Description of Historic Place

The St. Elizabeth Mission is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying a parcel of land in the Rural Municipality of Gravelbourg No. 104. The property includes a white, one-storey church with a bell tower located approximately 19 kilometres west of the Town of Gravelbourg.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the St. Elizabeth Mission lies in its association with German Catholic settlers who immigrated to the area from Hungary between 1908 and 1909. In 1928, these settlers constructed the current building to replace a chapel built on the same location in 1916. The current Church was blessed in the same year and served the communities and the area surrounding Glen Bain and Arbuthnot in south-central Saskatchewan as part of the former Roman Catholic Diocese of Gravelbourg. Although Sunday masses have been discontinued, the church is still occasionally used for special masses, funerals and weddings.

The heritage value of the property also lies in its architecture, which is typical of many rural church buildings of the period. The church features a largely vernacular style construction with a slight Gothic influence, evident in the pointed-arch windows with tracery, steeple, roof and bell tower. These features make the property a distinctive landmark in the area. The building’s interior features a number of permanent elements constructed from walnut, including a hand-built choir loft and confessional.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Gravelbourg No. 104 Bylaw No. 1-95.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the St. Elizabeth Mission resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those permanent features that relate to the building’s association with the area’s German Catholic settlers, such as its location on its original site;
-those features that reflect the building’s architecture, which are typical of rural churches of the period, including muted Gothic Revival-style elements, such as the pointed-arch windows and tracery, roof, steeple and bell tower as well as the permanent interior walnut features, such as the hand-built choir loft and confessional.