ST. MARY'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, RECTORY AND HALL

1983 ST. MARY'S GATE

ARCHITECT - Cram Goodhue & Ferguson, Boston

Built: 1904

The southward flow of Devonshire Road is diverted by the park-like setting of the church complex, with the church, rectory, hall and lych gate to the cemetery. The congregation of 1902 had outgrown the original Walker church (1874) on Sandwich Street (Riverside Drive), and it was the sons of Hiram and Mary Walker who decided to erect a larger edifice in memory of the parents.

The present site was chosen, six blocks south, but with an unobstructed view of the river down the length of Devonshire Road. As well, the residential development of the evolving town was concentrated south of Wyandotte Street, and a centrally-located church was a practical decision.

Albert Kahn, being of the Jewish faith, suggested that the Walkers offer the commission for the Anglican church to Ralph Adam Cram's firm, but acted as Cram's associate, with Ernest Wilby as on-site architect. Cram chose as his model the little parish church of England, although the architectural taste of the time allowed a freer interpretation of the Gothic style to be followed. (It should be noted that the clock in the tower is not original, but a 1930s embellishment).

Stained glass windows filter the sunlight flooding such treasures as tiles from the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works in Pennsylvania, and exceptionally fine wood carvings by Johannes Kirchmayer from Oberammergau.

To the east lies the traditional English churchyard, approached through a lych gate - a small, roofed gateway where the funeral procession pauses before proceeding to the gravesite. The Tudor Revival rectory and Sunday School stand on the west side of the church. The parish hall, added in 1950 near the cemetery, is by local architects Sheppard & Masson.

Devonshire Road resumes its southerly direction at the rear of the church grounds.

Click here to read more about St-Marys Church.

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