Alberta Register of Historic Places

St. John the Evangelist Church

Calgary

Other Names:

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place
St. John the Evangelist Church is a red-brick, Arts and Crafts-style church built in 1911. The church features a cruciform plan with apse, gable roof, pointed-arch windows, buttressed walls and an open belfry. The property is located in the Inglewood community, an inner-city community east of the Elbow River and downtown Calgary.

Heritage Value
St. John the Evangelist Church is historically significant as an important institution in the Inglewood and Ramsay communities, and continues to house a congregation that was founded in 1905. It is the second-oldest Anglican parish in Calgary, established in 1907. Since the building’s completion in 1911, it has served as the Anglican parish church for these East Calgary neighbourhoods. Historically, the church is associated with women’s auxiliaries and guilds, and other groups, such as scouts, which made it a focal point of community life in the area.

Traditionally, the church served a parish primarily comprising “working men” and their families who were employed at the nearby brewery and iron works as well as the CPR employees. Like the East Calgary community, however, church members included a broader, socio-economic cross-section of people, including some of Calgary’s most prominent pioneers who lived in the area, such as Mrs. A.E. Cross, Mrs. Wm. Pearce, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Suitor. Symbolically, the church is historically significant for reflecting this social composition of the community and congregation, and for its connection with these noted Calgarians.

St. John the Evangelist Church is also valued for its architecture, being an exceptional example of Arts and Crafts-style church design in Calgary. It is the oldest church in Calgary’s oldest neighbourhood and the third oldest Anglican church building in the city. It was designed by the prominent Calgary firm of Lang and Major, who were also responsible for the landmark, Fire Hall No. 1 that same year. It more closely resembles a quaint, English country church than an urban place of worship. The understated, but dignified building is differentiated by its rustic character and highly-original integrity. Notable features of the red-brick exterior include its buttressed walls; leaded, pointed-arch windows; and its wooden, battened doors. An open belfry contains a bell cast at the nearby Alberta Iron Works, and is the first church bell known to be cast in Western Canada. Typical of Anglican churches, the interior is austerely finished with plaster walls that contrast with the dark-finished wood detail and fixtures, such as the oak rood screen and pulpit. The pews and choir stalls were locally made and are darkly stained to match the other fittings and finish work. The most impressive feature of the sanctuary is a three manual, 30-stop, Casavant pipe organ, installed in 1912, and said to be the finest organ in the province at that time.

Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining structural and exterior elements of St. John the Evangelist Church include, but are not limited to the following:

- pressed, red-brick cladding laid in stretched bond;
- brick wall buttresses;
- pre-cast concrete detailing comprising window heads and sills, doorway heads, coping, skew corbels and band courses;
- parged-concrete foundation with a scored finish;
- symmetrical, cruciform plan with polygonal apse and porch extensions;
- gable roofs with parapeted gables;
- open, wooden belfry comprising a four-sided, flared-eaves roof with cross pinnacle; wooden, bracketed tongue-and-groove soffits; Gothic-arch openings with foil tracery; and bell;
- fenestration, with pointed-arch windows containing wooden-sash, leaded windows with diamond-shaped panes; narrow, three-part gable ventilators; and
- battened, wood doors with wrought-iron hardware consisting of latches and plates.

The character-defining interior elements of St. John the Evangelist Church include, but are not limited to the following:

- open character and plan with nave, raised chancel, transepts and ancillary rooms;
- plain, austere plaster walls and ceiling throughout;
- dark-stained, wood, ceiling beams;
- stained-glass windows within the west wall, east walls (transept and chancel), and south wall (transept) and associated wall-mounted memorial tablets;
- dark-stained, battened, wood doors and casings throughout with associated wrought-iron hardware (latches and plates);
- fir flooring of the nave, transepts, crossing and ancillary rooms;
- porcelain-tile floors of the porches;
- organ pipes;
- dark-stained, oak rood screen with carved tracery and raised pulpit;
- dark-stained, wooden pews and choir stalls;
- wooden, tongue-and-groove crossing, transept and chancel railings;
- hanging lamp fixtures; and
- open staircase and balustrade of the ancillary room.

Location

Street Address:	1423 - 8 Avenue SE
Community:	Calgary
Boundaries:	Lots 31 to 34, Block 12, Plan A3
Contributing Resources:	Building: 1

ATS Legal Description:

Mer	Rge	Twp	Sec	LSD
5	1	24	14

PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):

Plan	Block	Lot	Parcel
A3	12	31-34

Latitude/Longitude:

Latitude	Longitude	CDT	Datum Type
51.040216	-114.029719	Secondary Source	NAD83

UTM Reference:

Northing	Easting	Zone	CDT	Datum Type

Recognition

Recognition Authority:	Local Governments (AB)
Designation Status:	Municipal Historic Resource
Date of Designation:	2010/07/05

Historical Information

Built:	1911/01/01
Period of Significance:	N/A
Theme(s):	Building Social and Community Life : Religious Institutions
Historic Function(s):	Religion, Ritual and Funeral : Religious Facility or Place of Worship
Current Function(s):
Architect:
Builder:
Context:

Additional Information

Object Number:	4664-0213
Designation File:
Related Listing(s):	4665-0730
Heritage Survey File:	HS 6756
Website Link:
Data Source:	City of Calgary - Heritage Planning File 07-104