Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above a Baptist Church

I post another in a series of weather vane photographs every Wednesday.  This started with images of weathervanes from the Londonderry, New Hampshire area, but now I've found interesting weather vanes all across New England and across the globe.  Sometimes my weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are interesting.  Often my readers tip me off to some very unique or unusual weathervanes, too!  If you know a great weather vane near you, let me know if you'd like to have it featured on this blog.

Today's weather vane was photographed in Massachusetts.

Do you know the location of weathervane post #358?  Scroll down to find the answer.

Today's weathervane was spotted above the steeple of the First Baptist Church in Rowley, Massachusetts.  This church is on Route 1A, so if you have traveled the seacoast of Essex County north of Boston, you might have passed right by here.

This church building was built in 1830.  The steeple and weathervane are probably original to the building, and the scroll work weathervane is appropriate for the time period.   There have been Baptists worshiping in Rowley since the first community in 1816 was dismissed from nearby Georgetown.

Scrollwork weather vanes like this one evolved out of the more simple banner and swallowtail weathervanes of the 1700s.  As the steeples of New England churches became more elaborate with windows, balustrades and fancy trim, the weather vanes became more elaborate with scroll work, lyre shapes, and stars.  This weathervane has all three fancy details.

First Baptist Church of Rowley:    https://www.firstbaptistrowley.org/

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Above a Baptist Church", Nutfield Genealogy, posted April 11, 2018, (  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2018/04/weathervane-wednesday-above-baptist.html: accessed [access date]).