chapel and Newtown. African-American Missionary Chapel. , Little England Chapel, the only extant African-American missionary chapel in Virginia at the time of its selection as a state historic landmark in 1982, had its beginning in about 1878, when George C. Rowe began Sunday school classes in his home for children in Cock's Newton. Southern blacks in search of freedom had flocked to Union-protected Hampton and, after 1865, began settling in Newtown, the area to the east of this Chapel, purchasing lots from Daniel Cock, Charles Smith, Edward Whitehouse, and William N. Armstrong., Originally known as the Ocean Cottage Sunday School, Rowe's Sunday-schooling proved to be so important for freed slaves previously deprived of education that by the summer of 1878, classes were held in a "bush arbor" with 10 rows of seating. The next year, possibly built by Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute students, the Chapel made its appearance on what was a country road. The Hampton Normal students continued to play an active role in the chapel, rowing across Hampton River each week to teach Sunday school classes, a practice they continued for half a century., By 1890, the chapel also had an active sewing club, offered worship services and concerts, and served as a community center for the neighborhood. The building, which includes some original 19th century furnishings, contains a permanent exhibit that helps visitors appreciate the religious lives of post-Civil War African Americans. It is both a state and a national historic landmark., The Newtown Improvement Club was founded in 1940s to deal with community issues. In 1954, Frederick and Louise Cock deeded the chapel to the club, "to be used by the Congregation of the Newtown Improvement Club for non-denominational religious purposes."