Description of Historic Place

The heritage site of St. Lawrence Anglican Church consists of a modest, neo-Gothic style wooden church built circa 1865 and a small cemetery surrounded by a fence. The property is located on the south bank of the Bouctouche River and more specifically at 42 Acadie Street.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of St. Lawrence Anglican Church as a local historic place of interest lies in its representation of the neo Gothic style, which Anglican Bishop John Medley favoured for New Brunswick because of the Ecclesiological movement of the 19th century. This reformist movement of the Anglican Church favoured a return to the Gothic architecture of the Middle Ages. The church is a typical example of Gothic revival vernacular and a testament to the popularity of this very ecclesiastic style throughout rural New Brunswick.

Heritage value is also attributed to the site because of its link to both architect Frank Wills (1822 1856) and Bishop John Medley (1804 1892). Frank Wills was one of the architects who designed Christ Church Cathedral and St. Anne’s chapel in Fredericton with the help of John Medley, the first Anglican Bishop of New Brunswick. Frank Wills devoted his work to the neo Gothic architectural style on behalf of the Anglican Church. As a disciple of the science of ecclesiology, Wills greatly influenced Bishop Medley in defining the architectural style of Anglican churches in New Brunswick.

The heritage value of the St. Lawrence Anglican Church also stems from the uniqueness of the bell located in the bell turret. The bell comes from the S.S. Helena, a British vessel from the 18th century, and was later installed on an American vessel during the 19th century and even survived the civil war. It has been housed in the church’s bell turret since the early 1900s.

The property also holds heritage value in the importance of its cemetery, which reveals that there was once an Anglophone presence in Bouctouche. For example, it is the burial place of Robert Douglass, a cultivated man who was a professor, surveyor and harbour master. He also donated the land on which the church is built.

Source: Town of Bouctouche - Historic Places Files - "St. Lawrence Anglican Church"

Character-Defining Elements

The character defining elements associated with St. Lawrence Anglican Church include elements associated with the church itself and those associated with the cemetery.

The character defining elements associated with the church include:
- shingle siding on the exterior walls and roof;
- steeply sloping gable roof;
- gable quatrefoil window;
- lancet windows capped with moulding;
- vergeboard under eaves;
- round-headed bell turret and bell;
- three triptych windows above the altar;
- plaster interior finish;
- plank floor;
- furnishings, including the pews, altar, balustrade, pulpit and baptismal fonts;
- paraffin lamps.

The character defining elements associated with the cemetery include:
- rural cemetery landscape;
- tombstones;
- wooden fence.