Description of Historic Place

The Bell Tower of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Michael the Archangel, constructed in 1916-17, is a solid 1 1/2-storey limestone structure situated alongside Highway 44 on the southeastern edge of Tyndall. The municipal designation applies to the tower and its lot.

Heritage Value

The Bell Tower of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Michael the Archangel is a singular example - in design and material composition - of a type of structure commonly found on the grounds of historic Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox churches in southern Manitoba. Most of these stand-alone towers are three-dimensional wooden structures that reflect the architectural style and detail of their churches. This one, in contrast, bears little resemblance to traditional models or to the modest onion-domed church it once stood near. It instead is a two-dimensional object transpierced by three round-arched openings, and its limestone construction displays the quarried material that made the Tyndall area famous in the early twentieth century. The two churches that the bell tower served were demolished.

Source: Rural Municipality of Brokenhead By-law No. 1851, October 26, 1993

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the site character of the Bell Tower of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. Michael the Archangel include:
- its location amid open fields at the northeast corner of Highway 44 and Pierson Avenue, near the foundation of the 1916-17 church and a modern monument to Tyndall's centenary

Key elements that define the tower's vernacular styling include:
- the basic symmetrical massing composed of a one-plane structure, 1 1/2 storeys in height, with a two-tiered gable roofline
- the robust facades of roughly dressed Tyndall limestone
- the three deep round-arched openings, including the centred uppermost one with rough-cut limestone voussoirs and a bell, and the two below, aligned side by side
- the details, including a Tyndall stone Latin cross atop the structure, smooth-cut Tyndall stone coping, the slightly protruding base, etc.