Key Number:	HS 40818
Site Name:	Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Cross Egremont
Other Names:	Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Elevation of the Precious Cross
Site Type:	1603 - Religious: Church, Cathedral or Chapel

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			59	22	4

Address:
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Avenue:
Other:
Town:
Near Town:	Egremont

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:	Ukrainian-Canadian Church Style
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Superstructure:
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Roof Structure:
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:
Exterior:	Dome cross of 1st Church made by Kazimir Olchowy.
Interior:	Painting in 2nd church by Walter Paschak. Interior has v-joint wallcovering.
Environment:	18' x 27' - first church. 10 acre site
Condition:	Good. 1 JUN 1983.
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
1st Church built 2nd Church built	1917/05/30 1944/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Church (2nd church)	1944/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
N/A

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	Mr. Kozak
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Construction of first church commenced May 30, 1917. Andrew Kozak and Michael Horbach built first church. Michael Horbach donated 10 acres for church and cemetery. First church built of logs with drop siding on exterior. First church moved to the side and used as a kitchen in 1939. First church moved to Thorhild Centennial Park museum in 1976. Present status unknown. Second church built on original site of first church in 1944. Built by Mr. Kozak, possibly Ivan or Nikifor. * * * Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Cross Egremont (File No(s): 3906-35 / Des. 1905) October 31, 1996 This church is the second church on this site. The Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Cross was constructed in 1944, and is an all-wood prairie rural version with many of the characteristics of churches constructed in the Byzantine style of ecclesiastical architecture of the Eastern Roman Empire. The central cruciform plan, the large onion-shaped dome on the octagonal drum over the crossing, the two tower-like structures on the entrance façade, an emphasis on verticality and a highly decorative interior, all contribute to this design. The site, which is large and square, contains both the church and a cemetery in the south east corner. Oriented on the east-west axis, the church is designed on a central longitudinal cruciform plan following Byzantine traditions. In plan, the entrance is gained into the narthex (prytor) through a small vestibule under the choir loft. The narthex leads into the nave (serednir khram or nava) with north and south transepts, and a chancel on a raised floor. Within the chancel there is the sanctuary (vivtar ir svity lyshche), immediately surrounding the altar. The chancel is terminated with an apse (soleiia) that is formed with walls and ceiling divided into five segments giving the impression of a traditional curved (semi-circular) recess with a half-domed ceiling. In addition, there are two identical sacristies (zakhry stiia) located north and south of the crossing with individual entrances from the exterior. The interior is decorated with a variety of stenciling and devotional art. On the lower register there is an imitation marble dado and a field bays defined by rope linear rope pattern with stylized lilies in each corner. On the upper region the upper region begins with a band with a regular trefoil design. The exterior design strongly reflects the plan. The planes are banded at the bottom with the foundation and the skirt board, and divided by arch topped windows symmetrically placed in lines of the horizontal siding. The gable ends with their high sharp pitch presents a strong emphasis on verticality. Concrete steps on the east façade lead to the entrance doors under a canopy which is constructed on the same pitch and detailing as the gable ends. The façade has two corner structures which stand proud mimicking corner towers of an ancient Byzantine basilica. Each of these square towers is topped with an octagonal drum and a small dome which supports a wrought iron Roman Cross. The large high drum rises from the intersection of the roofs over the nave and supports a high octagonal dome which meets at the apex where it is assembled into a lantern topped with a small onion-shaped dome that supports a Roman Cross of wrought iron. The roofs are uniformly pitched over the narthex and nave. It is segmented on the west section over the apse. At the intersection of the drum and roofs of the nave, transepts and chancel there are four projecting elements clad in horizontal siding and are covered in hip-roof-like structures. These correspond, on the exterior of the building to the pendentives on the interior which form the transition from the re-entrant walls of the church to the octagonal drum. The arched windows, with proportions of 1:3, have a fan sash segmented into five triangular pieces of coloured glass. The lower sash is designed with munitin and mullion bars in the shape of a Roman Cross which is filled with coloured glass, thus producing a special window with nine panes. There is one rose window in the choir on the east elevation which is divided into eight true divided lites. All of the glass in the nave is pastel coloured which provided a soft luminescence to the interior. This church is particularly notable because it was designed in the Byzantine tradition for the liturgical practices of the Roman Catholic faith in a prairie rural community. It is a good example of the way in which spaces were arranged to enhance devotion and spiritual feelings. The cruciform plan flows from the nave to the altar, the open are of the nave and up into the vertical spaces leading to the dome which is illuminated by four pastel coloured windows and highly decorated with a ceiling of clouds and light blue sky. Moreover, it is a good example because of its simple treatment of the exterior as a whole. Here, there is a special effect created by the height of the walls, the square and rectangular shapes, the vertical emphasis created by the two east corner towers and the high drum and dome. By 1944 when this building was constructed, designs for the new Ukrainian Catholic churches were changing. Construction of the church follows common construction methods with special framing in the roofs and dome. The substructure is a concrete foundation of cast in place concrete around the perimeter of the building and surface concrete pads supporting posts for the intermediate support of the floors and