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All Saints Anglican Church, Cherry Point
Cherry Point
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
All Saints Anglican Church is a typical small, rural church. It has a rectangular nave with a chancel projecting from the rear (east) and a porch projecting from the front (west). It has a gable roof with exposed eaves and gothic-arched windows on the north and south sides. A central belfry with steeple and Celtic cross projects from the western edge of the roof. The exterior walls are clad in clapboard siding and shingles cover the gable ends and the belfry. The church is located on a small 0.409 hectare (1 acre) lot subdivided from the southwest ¼ of Section 14, Township 83, Range 13, west of the Sixth Meridian (SW 14-83-13-W6). It is situated in a small cleared area alongside Secondary Highway 717 in the rural locality of Cherry Point. It is located approximately four kilometres east of the Alberta/British Columbia boundary and five kilometres north of the Peace River.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the All Saints Anglican Church in Cherry Point lies in its architectural significance as an excellent example of an improved log church, a once common but increasingly rare type of resource.
Most early structures built by newly-arriving settlers were simple buildings constructed of materials found in the immediate area. Log construction was common in many settlers’ cultures and logs, where available, were ideal as they offered substantial structural support and protection from the elements and were relatively easy to work with. While it was acceptable to use log barns and outbuildings for the long term, it was generally not as desirable to use them as long term homes or places of worship; these buildings tended to be either replaced or significantly upgraded over time. Many early log churches in Alberta were improved through the addition of modern building materials, such as milled lumber, giving them a veneer of refinement and sophistication. Ultimately, most of these improved log structures were replaced, but a few such churches are still extant, of which All Saints is an excellent example.
All Saints Anglican Church was constructed in the mid- to late-1930s; the first services were held in 1937 and the church was dedicated in 1938. As with many small, rural Alberta, Anglican churches, the construction of All Saints was funded by donations raised in Great Britain. Most of the work was done by its congregants and a carpenter from Grande Prairie was hired for the finishing work. The exterior walls are constructed of locally harvested pine logs, which were stripped and squared by a local mill and laid with butt joint corners. Unlike many rural churches, which received upgrades and refinements, such as wood siding and other wall treatments over a period of years or decades, All Saints received these upgrades almost immediately. The interior was clad in gypsum board at the time of construction and the exterior wood siding was installed by 1941.
Reflecting its rural setting, All Saints is a simple gable-roofed log structure with exposed eaves. The exterior log walls are clad with clapboard siding with shingles covering the gable ends and the belfry. The largest part of the church is the ten metre by seven metre nave, which, in accordance with Christian traditions and Anglican guidelines, is oriented on an east-west axis, with the chancel and altar at the eastern end. Three gothic-arched windows line the nave’s north and south sides. Projecting from the rear (east) side is a chancel with a single gothic-arched window on the north and south sides. A slightly smaller enclosed porch projects from the nave’s front (west) side. A central, narrow belfry with louvered ventilation openings and a tall, pyramidal steeple with a Celtic cross are located at the western edge of the nave’s roof.
The interior of the church is also fairly simple in design, being clad mainly in white-painted gypsum board. Despite the modern wall-cladding, the darkly varnished wooden window frames, door frames, five-paneled double doors and tongue-and-groove wainscoting and ceiling lend an air of rustic sophistication. The chancel is arranged according to traditional Anglican patterns with a series of one-step risers demarcating the nave, chancel, sanctuary and altar areas. Altar rails separate the sanctuary from the rest of the church. A lectern is positioned north of the nave’s central aisle and a reading desk is placed to the south. Most of the furnishings, such as the bench pews, altar rails, lectern and reading desk, are simple in their construction and are all likely hand-crafted by previous generations of congregants. The All Saints Anglican Church in Cherry Point is an excellent representation of the log structures often built by rural communities to provide for their religious needs.
Source: Alberta Culture, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 2286)
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage value of the All Saints Anglican Church in Cherry Point include such elements as its:
Exterior
- log construction of the exterior walls, which are the main structural component;
- clapboard siding on all exterior walls and shingle siding on the gable ends;
- shingle-clad, central belfry with gothic-arched, louvered openings, pointed pyramidal spire and Celtic cross situated at the front (west) end of the roof;
- traditional east-west orientation, with the chancel projecting from the (rear) east side of the nave and porch projecting from the west (front);
- fenestration pattern of imitation gothic-arched windows, three located on the north and south sides of the nave and one on the north and south sides of the apse;
- gable roof with exposed rafter ends;
- gable end fascia boards with a notch on the porch, nave and chancel;
- brick chimney with metal pipe projecting through the north slope of the roof;
- traditional wooden shingle roof covering (replaced in kind);
- double door front entrance.
Interior
- gypsum board walls with 4” V-joint tongue-and-grove board wainscoting;
- the two sides sloped ceiling covered with the same 4” V-joint tongue-and-groove boards as on the wainscoting;
- original wood-strip (fir) floorboards (underneath the carpet).
- series of three one-step risers demarcating the nave, chancel and sanctuary;
- railings separating the chancel from the sanctuary;
- five-panel doors between the nave and the porch;
- all original window sashes;
- the original window and door trim around the openings;
- all original furnishings, including the pews, altar (or communion table), lectern, prayer desk, baptismal font and choir fronts;
- flower and cross pattern around the nave’s south-westerly window, likely in lieu of a war memorial stained glass window.
Landscape and General
- location in a small clearing alongside a dirt road (Secondary Highway 717) in the rural locality of Cherry Point.
Location
| Street Address: |
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| Community: |
Cherry Point |
| Boundaries: |
Portion of SW-14-83-13-W6 |
| Contributing Resources: |
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
6
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13
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83
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14
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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51.637498 |
-111.935590 |
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NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Province of Alberta |
| Designation Status: |
Provincial Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
2015/06/22 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1936 to 1937 |
| Period of Significance: |
1936 to 1987 |
| Theme(s): |
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Architecture and Design
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| Historic Function(s): |
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| Current Function(s): |
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4665-1375 |
| Designation File: |
DES 2286 |
| Related Listing(s): |
4664-0193
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 106844
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
Source: Alberta Culture, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 2286) |
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