The Church With the Best View Ever!

The picturesque St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Kennebunkport, built in 1887, has beautiful grounds overlooking the ocean. There is an outdoor chapel and gardens around the stone church. The interior features unusual stained glass windows by skillful artisans, some featuring real seashells among the glass.

The church is located at 167 Ocean Avenue, and has limited hours most of the year. Services run mid-June through September; the chapel is open for visitors and worshipers during the summer. Occasionally, when I’ve driven by off-season I’ve found the gates open. You can park on the grass to the right of the entrance.

St. Ann’s is right at the top of my list of places to take visitors, and afterwards, we’ll drive along Ocean Ave. towards Walker’s Point, the summer home of the Bush family. Naturally, I keep the windows down so everyone can take in the fresh ocean air, as well as the incredible view.

*One evening, around dusk, I took a walk around the grounds with my mother. She pointed up at the belfry and said, “Look, birds!” Uh, Mum….those are bats!*

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St. Ann’s sits right on the ocean, and during the summer you can stroll the grounds and have a look inside the chapel. The stained glass windows are fantastic! They have services inside the church and there is also an outdoor chapel overlooking the sea.

“They were reputed to have been produced in the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany, but later thought to be the work of Walter Cole Bingham…”

*Services are held at the outdoor chapel during the summer.*

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“St. Anne’s is an historic seaside Chapel that offers the opportunity for summer worship, fellowship, and outreach on the coast of southern Maine. The picturesque chapel was built in 1887, to serve the communities of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Cape Porpoise.”

For more information on the history: http://stannskennebunkport.org/

Designed in the late 1800s, the stained glass windows are gorgeous. Notice the embedded seashells… Yes, real seashells… in some of the windows. If you are ever in the area, and the gates are open, you can have a look around.

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According to the Brooklyn Museum, “There are twenty-five stained glass windows in the church proper and an additional six located in the sacristy, many dating from the turn-of-the-century. Of particular note is the trio of windows on the north transept wall, given in memory of Samuel Howell Jones, Jr. and Rees Lockwood Jones. The anchor, crown and lilies, and cross subjects feature shells and glass ‘jewels’ in the design. The windows were reputed to have been produced in the studios of Louis Comfort Tiffany, but later thought to be the work of Walter Cole Bingham, who also worked in New York City and was known to incorporate shells in his windows.”

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/96057