Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

All Saints Anglican Church was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2005 due to its historic and aesthetic value.

All Saints Anglican Church has historic value due to its age. It replaced an earlier church, St. Silas’, which had been built by 1843. In November of 1893 an initial appeal for funds to replace St. Silas was issued in the Diocesan Magazine. An article in the July 1894 edition of the same publication reported that St. Silas “bear[ed] traces of age and decay,” but only $2 had been donated to the fund to replace it. The April 18, 1896 edition of The Weekly Record reports that the men of English Harbour had spent two days cutting the frame for a new church. By December of 1897 the congregation of St. Silas’ had to conduct services in the school. In 1898, St. Silas was “carefully taken down,” not burned as is reported in other sources, and on December 9, 1898, a ceremony was held to lay the cornerstone for a new church. By July of 1899, the Diocesan Magazine reported that the frame of the new church had been raised on a stone foundation and the sides were boarded in. The Diocesan Magazine reported that on Sunday, November 4, 1900, the Church of England Bishop consecrated the new All Saints church in English Harbour, although it was noted that some elements of the new church were unfinished, including the tower and seating. The article thanked the Building Committee and the women of the congregation for all the efforts they made toward the construction of All Saints. A month later, “The women of All Saints…held a sale of work in Christmas week” to raise funds to build the tower. A June 1901 report noted that the tower was yet to be started. A report from 1904 mentioned that enough paint had been bought to paint the whole exterior, and that the children, churchwardens, and women were all raising funds for seating. In 1905, it is noted that “the women have been to the fore and raised $90, which will finish the seating of All Saints Church and leave a balance for other objects.” All Saints Anglican Church would serve the community for over 100 years, until it was deconsecrated in 2005 and bought by the English Harbour Arts Association. 

The adjoining cemetery has historic value as it holds the remains of several of the victims of the Trinity Bay Disaster of 1892. On February 27, 1892 a sudden and fierce storm caught numerous men off guard while they were hunting seals that had floated into the bay on loose ice. Many men had dressed rather lightly because the weather was unusually warm for that time of year. A rising gale soon turned into a squall which made it impossible for the men to get back to shore. In the hours that followed the men in their boats desperately tried to make it back to shore, all the while a freezing spray covered them with ice. Rescue operations were undertaken at all nearby communities, and while many were saved, several others perished. The community of English Harbour buried their victims in the All Saints Anglican Church cemetery and a monument has been put there in remembrance of them.

All Saints Anglican Church has aesthetic value because it is a good example of Gothic Revival construction. Constructed in wood, this church follows a simple basilica plan and has a steeply pitched roof. Above the main entrance, high in the gable is a round window known as the children’s window. Long, peaked three paned windows line both sides of the church and they are finished in a blue glass that shimmers when the sun shines on them. The church has a smaller peaked porch where the main entrance is, and at the rear is a peaked addition which holds the altar, and a tower with a spire. The apse features triple stepped lancet windows while the tower is square with a low spire. All Saints Anglican Church has further aesthetic value due to its environmental setting. It is located on an open space high in the community facing the harbour. The church has always been used as a navigational aid for mariners, the steep roof being highly visible from the water.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “English Harbour – All Saints Anglican Church – FPT 257”

Character Defining Elements

All those elements that define the Gothic Revival style of architecture, including:
-steeply pitched gable roof;
-round window in gable;
-wooden construction;
-peaked windows;
-blue glass, other stained glass;
-tower and spire;
-window and door openings; and
-orientation, dimensions, and massing.

All those elements of the associated cemetery, including:
-resting ground of victims of the 1892 Trinity Sealing Disaster and the monument which is a memorial to the victims; and
-proximity its associated church.

All those elements that relate to the location of the church, including:
-location on a hill overlooking the ocean;
-prominently situated and visible from the community; and
-usage as a mariners landmark.

Community

English Harbour

Municipality

Not specified (Newfoundland)

Construction (circa)

1888 - 1889

Builder

Congregation

Style

Rectangular with Apse