A tiny Purbeck church in Dorset, hopes to receive American visitors on Saturday 4th July 2026 to help celebrate its remarkable links to George Washington and the birth of the USA 250 years ago.
The first president of the USA, George Washington, had family links with the parish of Steeple, near Kimmeridge, and his family’s coat of arms, carved into the walls of the village church of St Michael and All Angels, is said to have inspired the design of the American Stars and Stripes flag and the words of the national anthem.
Church maintenance officer Ben Edwards with one of the stone tablets in the church linking Steeple with the US
Daughters of American Revolution
An American charity, whose members claim a direct blood line from those who signed the American Declaration of Independence on Thursday 4th July 1776, have already shown their gratitude by making a £4,600 donation to help repair the church.
The Daughters of the American Revolution’s generous donation funded half the cost of repairing the church windows, which date back to the 17th Century, and were made to celebrate Steeple’s ‘unique connection to the United States of America’.
St Michael and All Angels faces a £77,000 bill to repair the ancient roof and make the church waterproof, along with other necessary work, including the restoration of the church’s three bells – one of which is pre Reformation from before the reign of Henry VIII.
Although the parish of just 56 people is too small to hold a special Independence Day event, the church will be open on July 4th 2026, and its monthly service on Sunday 13th July 2026 will remember its special links with the USA. American visitors are especially welcome to attend.
Ceiling bosses in the church feature the stars and stripes of Agnes Washington’s coat of arms
Ancestor of George Washington
Church maintenance officer Ben Edwards said:
“Swanage and Purbeck were filled with American troops during rehearsals for D-Day, and those Americans would probably have come here to worship when they were here.
“Today, there are about 5,000 Americans living in the UK and I would be delighted if some of them visit the church on either of those dates to see those remarkable connections we have with the birth of their nation.
“Agnes, the heiress of the Washington family and ancestor of George Washington, married Edmund Lawrence and in 1540 they moved to Steeple Manor, where they made their home.
“Just over a century later, in 1656, John Washington sailed for the colony of Virginia as an investor and second mate on the Sea Horse of London.
“Although the ship was wrecked in the Potomac River in 1657, it led to John’s romance with local tobacco planter’s daughter Anne Pope and he remained in Virginia to marry Anne, eventually becoming the great grandfather of George Washington.”
The Mayor of the District of Columbia sent their flag to Steeple for the USA’s bicentennial in 1976
‘A token of our mutual heritage’
Ben added:
“In the church here, carved into memorial tablets over the north transept doorway and in the porch, and repeated in decorative bosses on the nave ceiling, are the quartered coats of arms of the Lawrence and Washington families.
“While the Lawrences have crosses as their coat of arms, the Washingtons have three stars and two stripes, and those are believed to have been the inspiration of the Stars and Stripes of America, as George Washington was its first president.
“There is a much clearer connection with the flag of Washington DC, the capital of the USA, which features three red stars above two red bars on a white background.
“That link was recognised during America’s bicentenary celebrations in 1976, when Walter E Washington, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, presented Steeple church with an official flag as ‘a token of our mutual heritage’.”
A £77,000 renovation project will see Steeple church roof made watertight
Water was leaking into the church
But it was feared that some of the connections could have been lost forever as the church was in desperate need of urgent repairs.
Purbeck stone roof tiles were beginning to fail and during high winds, water was leaking into the church, weakening the roof timbers and causing damp which was threatening to damage the historical family crests beyond repair.
However, in addition to the donation from the Daughters of the American Revolution, St Michael and All Angels church was given a £5,000 National Churches Trust Grant and a £15,000 Wolfson Fabric Repair Grant to make urgent repairs.
With a major fund raising effort in the tiny parish, £62,000 has been raised so far towards the £77,000 total, including £3,300 from an annual garden party at Steeple Manor on Sunday 14th June 2026
The next fundraiser will be the Three Parishes Fete held at Churchknowle on Saturday 1st August 2026 from 2 pm, a traditional event which has been running for 99 years, raising funds for Kimmeridge, Churchknowle and Steeple churches.
Water started coming through the roof after squirrels chewed through lead sheets
Squirrels ate through the lead
Ben Edwards said:
“Years of water penetration had left parts of the building at risk, threatening not only the fabric of the church but also the Washington memorials themselves.
“There was damp in the walls and ceiling, so we got up into the ceiling to have a look at the damage, and now our main aim is to make the church watertight again.
“In parts of the roof, squirrels had eaten their way through the lead. There were teeth marks around a sizable hole – apparently they find the taste of lead sweet.”
Ben Edwards with one of the repaired windows dating back to the 17th Century
“We are very grateful to them”
Ben added:
“Once you start on a building this age, the repairs can be endless, rather like the Forth Bridge, but I think by September 2026 we will have done all the critical work needed to make it watertight and the next challenge will be to restore the church’s historic bells.
“There’s also a Victorian stained glass window depicting St Michael and the Angels which needs work, as it has iron saddle bars which have rusted and are starting to shatter the stonework.
“But our older glass windows, which date back to the 1600s, have been repaired thanks to the grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution.
“You can only be a member of that group if you can show direct blood lineage to the signatories of the Declaration of Independence, so it is quite an exclusive group and we are very grateful to them!”
Conservation work under way on the north transept window
The newly restored window back in place
Further information
- More details about historic Steeple Church are on its website
- Visit Saint Michael and All Angels on US Independance Day in Steeple, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5NY What3Words: ///record.masses.telephone
