Description of Historic Place

Saint-Anselme Church is a Romanesque Revival Catholic church located on Amirault Street in the Saint-Anselme sector of Dieppe. Built at the turn of the 20th century, this rectangular cut-stone structure has a gable roof and two square towers on the front façade.

Heritage Value

Saint-Anselme Church is designated a Local Historic Place for its religious role and for its architecture.

Saint-Anselme Church illustrates the Acadians’ respect for religious and spiritual matters. The church replaced one that had been built in 1839. Originally, a chapel built in 1812, located west of the current Chapelle Street, was used for worship until 1839.

Construction work on Saint-Anselme Church began in 1898. The blessing of the church took place on October 11, 1904. The architect was H. H. Mott of Saint John. Philippe-N. LeBlanc, a master carpenter from Moncton, was responsible for the exterior and interior work. The stone cutters, who were parishioners, obtained their material from a quarry in Saint-Anselme and also participated in erecting the building. Léon Léger, a carpenter responsible for around 40 altars in the province, touched up the altars from the former church, which were used in the new building. The church, an example of Romanesque Revival religious architecture, is a rectangular cut-stone structure with a gable roof. It has two outstanding works by Acadian painter Édouard Gautreau, in the form of two large paintings done in 1952: the Virgin in her Assumption and Saint Margaret Mary. In 1971, the church underwent major renovations, including the nave, vault, columns, windows, and doors. Further work was done in 1980 when the interior was modified to accommodate more than a hundred spaces and to move the high altar back to its former location prior to the 1971 renovations. The trim around the sanctuary was redone at this time.

Source: Dieppe City Hall, Historic Places file D17

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the Romanesque Revival architecture of Saint-Anselme Church include:
- rectangular plan with rectangular chancel;
- overall symmetry of the building;
- elegance and high quality of the exterior cut-stone walls;
- gable roof;
- two square towers;
- Roman arch door and window openings;
- window tracery.

The character-defining elements that describe the interior of Saint-Anselme Church include:
- religious paintings by Édouard Gautreau;
- altars and statues.