Wender·Vista
Bennington Old First Church and burying ground
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileVermont
in Old Bennington, west of the village green

Bennington Old First Church and burying ground

— — the white steeple the hills keep watching.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A white-clapboard meetinghouse on a slow rise in Old Bennington, with the burying ground spreading out behind it under sugar maples. Robert Frost is here, the stone reading I had a lover's quarrel with the world. Five Vermont governors are here too, and Revolutionary soldiers from the 1777 battle a few miles north. The bell still rings on Sunday. People walk the rows on October afternoons when the light is low and the leaves are turning, and most of them do not say much.

from the studio
Bennington Old First Church and burying ground
— bring it home

Bennington Old First Church and burying ground, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Bennington Old First Church and burying ground

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

The Old First Church stands on Monument Avenue in Old Bennington, the original 1761 settlement on a ridge above the modern downtown. The current Federal-style meetinghouse was completed in 1805, designed by Lavius Fillmore, and is a National Historic Landmark known as Vermont's Colonial Shrine. Behind it stretches the Old Burying Ground, established 1762, with more than 1,500 graves including Revolutionary War soldiers from the August 1777 Battle of Bennington fought six miles north at Walloomsac.

— informed by Wikipedia, Old First Church
— the stone

Robert Frost is buried in the southeast corner of the cemetery, beneath a flat marker carrying the line he chose himself: I had a lover's quarrel with the world. He died in 1963 and the family plot holds his wife Elinor and four of their children. Five Vermont governors lie in the same ground, and the marble Battle Monument obelisk, 306 feet tall, rises a short walk away on the site of the colonial storehouse the British were marching toward.

— the visit

The church is active, with services year-round and guided tours from late May through mid-October. The burying ground is open to walkers daily, free, and stays open in winter when the snow softens the stones. October is the photographed month, when the maples behind the steeple turn and Old Bennington fills with leaf-season cars. Park at the church lot or along Monument Avenue. A short walk takes in the church, Frost's grave, and the Battle Monument.

— where
United States · Bennington, Vermont
— position
42.8779° N · 73.2104° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
0.5 km N
Bennington Battle Monument
monument
1 km E
Bennington Museum
art museum
10 km NW
Walloomsac Battlefield
historic site
N
Bennington Old First Church and burying ground
Bennington Battle Monument
Bennington Museum
Walloomsac Battlefield
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Bennington Old First Church and burying ground — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Robert Frost, his wife Elinor, and four of their children are buried in the southeast corner. Five Vermont governors and Revolutionary War soldiers from the 1777 Battle of Bennington also rest in the Old Burying Ground.

The current Federal-style meetinghouse was completed in 1805, designed by Lavius Fillmore. The congregation itself dates to 1762, making it the oldest Protestant church in Vermont.

His flat granite marker reads I had a lover's quarrel with the world, a line he wrote himself. He died in January 1963 and chose to be buried in Bennington rather than New Hampshire.

Yes. Old First Church was designated Vermont's Colonial Shrine in 1937 and named a National Historic Landmark in 1973 for its architecture and its role in the colonial history of the state.

Early October for foliage behind the steeple, or quiet winter mornings when snow softens the burying ground. Guided tours of the church run late May through mid-October.

The actual battlefield at Walloomsac is about ten miles northwest in New York. The 306-foot Bennington Battle Monument, marking the colonial storehouse the British were marching toward, is a five-minute walk from the church.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Old First Church is a deeply Vermont place, and the burying ground holds family lines that go back to the Revolution. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well for someone who grew up nearby or summered here.

The stained-glass palette over white clapboard works well with New England traditional, farmhouse, and quiet jewel-tone interiors. It also holds its own against a darker library wall where the steeple becomes the bright note in the room.

It fits the current return to regional, place-specific art in traditional and farmhouse interiors. A single Large above a console or a 4-tile Mural over a mantel anchors the wall without competing with antique furniture.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large or a 4-tile Mural reads at the right scale. Over a console table, a Medium or two Smalls hung as a pair sit comfortably without crowding lamps.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and built for vertical installation around moisture. The Glossy finish is for framed wall art away from steam and splash.

A microfibre cloth with water is all it needs. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so it will not lift or fade with cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Reid Wender chooses each place and the artwork is hand-finished in-house. Nothing is licensed in or out.

— if this one stayed with you

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