My pal and I also explored the basement of Christ Church looking for the tomb of Bishop Ravenscroft. We never found it of course — we always got spooked before getting very far into the dark depths of the undercroft. During a meticulous restoration of the church about 10 years ago, the bishop’s grave was finally located and was restored.

We would retreat up the staircase to the attic; I remember it as precipitously steep. There was a huge electric train setup that ran through all three rooms.

There was a scuttle with a four or five step ladder to the roof. Some wise person – a rectoral paterfamilias, I suppose – had nailed some boards from a crate across the opening, but the wire mesh glass could still be seen.

We would push a chest of drawers up against the door, run the trains at full speed, and thus be deaf to the entreaties of our parents when teatime was done.

[a little off topic] Or else we would go over to the church, slide down the coal chute into the basement coal bin, and then explore for the body of the bishop. Mercifully we never found him. [grin] When it was time to go, the sexton would have to be found to let us out. After the coal bin, we were blacker by far than he.

When the building had been moved and was being restored, the hacked-up brickwork in the middle of the building showed where the vault had been.

The spiral stair originally went from the first floor to the attic in the back third of the present first floor hall. The middle third was the vault and the front third was a little office with a corner fireplace.

The restoration was not up to present standards, but we must be very grateful for what we still have.

I added a photo of it to the end of my post.

NCSU — Thanks for the kind words. Sorry if I’ve kept you waiting!

I’ve been eagerly awaiting your latest post and you did not disappoint!

As far as the foundation on the relocated building — as I noted, the adaptive restoration would probably not meet the standards of preservationists today. A basement was dug at the new site, but the foundation was poured with concrete and laid with cement block. The workers then hacked apart the beautiful original granite blocks and simply veneered the cement block foundation with the pieces of granite. The result looks absolutely unauthentic. The brickwork of the walls was “restored” in places, as well, and it too is a mess. You’ll see what I mean when you pay a site visit.

If you want to see what State Bank’s original stone foundation looked like, check out Haywood Hall in the 200 block of New Bern Ave. The masonry is simply beautiful!

Do you know if they used the salvaged the original foundation of the building and if it still has a basement at the current location?

Thanks!