walls. The superstructure is framed following balloon framing methods with a sit built rafter system to permit vaulted ceilings. The drum and dome are vertically supported in the lower region with the re-entrant walls in the transepts which are 90 degrees to each other. There is a special structural transition between the roof framing and the walls of the octagonal drum. Similarly, there is a special framing system in shaping the profile of the dome as it rests on the drum. The framing of exterior walls and the drum are layered in sheathing and beveled horizontal siding. The dome frame is covered on the exterior with sheathing and sheet metal panels, and the roofs are layered in sheathing and cedar shingles. The interior of the frame is covered in sheathing and painted horizontal V-joint tongue and groove fir material. The floor is layered with sheathing, tongue and groove fir and carpeting. The building is serviced by electricity and a propane fuel fired appliance which is turned on for services only. The resource occupies it origin site and has suffered very little alteration so that it retains most of its original significant architectural details and material. In fact a recent restoration program restored the roofs, the exterior paint colour and the windows. The building is structurally sound without defections or evidence of deteriorating building systems. The site is located north/east of Egremont on a north/south concession road. The resource is surrounded by flat tillable land and second or third growth trees and bushes in lots and windbreaks. A majority of the rural buildings in the area appear to have been constructed after 1945. The Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Cross dates from this period and contributes to the continuity and character of the cultural landscape of the area. * * * * * D-1905 - HOLY CROSS UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, EGREMONT HISTORICAL CONTEXT: With the completion of the Calgary & Edmonton Railway in 1891, the lands north and east of Edmonton began to expand with agricultural settlement. With the turn of the 20th century, a significant number of Ukrainians were arriving in this region and carving out homesteads. News of their success attracted others, and, before long, the lands north and east of Edmonton began to display a distinctly eastern European flavour. In 1896, two individuals named Fred Lakusta and Alex Sambra settled on land just off the Victoria Settlement Trail near present day Redwater. With the completion of the Dominion Land Survey in the area ten years later, they were joined by other Ukrainian and Polish immigrants, many choosing land north of Redwater, where a store and post office named Egremont was established in 1908. It was named for the wife of the first postmaster, R.C. Armstrong, who had come from Egremont in Cumberland, England. By this time, a number of English immigrants had settled in the area, as well as some French and Germans. In 1912, they were joined by three families of Japanese. The largest ethnic group, however, continued to be Ukrainian, with most of them arriving just after the Alberta & Great Waterways Railway was extended to the area in 1912. One of the early Ukrainian settlers was Michael Horbach. In 1913, he identified ten acres of land on his homestead at NW2 TP59 R22 W4 for the future site of a Catholic church. Like Horbach, most of the Ukrainians in the immediate district were from Galicia, and were therefore Roman Catholic. This was also the case with the Polish settlers. At the time, there were no churches of any denomination in the area, although, by now, Father Basil Ladyka of the Basilian (Roman Catholic) Order had begun to make visits from Edmonton, conducting services in private homes. Finally, in the spring of 1917, volunteer work began on a log church on Michael Horbach's deeded property, with Horbach himself supervising construction along with Andrew Kozak. Many of the volunteers and later parishioners were Poles, and even Ukrainians of the Orthodox faith. Final cost of the building was estimated to be $900, and, in February 1922, the Czensnko Christa (Holy Cross) Church of the Elevation of the Precious Cross of Egremont was incorporated within the Ukrainian Catholic Holy Eucharist Parish of Thorhild. St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church 8 km west of Thorhild was also incorporated at the same time. In 1926, both churches were visited by Bishop Nkita Butka, and, in 1936, by Bishop Basil Ladyka. Ladyka had served as the first itinerant priest in the area. The Holy Cross Church however was very small, 18'x 18', and, in good weather, many of the services were conducted outdoors. In 1935, it was supplemented by a parish hall in which many Ukrainian cultural events would be held. In 1939, planning began on a newer and larger church, and, as actual construction began a couple of years later, the old log church was moved closer to the hall to serve as a kitchen. In 1944, the new church, designed in Byzantine style by a Mr. Kozak, was ready for consecration. It too was built with volunteer labor, but was very ornate, with a large metal dome and two cupolas over the entrance. The interior featured several murals by Walter Pashak. The attendance at the new Holy Cross Church was apparently large for a few years. The recently discovered oilfield around Redwater brought a booming economy, and more people, to the district in the late1940's. Once the wells were operational however, there were few employment opportunities for young people outside of farming, and the evolution of larger farms combined with increased mechanization meant fewer agricultural jobs as well. As a result, many of the descendants of the original settlers left home, and, in the late 1950's, attendance at Holy Cross began to dwindle. Finally, in 1969, regular services ceased, although occasional special services would be conducted in the years that followed. In 1976, the original log church was moved to Thorhild to reside in Centennial Park, and the 1944 Holy Cross Church was left as the sole structure on the original Church site, along with the cemetery. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The historical significance of the Holy Cross Ukrainian Catholic Church outside Egremont lies in its service as a community church for the Ukrainian settlers of that district during the middle part of the 20th century. Most were Galician and Polish, and therefore Roman Catholic, but other attendees were Polish, and even Bukowinian Orthodox, but not so orthodox as to preclude their attendance at Roman Catholic services. The Church is also important as an expression of the Ukrainian culture of the area.

Internal

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