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Irricana United Church
Irricana, Near
Other Names:
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First Irricana Church of the Brethren
West Church
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Irricana United Church was built in 1919. It is a one-and-a-half storey, wood-frame building clad in wood siding with a concrete foundation. It has a steeply-pitched, cross-gable roof and large gable ends. The main entry is located in the base of a three-storey, square tower with crenellations, which is situated at the northeast corner. All sides of the building and the gable ends feature flat headed Trinity windows. The church and its associated cemetery are situated on 1.2 hectares in the Municipal District of Rocky View. The site is located at the junction of Township Road 272 (Highway 567) and Range Road 274, approximately 10 kilometres west of the Town of Irricana.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Irricana United Church lies in its identity as an excellent example of a small rural church built on an Akron plan.
The Irricana United Church is constructed on an Akron plan. This type of church design reflects the importance evangelical denominations, particularly the Methodist church, placed on life-long education and religious training. In the mid-1800s, the Methodist Church adopted the Uniform Lesson Plan, under which all congregants received the same basic lesson. In the late-1860s, Lewis Miller, a businessman, inventor and Methodist Sunday school superintendent in Akron, Ohio, saw a need for a new church and Sunday school design that would accommodate the Uniform Lesson Plan ideal. He developed an innovative layout which included a large auditorium or open space for introductory and closing group meetings. Radiating from this space was a series of classrooms for smaller, more age-appropriate sessions based on the day’s lesson. A further refinement of the Akron plan was the inclusion of diagonally-oriented or auditorium style seating in the main sanctuary, which was intended to optimize space and improve visibility of the altar from the classrooms. By the turn of the century, the Akron plan became extremely popular amongst the evangelical denominations – notably Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists – and examples were built across the continent. Large urban churches tended to build separate, but adjoined Sunday schools accessible from the main church sanctuary via removable walls or partitions. Smaller, rural churches, which typically did not have the numbers or finances to allow the construction of a dedicated school building, tended to remain closer to the original Akron plan conception. These small churches tended to build a suite of small classrooms that opened directly off the main sanctuary.
The Irricana United Church is an excellent representation of a small rural church built on an Akron plan. Following 1908, members of the Church of the Brethren migrated from North Dakota and began to settle in the Irricana district. The Brethren, more commonly know in Canada as the Dunkards for their practise of full-body, adult baptism, were a group of German, fundamentalist Baptists with theological roots in the Anabaptist and Wesleyan traditions. They built this church in 1919 to replace an earlier, smaller church, which had been in use since 1910. The 1919 building incorporates many aspects of the Akron plan churches that were popular in the United States around the turn of the century. The seating in the sanctuary is arranged in a diagonal manner with the baptismal tank, raised altar and pulpit located in the southwest corner. Additional seating is provided by an upper gallery on the north side. The north and east walls also feature suites of small, irregularly-shaped classrooms with blackboards. These rooms are separated from the sanctuary by folding, wooden, five-panel doors. An additional classroom is also located off the gallery. Natural light is provided through sets of flat-headed Trinity windows, which are set in each gable end and line the sides of the church – one set on the west side, two sets on the south side and three sets on the north and east sides. To further facilitate community and church events, the basement contained a kitchen and a large space for gatherings. The wood frame, wood siding-clad building has a cross-gable roof around a crenellated, square, three-storey tower at the northeast corner. This roofing and tower arrangement was a common pattern followed by many Akron plan churches of various sizes.
Source: Alberta Culture and Community Services, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 1258)
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage value of the Irricana United Church include such elements as its:
Akron Plan Elements
- steeply-pitched, cross-gable roof with large gable ends facing north, east and west;
- three storey, crenellated, square tower situated at the northeast corner;
- suite of small, irregularly shaped classrooms with blackboards, located along the north
and east walls of the sanctuary and an additional, larger classroom accessible
from the gallery;
- folding, wooden five-panel doors separating main floor classrooms from sanctuary;
- diagonally arranged pews in the sanctuary;
- raised platform, altar and lectern situated in the southwest corner of the sanctuary in
front of a curved, tongue-and-groove clad section of the wall;
- upper gallery with tiered seating located on the east wall.
