Description of Historic Place

The Deanery is a two-storey wood frame English Arts and Crafts residence located on the grounds of Christ Church Cathedral, facing Burdett Avenue. It is one of four historic buildings on the city block bounded by Quadra Street, Rockland Avenue, Vancouver Street, and Burdett Avenue.

Heritage Value

The Deanery, built in 1938, is valued for its architecture and its function within the Christ Church Cathedral complex.

The Deanery, designed by prolific Victoria architect Percy Leonard James, is valued as an example of English Arts and Crafts architecture. The English Arts and Crafts movement, which originated in the mid-nineteenth century, was an approach to architectural design rather than a true style. English architects revived vernacular domestic designs (stone, brick, and stucco cottages) to nationalistic ends and to promote the ideology of the family home and hearth. The style, as interpreted in North America, was essentially a re-creation of "England." Use of the style by the Anglican Church, also known as the Church of England, was a logical continuation of the development of the Cathedral complex. The building is located on the south side of the Cathedral block, high atop Church Hill, with views to the south. To finance its construction, the Cathedral sold the original church site to the west of the current location in 1937 and set aside funds to replace the original (1858) Dean's house.

There is value in the connection of this building with church functions. Known as the Deanery, it served as the home to the Dean of the Cathedral for many years. The first resident was the Reverend Spencer Hayward Elliott, who served the Cathedral from 1939-1948. Originally, the house was the social and entertaining centre of the parish. The Dean no longer lives on the Cathedral site and the building is now used as administrative offices for the Cathedral.

Source: City of Victoria Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Deanery include:
- characteristics of the English Arts and Crafts style, including steep roofs, stucco facade with applied wood decoration and banks of casement windows
- symmetrical facade
- stucco-clad chimneys
- form and pattern of fenestration
- mature landscaping
- setback from Burdett Avenue
- relationship with Christ Church Cathedral, Memorial Hall, and the Yarrow Chapel, as part of the Cathedral complex
- continued use for church functions