Description of Historic Place

The Holy Rosary Church is a late-19th century Gothic Revival church located on Rose Street in St. Stephen.

Heritage Value

The Holy Rosary Church was designated a Local Historic Place for being a good example of Gothic Revival religious architecture from the late-19th century in St. Stephen. In 1887, construction of the church commenced to facilitate the creation of the Holy Rosary Parish. The building was dedicated July 13, 1893. Later in the year, the bell arrived and a special service was held for the dedication and baptism of the bell. The bell received the name "Thomas" in honour of the Vicar General, Monsignor T. L. Connolly. The bell was rung at six o'clock in the morning, at noon and six o'clock in the evening. The Angelus was rung at Holy Rosary until 1968. The church exhibits traditional Gothic Revival features from this era, such as Gothic arch and lancet windows, a large steeple and a steeply-pitched gable roof. The columns, woodwork and spatial configuration of the interior also indicate traditional décor of this style.

Source: St. Stephen Town Hall - Historic Places file “Holy Rosary Catholic Church”

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe Holy Rosary Church include:
- two-storey rectangular plan;
- 32.6 metre steeple creating an asymmetrical front façade;
- steeply-pitched gable roof;
- Gothic style windows;
- lancet windows;
- stained glass windows;
- buttresses;
- trefoil and quatrefoil motifs in the windows.

The character-defining elements relating to the interior include:
- original spatial configuration and woodwork;
- clerestory supported by pitch pine columns resting on ash pedestals and capped with gothic capitals;
- pews made of ash and cherry wood;
- Stations of the Cross on the walls.