Description of Historic Place

The Diocese of Qu’Appelle is a Provincial Heritage Property occupying an 8.142 hectare parcel of land at the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street in the city of Regina. The designated property includes the grounds and five red brick Collegiate Gothic style buildings, the names of which have changed several times throughout the site’s history: Clergy House/St. Cuthbert’s House/Synod Office (1912), Secretary’s House/Anson House (1913), St. Chad’s College (1913-14), Maple Leaf Hostel/Harding House (1925), and Bishop’s Court (1926).

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Diocese of Qu’Appelle property lies in its association with the Anglican Church and its educational, administrative and missionary activities in southern Saskatchewan. In 1912, the Diocese acquired a large parcel of land at the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street from the provincial government. Plans for the “College and Cathedral Site” included a seminary, boarding schools, Bishop’s residence, and cathedral. The first building to be constructed was a Clergy House which served as the headquarters for the Railway Mission, a program which oversaw the numerous itinerant priests who travelled across southern Saskatchewan by rail helping to establish new parishes. In 1913-14, the Secretary’s House and St. Chad’s College, a theological school for the training of young men for ministry, were constructed on the site. The Qu’Appelle Diocesan School for Girls, which opened in 1918, was initially located in Clergy House. However, enrolment grew quickly and they traded places with the theological college moving into St. Chad’s where they remained until the girls’ school closed in 1970. In 1925, the Maple Leaf Hostel was built to provide accommodation for young British teachers attending the nearby Normal School. In 1926, Bishop’s Court was constructed near the north-west corner of the property. Although the planned cathedral was never realized, the site remained an important hub for church activities.

The heritage value of the Diocese of Qu’Appelle property also lies in its architecture. Designed by three different firms, Montreal architects Brown and Vallance (Clergy House and St. Chad’s College), Regina architects Storey and Van Egmond (Secretary’s House) and Francis Portnall (Maple Leaf Hostel and Bishop’s Court), the buildings display elements of Collegiate Gothic architecture. Most often utilized for schools, universities and churches, this style of architecture became popular in Canada in the early 20th century and is evident in the long, low asymmetrical masses, the use of a uniform, dark-coloured brick trimmed with stone or terra cotta, the Gothic windows with pointed arches, the crenellated towers and picturesque roofscapes, and the use of representational sculptural elements.

Further heritage value lies in the layout and landscaping of the grounds which was guided by the work of prominent English landscape architects, Thomas Mawson and Sons. In 1913, the provincial government hired Mawson’s firm to prepare plans for the grounds of the Legislative Building, the Normal School and the properties set aside for the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches. Mawson’s plan for the site, which were influenced by the Diocese’s plans for the site, features administration and residential buildings clustered around a grand cathedral reminiscent of a traditional English “Cathedral Close.” Mawson’s plan was also influenced by “City Beautiful” concepts, especially the idea that grand buildings or monuments should be sited so as to become the terminal vistas of long, converging, diagonal axes. Buildings on the site were strategically placed, terminating the vista of several streets – the Synod Office at the end of St. John Street, the tower of St. Chad’s at the end of Halifax Street, and Bishop’s Court at the end of Osler Street. Other significant vistas included a diagonal vista from the corner of College and Broad to the planned cathedral and a diagonal vista from the northeast to southwest corner of the property to the dome of the Legislative Building. The architecture and site layout was further complemented by elaborate landscape elements including gardens, winding pathways, a copse and common, a maze, a formal drive in front of the Bishop’s Residence, and a Lych Gate (a traditional roofed gateway to a churchyard) constructed of heavy timber on a stone foundation.

Source:

Province of Saskatchewan, Order Designating Protected Property under The Saskatchewan Heritage Act, February 11, 1980.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Diocese of Qu’Appelle site resides in the following character-defining elements:
- Those elements which reflect the property’s association with the education, administrative and missionary activities of the Anglican Church, including religious iconography and terra cotta figures on the exterior of St. Chad’s College
- Those elements which reflect the Collegiate Gothic style of architecture, including:
Clergy House/St. Cuthbert’s House/Synod Office:
- red brick exterior with stone trim, multi-paned and pointed arch windows, picturesque roofscape with dormers, chimney and gables.
Secretary’s House/Anson House:
- red brick exterior with stone trim, multi-paned and pointed arch windows, picturesque roofscape with dormers, chimney and gables.
St. Chad’s College:
- red brick exterior with terra cotta trim, bay window on the south side of the building, picturesque roofscape with dormers, chimney and gables, crenellated towers, and representational terra cotta and wood sculptural elements.
Maple Leaf Hostel/Harding House:
- red brick exterior with stone trim, multi-paned and pointed arch windows, picturesque roofscape with dormers, chimney and gables, representational sculptural elements and maple leaf crest .
Bishop’s Court:
- red brick exterior with stone trim, multi-paned and pointed arch windows, picturesque roofscape with dormers, chimney and gables and representational sculptural elements.
- Those elements which reflect the original design for the layout and landscaping of the grounds, including its siting at the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street, the placement of the Synod Office, the tower of St. Chad’s, and Bishop’s Court at the south end of several downtown streets, the diagonal vista into the site from the corner of College Avenue and Broad Street, the path from the Lych Gate to the Synod Office, the Bishop’s Court formal drive, traces of the Anson House Garden, Bishop’s Court Tea Garden and Kitchen Garden, the remains of the Lych Gate, St. Cuthbert’s Maze (a small series of walkways constituting a maze defined by hedges), the Copse (a dense planting of trees on the east side of the north entrance on either side of the north entrance roadway (from College Avenue at Halifax Street); and the Common (an open meadow surrounded by a line of trees on the west side of the north entrance).