Bryn Athyn Has A Castle, Cathedral, College – And A Religion

Christmas at Glencairn Museum, Nov. 24 – Jan. 7

by Melissa Jacobs

Christmas In The Castle? Sounds like a Hallmark movie. In fact, it’s a holiday celebration at Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn. Located in Montgomery County, Glencairn’s castle is now a museum. And it just reopened to the public after being closed for 18 months to undergo renovations. Through Jan. 7, the museum is hosting Christmas In The Castle, which includes a 60-minute tour, concerts and a World Nativities exhibition.

World Nativities displays small but often sprawling depictions of the birth of Jesus made by artisans from around the world. Delaware Valley artists are represented, but the exhibit’s global scope includes Asian, African and South American nativities as well as American and European. Religiosity isn’t just the theme of the Christmas exhibit. It’s the theme of the museum – and Bryn Athyn.

Never heard of Bryn Athyn? You’re not alone. Measuring only 1.93 square miles, Bryn Athyn is petite, picturesque and pious. Bryn Athyn Cathedral, Bryn Athyn College and Glencairn Museum are centered on the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Also called the New Church, the religion is based on Swedenborgian Christianity – which is based on the teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18^th-century Swedish scientist-philosopher, who penned 35 theological books.

So he was a prophet? Not exactly, said Ivy, a Bryn Athyn College student giving tours of Glencairn. The college, founded in 1877 as a New Church theological seminary, is now a private, liberal arts school. The college is still guided by New Church philosophies, which Ivy has studied.

“Swedenborg had visions showing him what heaven was really like – and hell,” Ivy said. According to Ivy, New Church members have a unique way of reading the Bible. “It contains an infinite amount of internal wisdom with many layered meanings,” Ivy said.

Doctrine is tough to grasp within the constraint of a 60-minute tour, but it’s clear that New Church members congregated in Bryn Athyn to create an enclave where they could worship freely with their religious brethren. Chief among them was the Pitcairn family, which built almost everything in Bryn Athyn.

The Pitcairn patriarch was John Pitcairn, who emigrated to the US from Scotland at the age of five. By the mid-1880s, he was both a New Church member and a millionaire. Pitcairn made his fortune in oil, coal and natural gas, then founded Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. The wealth he accrued allowed him to hobnob with John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.

In 1892, in the height of the Gilded Age, Pitcairn started building Cairnwood Estate. A Beaux Arts style home, Cairnwood looks like a French chateau, complete with a courtyard, carriage house and gardens. Now a National Historic Landmark, Cairnwood hosts weddings and other special occasions.

Bryn Athyn was established as a borough in 1916; Bryn Athyn Cathedral was completed in 1928. That same year, Pitcairn’s son Raymond started building Glencairn castle as a home for his family, which eventually included his wife and their nine children.

As far as castles go, the Gothic-style Glencairn is a tad dark and a bit foreboding, more Winterfell than Windsor. The fascinating guided tour starts with a ride in a gilded elevator to the top of the castle to the tower, which has a nearly 360˚degree view of Bryn Athyn.

Downstairs is Glencairn’s chapel, and it is stunning. One wall bears the Ten Commandments, written in Hebrew, while another wall has the Lord’s Prayer in Greek. The high ceiling displays the figures of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Stained glass windows depict the story of Easter and the birth of Jesus.

The rest of the rooms are oddly shaped. Even an amateur eye can detect asymmetry in the rooms, or at least their unconventional positioning. There are seven numbered floors even though there are nine actual floors, Ivy said. “The building is not perfect because humans are not perfect,” Ivy explained.

The Pitcairns’ living quarters feature an extensive library, which also displays some of the family’s Christmas decorations. The tour includes Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn’s bedroom and bathroom, which are more modest than those of their Gilded Age peers.  

The tour ends on the ground floor with Glencairn’s World Nativities exhibition and an array of Christmas decorations. Want more? Head over to Cairnwood At Christmas for a 90-minute guided tour or self-guided tour of the estate, then stop at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. You don’t have to be a New Church member, or even Christian, to appreciate the majesty of these places.

Christmas In The Castle

Nov. 24 – Jan. 7

Glencairn Museum, 1001 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

Weekdays at 1 pm and 2 pm. Weekends at 1 pm, 2 pm, and 3 pm.

Additional tour times Dec. 26 – Dec. 30.

$15 Adults

$12 Seniors and students

Reservations are recommended and can be made at this link.

Cairnwood At Christmas

Dec. 28 and 29

Cairnwood, 1005 Cathedral Road, Bryn Athyn, PA 19009

$25 Adults

$20 Seniors and students

Reservations required and can be made here.

Like this story? You’ll love our story on Yuletide At Devon.

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