A Place Apart

For many years, Creator (with so many other parishes) has held its Parish Retreat at Shrine Mont. Shrine Mont is located at the foot of the Great North Mountain in the Shenandoah Valley on the western side of the town of Orkney Springs, Virginia. Bordering the George Washington National Forest, Shrine Mont provides beautiful scenic views, hiking trails, walking paths, porch sitting, pond watching, and a myriad of other opportunities for connecting or quiet contemplation.

Shrine Mont is a place where we can leave the daily grind and hustle and find again the serenity of God’s creation. It is a place of flowing conversation and quiet reading, of good food and rocking chair naps; it is a place where the gentleness of the Holy Spirit breathes anew the presence of God.

Whether you are coming to this year's retreat or not, I hope you find the histories of Orkney Springs and Shrine Mont (actually two different places) interesting and informative. Even so, there is still so much left unsaid, because your time at Shrine Mont is your communion with God, and what God reveals to you.

Quiet and Abundant Orkney Springs

Nestled at the base of the Great North Mountain, is the quiet village of Orkney Springs. It is thought that part of the name traces back to the Orkney Islands, an important reminder of Scotland for early valley settlers here. It was here, at the historic site of a Native American settlement, that “seven springs” were located, believed to have spiritual healing powers. Spring bathing and healing was a popular attraction in the 1800s and so Orkney Springs grew to notice.

Orkney–and with it, Bear Wallow Springs–became a booming business in “Spa” lifestyle. In a small museum within the Hotel today, you can see the train times and schedules for several lines running out of Baltimore and D.C. with Orkney Springs as the final stop. People traveled from all over to visit more than 75 spas that catered first to people’s health concerns, social interests, and recreational activities. According to the Washington Post, the springs did contain elements that may have helped with a few health conditions, but visitors probably benefited the most from the clean mountain water and distance from summer outbreaks of “yellow fever, cholera, and malaria that ravaged the cities of the coast.”

Prior to the Civil War, Orkney Springs was owned by Robert E. Lee’s family. Buildings for tourists were first constructed in the 1850s, and the large “Virginia House” hotel was built in 1873. The Virginia House, with its iconic white clapboard siding and green shutters, is four stories high and 96,000 square feet. A marvel of 19th century construction, it includes a 5,000 square foot Ball Room, a forty-foot by one-hundred-fifty-foot dining hall, and numerous small meeting and break out rooms. Other accommodations were eventually consolidated into the Orkney Springs Hotel. 

Did the waters they “discovered” really heal? (See the spring’s origin where it was first discovered in 1799–water from the rock, literally, at about 9:00 on your way around the circle). According to the Virginia House’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, an 1885 brochure describes “the various springs as containing sulphur, alum, arsenic, chalybeate and iron sulphur, and healing springs, and guarantees relief from various diseases.” New understandings about medicine eventually led to springs’ tourism decline in popularity.  The ability to travel further from home by car and plane also made natural springs spa vacations less fashionable. The resort at Orkney Springs stayed open until the 1950s.

In 1979, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia purchased the Orkney Springs Hotel and the surrounding 1,000 acres of land and restored the facility in 1987. At that time the common areas, meeting rooms and dining facilities were renovated, and all facilities were incorporated into Shrine Mont.

(Portions of this are reprinted from the Shenandoah County Newsletter, 040422)

Shrine Mont

In the late 1800s, Episcopal church services were held often in the Virginia House by the Sixth Bishop of Virginia, Robert Atkinson Gibson. The Bishop purchased a cottage called Tanglewood for his summer residence and soon decided to establish year-round worship at Orkney Springs. Bishop Gibson died in 1919, and shortly after his death the Shrine of the Transfiguration was built on part of what had been his land and next to it, the Shelter Chapel. Eventually Tanglewood, with all its buildings, became the heart of Shrine Mont.

The Shrine was built by his son-in-law, the Rev. Edmund Lee Woodward. He and his wife purchased land at Orkney Springs and spent their vacations there each year. He cut down 100 trees to clear the area and built a log cabin (named Gibson Cottage), which was finished in 1928 when they took up permanent residence.

Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration

The Shrine was built from 1924 to 1925 in the space of a natural amphitheater. It includes a bell tower, a sacristy, a shrine crossing, choir and clergy stalls, a pulpit, a font, and a lectern. At the consecration in 1925, a Deed of Donation was presented by the Woodwards which conveyed the land on which the cabin and shrine were built to the Diocese of Virginia. Bishop Henry St. Goerge Tucker then appointed Woodward rector of the Shrine for life or until he resigned.

In 1928, after Woodward took up permanent residence at Shrine Mont, he planned a retreat which could accommodate 120 guests. Bishop Tucker approved the plan, provided that it was not included in the diocesan budget. Woodward went on to construct various buildings and a swimming pool. He also purchased houses and buildings built by others to create cottages, plus a refectory and kitchen.

In 1929, more land was acquired from the Orkney Springs Hotel.

After Dr Woodward's death in 1948, the Diocese appointed Wilmer E. Moomaw as director manager and Rev. Francis Tyndall as temporary chaplain and director. Later, Rev. Tucker became dean of the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration and chaplain of Shrine Mont.

In 1950, Moomaw was appointed Director of Shrine Mont with full responsibility for the operation and development of the property, and for the physical care and protection of the Shrine. Moomaw served as Director until 1988. During his tenure, he improved and renovated the entire property, adding new facilities and increasing the number of people attending, and thus broadening the scope of its operation.

The resort at Orkney Springs stayed open until the 1950s. In the late 1970s, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia bought the Virginia House and other buildings and rolled it into the existing retreat center of Shrine Mont. The Diocese renovated the original buildings in the 1980s.

The center and heart of Shrine Mont is the open-air worship space, the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration. With quiet spaces, paths and trails, Shrine Mont continues as a retreat center for all people. Accommodations and meeting spaces are open to the public at various times during the year and guests do not need to be affiliated with the church to stay at the retreat center.

The Virginia House attracts many groups. At 96,000 square feet with a 5,000 square-foot ballroom, the Virginia House is one of the largest wooden structures in Virginia and is on the Historic Registry. You’ll also find walking trails, including the six-mile Stairway to Heaven trail, tennis courts, a swimming pool, a labyrinth, fire rings, and lots of open porch space for relaxation. Shrine Mont hosts worship services, conferences, camps, and even family reunions. Stays include three meals a day in the Shrine Mont dining room.

(Portions of this history are taken from Wikipedia and the Virginia is for Lovers Travel Guide)

I’m looking forward to spending time with you on the mountain and bringing home a bit of that spiritual healing we all so desperately desire!

Peace to you,
​
Fr. Bill+