There is no getting around the fact that this is a Confederate memorial, one dedicated to the southern soldiers killed in the Civil War. However, where else can you stand surrounded by stained-glass windows created, designed, and erected by Louis Comfort Tiffany?

By the time of the Civil War, the 1735 Old Blandford Church had been abandoned for years. During the nine month Siege of Petersburg (including the infamous Battle of the Crater which took place just a mile away), it come into use as a telegraph station and field hospital. When the war ended, a local group, the Ladies’ Memorial Association, began preservation and fundraising efforts to create a memorial to the Confederate soldiers killed during the war, 30,000 of whom are buried in the cemetery. They requested funds from each Confederate and border state, who would have a Tiffany window designed in their honor. All contributed, except Kentucky who was creating its own memorial and didn’t have the funds. This left an extra window which Tiffany designed and donated. The Association itself also donated a window, the only Tiffany window with a confederate flag.

Each state’s window has a saint and the state seal incorporated into the design, except for the smaller Maryland and Arkansas windows.

While waiting for your tour, make sure to explore the cemetery itself which pre-dates the chapel (c.1702) and contains an amazing collection of Victorian iron fencing.