Description of Historic Place

Old St. Alban’s Church was built in 1892 in the Gothic Revival style. The building is a one-and-one-half storey wooden construction adjacent to the road on a small lot, well forested with old shade trees, at the east side of the highway that runs north-south through Lequille, Nova Scotia. Both the building and the property are included in the municipal heritage designation.

Heritage Value

The church has significant historical association with the community. The proximity of Lequille to Annapolis Royal, N.S., which offered a selection of places of worship to local parishioners, was the reason for Old St. Alban’s original designation in 1892 as a “chapel of ease”. The first service was held May 1, 1893, led by Parson Henry Howe. The Anglican church was consecrated October 30, 1894 under the name, “St. Alban’s the Martyr”. The building is deconsecrated and has found new purpose as a private residence.

Old St. Alban’s, otherwise known as St. Alban’s Anglican Church, is a relatively unadorned wood structure constructed in the Gothic Revival style. The balance and symmetry that are the hallmark of the Gothic Revival style are evident in the structure’s traditional rectangular building form, end-gable roof and symmetrical front door and side window quantity and placement. The side-wall chimney and foundation are of brickwork construction.

The aesthetic appeal of the former church building is no less striking than the spiritual devotion of its parishioners over the years. Some noteworthy architectural details are the narrow gauge clapboard siding, the pointed arch side windows and rosette window in the front gable. The sympathetic replication of the front entranceway along the structure’s north and south side allows the building to seamlessly blend into its compact streetscape. Church archives, November, 1901, note that “the little red church was prettily decorated with flowers, fruit and vegetables” at the annual Harvest Service.

Old St. Alban’s Church has retained its original sense of proportional balance and symmetry characteristic of the heritage value ascribed to its Gothic Revival style. The aesthetically noteworthy and solidly crafted structural components of the building resonate with the pioneer devotion that was the spiritual and cultural reason for the church’s construction.

Source: Heritage Property File no. OIBNS01690, Municipality of the County of Annapolis, 752 St. George Street, Annapolis Royal, N. S., B0S 1A0

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of Old St. Alban’s Church that are associated with its Gothic Revival style include:

-wood-frame construction;
-rectangular building form;
-end-gable roof;
-symmetrical front door and side window placement;
-pointed arch side windows;
-rosette window in front gable;
-brickwork sidewall chimney and foundation.