St. Anne's Chapel (Fredericton) facts for kids
St. Anne's Chapel is a beautiful old church building in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It was built between 1846 and 1847. This chapel is a great example of Gothic Revival architecture, which means it looks like churches from the Middle Ages. It was designed by an architect named Frank Wills and is an Anglican chapel of ease. Today, St. Anne's Chapel is a very important place and is known as a National Historic Site of Canada.
What is the History of St. Anne's Chapel?
St. Anne's Chapel was built because of John Medley. He came to Canada in 1845 to be the first Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Fredericton. Bishop Medley wanted a special church built, and he brought Frank Wills, the architect, all the way from England in 1846 to help.
The chapel is located at the corner of Westmorland and George Streets. It was meant to be a temporary church, a "chapel of ease," where people could go for services while a much bigger church, Christ Church Cathedral, was being built.
The first stone of the chapel was laid in May 1846. It was officially opened on March 18, 1847. Bishop Medley actually paid for most of the building costs himself!
When Christ Church Cathedral was finished in 1853, St. Anne's Chapel became known as Christ Church (Parish) Church in 1854. But many people still called it St. Anne's. In 1962, a much larger church was built right next to it. After that, St. Anne's became a chapel again. In 1989, St. Anne's Chapel of Ease was named a National Historic Site of Canada. This special title only includes the old 1847 chapel, not the newer building next to it.
Why is St. Anne's Chapel Special?
St. Anne's Chapel was the very first church in North America built using ideas from a group called the Ecclesiological Society. Both Bishop Medley and the architect, Frank Wills, were part of this group before they came to Canada. Bishop Medley wanted St. Anne's Chapel to be a perfect example for all the other churches that would be built in New Brunswick. Many experts say it's the best Gothic Revival church of its kind in North America.
The chapel is made of grey sandstone and is about 74 feet long and 21 feet wide. Inside, it has a main area called a nave and a special area for the priest called a chancel. There's a beautiful carved screen made of butternut wood that separates these two areas. The roof inside, the pulpit (where the priest speaks), the altar, and the open wooden benches are also made from local butternut wood.
The inside of the chapel is very fancy. The floors in the nave and chancel are covered with colorful Minton encaustic tiles, which are special patterned tiles. The stained glass windows in the nave came from a studio in England. The three windows in the chancel were made by William Warrington in London.
The entrance to the chapel is through a small porch with fancy ironwork on the doors. Outside, the churchyard has a low stone wall and a special covered gate called a Lychgate.
When the chapel was new, its design caused some talk. Some people didn't like the chancel and the screen because it seemed to separate the priest from the people. Also, the church didn't charge money for people to sit in the pews. This was unusual because many churches at the time made money by charging "pew rents." It also meant that wealthy families couldn't show off their status by owning a special pew.
