The first “Meeting-house,” as the Pilgrims called church edifices, to distinguish them from houses of worship of the established church, has been proved, by the investigations of Mr. W. T. Davis, to have stood on the north side of the square, near the spot occupied by the present Governor Bradford building. Of this we know but little, except that it was erected in 1638, (the Forefathers before that time worshipping in the fort on the hill), and had a bell. In 1683 a new building was erected, not on the same lot, but farther out at the head of the square. This was forty-five by forty feet, sixteen feet in the walls, had a Gothic roof, diamond window glass and a bell. In 1744, still another church was built on or near the same site. This remained until 1830, when a Gothic edifice was erected. This stood farther up the hill than the previous one, and was destroyed by fire Nov. 22, 1892. The present stone building was completed and dedicated on December 21, 1899, and has on its front, tablets designating it as the first church. Its entrance portal is a fine reproduction of the arched doorway of the old church at Austerfield, England, in which Gov. Bradford was christened. [Illustration: CHURCH OF THE FIRST PARISH.] Burial Hill “The Pilgrim Fathers are at rest; When Summer’s throned on high, And the world’s warm breast is in verdure dressed, Go, stand on the hill where they lie.” [Illustration: Illustrated capital] Beyond and above Town Square stretches the verdant slope consecrated from the earliest years of the colony as a place of sepulture. Here repose the ashes of those who survived the first winter. “In one field a great hill, on which we point to make a platform and plant our ordnance, which will command all round about. From thence we may see into the bay and far into the sea.” Marble tablets mark the location of the Old Fort and Watch Tower, while numerous stones and monuments, which can easily be deciphered, point out resting places of Pilgrims and descendants. [Illustration: GOV. BRADFORD’S MONUMENT, BURIAL HILL.] The marble obelisk in memory of Gov. William Bradford, the second governor, with its Hebrew text, now difficult to decipher, but translated by good authority to read: “Let the right hand of the Lord awake,” together with a Latin inscription, freely rendered: “Do not basely relinquish what the Fathers with difficulty attained,” erected in 1825, is near to us, and around it are numerous stones, marking the graves of his descendants. On the south side of the Governor’s obelisk is inscribed: H I William Bradford of Austerfield Yorkshire England. Was the son of William and Alice Bradford, He was Governor of Plymouth Colony from 1621 to 1633 1635 1637 1639 to 1643 1645 to 1657 [Illustration: GRAVE OF THOMAS CLARK, 1697.] On the north side: