North Church Case Study

The North Church located in Market Square of Portsmouth, NH was originally built in 1657 and was rebuilt in 1854, with the latest restoration in 1978 (CITE). The church was primarily built using brick, wood, and stone to commemorate the colonial style of Portsmouth and its ancestors beforehand. Brick is the primary material used to give the building a more structured look and show that the town has not drifted from its colonial roots. The brick also provides the building at the time a more “colonial” take on a church. The sharp edges and rectangular structure shows how the church was not built for an intricate design, but for a functional purpose. One limitation of using brick to build the church is that it must be a plain, rectangular shape and does not give the architect much room for creative design. By using brick to build a majority of the church it is clear that this church was created for day-to-day functionality over creative design; there are minimal design aspects to this church when compared to churches from previous periods. …show more content…
The church is still a landmark that brings together both religion along with the community as it is common to see community members roaming the streets going in and out of local shops. The placement of the church reminds people of the colonial presence in the town centuries beforehand as well as preserves the local community atmosphere of downtown Portsmouth. This church would not make sense in another location because the church was chosen for this location because it shows where the religious center was centuries before and where local community members can go to worship. It makes sense to keep the North Church in its current location because this allows the city of Portsmouth to continue the tradition of where the church is in respect to the economic development that has occurred on surrounding