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From a resolution unanimously adopted by the W&M Board of Visitors on Nov. 17, 2006
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History of the Wren Cross
By: Susan Godson, Church Historian, Bruton Parish Church
Published November 11, 2006
In all the furor about William & Mary removing the cross from the Wren Chapel altar, no one has said anything about the cross itself.
Given to Bruton Parish Church as part of the restoration of 1907, it was a memorial provided by members of the Blankenship family of Richmond. The inscription reads: To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of John Millington, July 10, 1868, and Sarah Ann, his wife, Dec. 23, 1869. Who was John Millington?
Born in London in 1779, Millington attended Oxford, then studied law and medicine and helped found the London Mechanics Institute. He became chief engineer at a silver mine in Mexico in 1829 but soon moved to Philadelphia. W&M elected him professor of chemistry, natural philosophy, and civil engineering in 1835, and he held that position until 1848 when he went to the University of Mississippi. While he was in Williamsburg, he was a vestryman at Bruton Parish Church. An elaborate tombstone in the churchyard lists the accomplishments of this eminent scientist.
The ties between Bruton Parish and the college were always close. From the beginning, the college's mission was to Christianize Indians and train young men for ministry in the Anglican Church. After the chapel was added to the college in 1732, that space was set aside for holy purposes. Not until the Rockefeller-funded restoration of 1931 did the Board of Visitors vote to rededicate the structure and name it the Sir Christopher Wren Building. The chapel became the Wren Chapel, but still primarily served religious purposes, although other groups used it.
Like most Episcopal churches and chapels, Bruton and Wren Chapel had no altar crosses until the gift of 1907 to Bruton of the handsome brass (not gold) cross dedicated to the Millingtons. The Millington Cross remained the focal point of worship at Bruton until the restoration of 1938-40, when the church obtained its present cross. No longer needing the Millington Cross, the church offered it to the college for use in the chapel. It has been present on the Wren Chapel altar ever since, except when removed by request.
Perhaps this historical account will help defuse the tense situation about the removal of the Wren Cross.
Susan Godson
Church Historian
Bruton Parish Church