Description of Historic Place

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Provincial Heritage Place consists of the stone, Gothic Revival cathedral and the stone, Gothic Revival/Italianate Bishop's Palace and property located at 91 Waterloo Street in Saint John.

Heritage Value

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is designated as a Provincial Heritage Place for the historical associations with early Irish immigration in Saint John. Between 1845 and 1847, approximately 30,000 Irish arrived in Saint John, more than doubling the population of the city. During this period, Saint John was second only to Grosse Isle, Quebec as the busiest port of entry to Canada for Irish immigrants.
There is also heritage value associated with the arrival of Catholic Bishop Thomas Louis Connolly in Saint John in 1852 and his challenge of providing a place of worship which would accommodate the large Irish Catholic population. Thus in 1853, four hundred men gathered as volunteers in the work of digging the foundation at the site. Local quarries supplied the stone for the Cathedral. The chapel, chancel, and entrances were finished in 1861, in which year the adjacent Bishop's Palace was also built. In 1871 the Cathedral’s spire, which reaches 300 feet above sea level, was completed.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception also has architectural value. The final design was by Saint John architect Matthew Stead (1808-1880). The Cathedral is an excellent example of a high style, high quality stone place of worship in the Gothic Revival style. The Bishop's Palace is also a fine example of a uniquely styled, quality stone ecclesiastical building. Constructed of ashlars masonry, the Bishop’s Palace is an example of Gothic Revival architecture with Italianate elements.
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is also important for its association with a significant milestone in the Acadian renaissance. On December 10 1912, the Vatican named Édouard-Alfred LeBlanc Bishop of the Diocese of Saint John, the first Acadian to hold this position in the Catholic Church.
Source: New Brunswick Department of Tourism Heritage and Culture, Heritage Branch, Site file #: 2186

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception include:
- cruciform plan;
- polychrome, ashlars masonry;
- asymmetrical front façade;
- high, pointed copper spire atop four-tier steeple with lancet and rose windows, decorative blind arcade, buttresses, pinnacles and a niche with Gothic tracery and a statue of the Virgin Mary;
- large rose window on front façade;
- slender belt courses separating varying tiers and storeys of the massing;
- strong vertical elements in ornamental sandstone of buttresses and pinnacles delineating every corner;
- main entrance and two side entrances on front façade, each with heavy carved arched wooden paired doors set into deep pointed arch with multiple plain moulded archivolts with one channel of quatrefoil rosettes and one pilaster on each side topped by a simple foliate round capital;
- pointed arch of doorway topped by stone lintel hood moulding and carved medieval foliate label stops with moulded crenellations above and quatrefoils carved into the spandrels;
- gable peaks decorated with carved vertical and figurative elements;
- large high relief carving of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper fresco, topped by false parapet with eight shields carved in low relief with Christian iconography over north entrance;
- side façades featuring lancet windows with Gothic tracery separated by two-tier buttresses culminating at side-aisle roof;
- leaded stained glass windows.
The character defining elements of the interior architecture of the Cathedral include:
- ornament and furniture commemorating Christian iconography and events in the history of the Parish;
- chancel with elaborately carved wooden Gothic pulpit, bishop’s chair and altar screen;
- Lady Chapel north of main chancel and vestry designed by Patrick Charles Keely
- elaborate faux-finished Gothic altar table forward of main chancel;
- Casavant Frères pipe organ;
- pointed arch arcades between nave and side aisles featuring gothic carved wooden niches in each spandrel housing statuary;
- ornamental wooden trusses supporting raked nave roof;
- clerestory of paired lancet windows.
The character defining elements of the Bishop's Palace include:
- rectilinear five-bay massing;
- dressed stone ashlars masonry construction;
- hipped roof;
- four stone chimneys with ornamented caps;
- deep roof overhang with Italianate cornice and closely-spaced stone modillions;
- window placement and proportions;
- windows are smaller and progressively less ornamented with label stops on each higher storey;
- three small lancet dormers on main façade and one between each chimney on side façades;
- small square central lantern at centre of roof with flared hipped roof and copper finial.
The character defining elements of the entrance of the Bishop’s Palace include:
- wide stone steps with outward curving low walls;
- pointed arch doorway with lights inset in the Gothic tracery;
- heavy carved arched wooden paired doors set into deep pointed arch opening with multiple plain moulded archivolts, one channel of quatrefoil rosettes and one pilaster on each side topped by a simple foliate round capital;
- doorway topped by stone lintel hood moulding with carved medieval foliate label stops with moulded, crenellations above and quatrefoils carved into the spandrels.