Description of Historic Place

Wynyard Federated Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Town of Wynyard at 330 Bosworth Street. The property features a one-storey, brick-clad church constructed in 1921.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Wynyard Federated Church lies in its association with the Icelandic settlement of the Wynyard area. Icelandic settlers first came to the area in 1904, homesteading much of the land south of the Quill Lakes. In 1906, the Icelandic people joined together to establish a church for the community. Though initially affiliated with the American Lutheran Synod, the congegation desired more freedom of thought and left the synod in 1909, operating independently until 1923.

The heritage value of the property also lies in its association with the Unitarian Church. In 1923, the Wynyard congregation helped form the United Conference of Icelandic Churches in America, and the Conference in turn affiliated with the American Unitarian Association. At the time it was the only Unitarian congregation between Winnipeg and Vancouver and throughout most of the 1930s, the largest Unitarian congregation in Canada. While the congregation’s numbers have diminished over the years, and regular services have ceased, the congregation still remains active in the community and is one of only a handful of Unitarian churches in Canada outside a major urban centre.

Heritage value also lies in the church’s historical integrity. Constructed in 1921, many elements of the church’s exterior and interior have not been altered. The community values the property’s unaltered architecture as a tangible reminder of the past.

Source:

Town of Wynyard Bylaw 292/82.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Wynyard Federated Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that reflect the property’s association with Icelandic settlement in the region, including its location on its original site;
-those elements that reflect the property’s association with the Unitarian Church, including the open space of the main floor and basement to facilitate gatherings and services;
-those elements that reflect the property’s historical integrity from the time of construction, including the brick exterior, pointed-arch windows with tracery, segmented arches with keystones around both the front and rear windows and the front entrance, tower with louvered windows and octagonal spire, interior wooden doors and door frames, wood paneling on the main floor, wood floors, and chancel rail.