Today, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Hebron has a brick Federal style appearance, but when it was erected in 1826, it was more extravagantly Gothic, with numerous turrets and pinnacles. It was thought to have been modeled on a church that Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis had seen in Italy (and was even referred to as “Jarvis’ Folly”). At the time, Bishop Brownell said that it was the second most beautiful church in the diocese after Trinity Church in New Haven. An unusual feature of the design is that the tower is located at the rear of the building rather than the front. The building has had a number of alterations and renovations over the years. The parish was established in 1734, when the controversial Congregational minister Rev. John Bliss and his followers declared themselves for the Church of England and formed the sixth Episcopal church in Connecticut.
It’s important to consider that calling this building with its turrets and pinnacles a ‘Folly’ likely refers to the English meaning the word describing a picturesque building designed for its visual effect in the landscape.
It would be interesting to know of the church’s original orientation, which may answer the question as to why the tower was located at the opposite end of the church. Also, was the altar placed at the tower end or opposite it. Traditionally the altar was at the liturgical east end of the church.