General Exterior
- fenestration pattern of a series of flat-headed windows arranged in a Palladian style, one
set located in each gable end, three on the east and north elevations, two on the south
elevation and one on the west elevation;
- stained glass windows in both of the west facing openings;
- fenestration pattern of the tower with sets of three windows located at the second and
third storey level of both the east and north elevations;
- wide main entry with double doors and transom, accessed by a wooden staircase,
located in the base of the tower’s east elevation;
- stark, white painted, wood siding clad exterior walls;
- extant historic windows frames and storm windows;
- relationship with the associated cemetery and the rows of trees that define the church
yard and the vegetation that defines the southern boundary of the property.
General Interior
- large, metal baptismal tank, covered with a trap door and situated in the southwest
corner behind the altar;
- extant historic wood trim, wood strip flooring, staircases, window and door frames,
doors, altar rails, pulpit and pews.
Landscaping
- relationship of the church with the associated cemetery, located to the west beyond a
row of trees;
- cemetery accessed through double, swinging metal gates with silhouettes of two doves,
all set within a metal cemetery arch;
- two outhouses situated on the property, one with two separate stalls the other with a
sign reading LADIES, one seat at regular height and two seats at lower height for
children;
- rows of trees that define the church yard and separate the churchyard from the cemetery
- line of vegetation that defines the southern boundary of the church property.
Location
| Street Address: |
Township Road 272 (Highway 567) and Range Road 274 |
| Community: |
Irricana, Near |
| Boundaries: |
Portion of NE 8-27-27-W4 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Buildings: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
4
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27
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27
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8
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16 (ptn.)
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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51.299179 |
-113.756434 |
GPS |
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: |
2011/12/15 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1919 to 1919 |
| Period of Significance: |
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| Theme(s): |
Building Social and Community Life : Religious Institutions
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Architecture and Design
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| Historic Function(s): |
Religion, Ritual and Funeral : Religious Facility or Place of Worship
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| Current Function(s): |
Religion, Ritual and Funeral : Religious Facility or Place of Worship
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE
The Brethren were a sect of German Baptists who were referred to as Dunkards for their practice of total immersion baptisms. Adherents of the sect settled in the American mid-west and by the late 1800s, their numbers were such that many Brethren families were looking for new territories to settle. From 1896 to 1997, thousands of church followers moved into North Dakota and as they were considered to be 'thrifty, industrious and orderly'; the migration was a boom to the state. Reports of the migration interested Canadian politicians, land agents and colonization companies who attempted to interest Brethren leaders in the benefits of settlement in the Canadian west. The efforts of such individuals began to show effect in 1908 when the first of the Brethren families moved into the Irricana area. The district was one where the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) had extensive land holdings and the railway had irrigated portions of the district to make it more appealing to settlers.
In the succeeding decade, many more Brethren families moved to the district. Their numbers were sufficiently large that church services were held in 1910 in a church constructed for the congregation. By 1918, that building was too small and was replaced in 1919 by the present structure. It was constructed at a cost of 8,400 dollars. The ministry of the new church was 'free' for the first two decades but thereafter, ministers were obtained from Brethren congregations in the United States.
In 1968, a decision was made to merge with the United Church of Canada. The membership of the Brethren church in western Canada was small and it was felt that the needs of the community would be better met through affiliation. The merger was completed in 1969 at which time, the church was renamed Irricana United Church.
The church represents the strength of motivation displayed by a particular Christian community among the waves of early western settlement. In addition, this church was the most important Brethren church in the west and many of the district's families share histories within which the church played an important role.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The structure is an impressively large, well-designed and constructed rural church. It is approximately 40 square feet and is some 40 feet from grade to roof apex. A tower at the intersection of two wings is about 45 feet high and is divided into three stories. The base of the tower forms a vestibule. While that basic format is not particularly uncommon for protestant churches, the proportions of this structure make it exemplary.
The windows are not typical for a church; rather, they are tripartite units composed of a large sash window flanked with smaller sash windows. All of the windows follow this basic pattern except for those of the tower that are simple rectangular sash-type units. The church basement is high and pierced by numerous windows making it well lighted but also making the first floor quite high above grade. The vestibule and the front door are therefore reached by a broad flight of stairs on a stoop. The stoop, like the rest of the building, is clad in a lap-milled lumber. Overall, the church presents a prosperous appearance of quiet dignity.
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4665-0619 |
| Designation File: |
DES 1256 |
| Related Listing(s): |
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 22961
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch, Old St. Stephen's College, 8820 - 112 Street, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P8 (File: Des. 1256) |
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