Description of Historic Place

Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church dominates the skyline of Fannystelle, rising dramatically from a central location within the hamlet. Constructed in 1911-13, the striking church soars above the surrounding residential and commercial structures with its brick facades, elaborately capped corner towers and impressive rose window. The municipal designation applies to the church, an adjacent cemetery and the grounds upon which they sit.

Heritage Value

Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church is an exceptional example of a Roman Catholic church erected in rural Manitoba in the early decades of the twentieth century. Its Romanesque Revival style of architecture is typified by the use of the round arch for openings and details, while more vernacular influences from Quebec can be seen in the broad facade and asymmetrical corner towers. The church's spectacular rose window, an increasingly rare sight, its elaborate interior murals and many intact details make it a considerable example of a superb church in a small rural community.

Source: Rural Municipality of Grey By-law No. 14/91, September 18, 1991

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church site include:
- the church's location in the centre of Fannystelle, plainly visible from nearby Highway 2, with sprawling grounds bordered by mature trees on the east and west sides and the Fannystelle Cemetery to the north
- the north/south orientation of the church

Key elements that define the church's exceptional Romanesque Revival-style exterior include:
- the multi-storey buff brick structure composed of a variety of volumes and steeply pitched roofs, set on the stone foundation
- the various components expressed through changes in roof height and shape, with the nave's gable-roofed rectangular volume, the transepts' cross gables perpendicular to the nave and the chancel's heptagonal apse
- the central portion of the front facade featuring double entrance doors topped by a fanlight with tracery, a radiating brick lintel and an arched label and flanked by round-arched windows, a large, centred stained-glass rose window encircled in radiating bricks, and arcaded brickwork underneath the wooden gable parapet with a decorative Latin cross at its peak
- the asymmetrical corner towers, with the southwest tower's modillioned pressed metal cornice and domical vault featuring fish-scale detailing, pinnacles and finial, all painted silver, as are the taller southeast tower's belfry and octagonal spire topped by a cross
- the various sizes and arrangements of openings, most featuring elongated round arches with protruding concrete sills, arched brick surrounds and stained-glass edging
- the details, including a horizontal brick course dividing the main storey from the upper floors, east and west gable ends with pediments and centred brick medallions, etc.

Key elements that define the church's elaborate interior layout, finishes and details include:
- the cruciform plan composed of the nave, transepts and chancel, a south-end balcony and a centre aisle with wooden pews on either side
- the barrel-vaulted ceilings with modest gold stencilled ribs resting on the pilasters
- the raised semi-circular chancel containing the altar, with a soaring arch above inscribed with 'SACRE-COEUR DE-JESUS', an insignia for Pope Pius X and 'SAUVEZ NOS-FAMILLES'
- the iconography, including the Stations of the Cross lining the nave, the Biblical murals painted in the webbings of the chancel vaults and the statuary throughout
- the details and finishes, including the wooden plank floors, plaster and lath walls, wooden doors, period woodwork as found on the stairs, banisters, mouldings and balcony, etc.