Holy Trinity Church National Historic Site of Canada
Designated
1970
Holy Trinity Anglican Church is a historic Anglican church located at Stanley Mission on the Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Built between 1854 and 1860, it is the oldest standing building in Saskatchewan[1] and is constructed in the Carpenter Gothic (wooden Gothic Revival) style.[2] The church was designed by the Reverend Robert Hunt and built by local Cree craftsmen using locally harvested timber, with stained glass and hardware imported from England.[3] Holy Trinity served as a central place of worship and missionary activity for the Anglican Church in the northwest during the 19th century, and it remains significant within the Anglican Church of Canada for its architectural heritage and historical role. The site has been designated as a National Historic Site of Canada (1970) and a Provincial Historic Site of Saskatchewan (1981).
Anglican missionary work in the Stanley Mission area began in the mid-19th century. In 1845, the Hudson's Bay Company granted permission to the Church of England's Church Missionary Society to establish a mission in the English River district (now the Churchill River region).[4] A Cree catechist, James Settee, was sent to the region and laid the foundations by teaching Christianity to the Cree people; his efforts led to the baptism of 107 new converts at Lac La Ronge on July 1, 1847 by Reverend James Hunter.[5] In 1850, Reverend Robert Hunt, an ordained Anglican missionary from England, arrived to take charge of the mission.[6] Finding the initial site near Lac la Ronge unsuitable for farming and outreach, Hunt relocated the mission about 80 km northeast to a site on the north shore of the Churchill River in 1851–1852.[7][8] He named the new station "Stanley" after his wife"s home of Stanley Park in Gloucestershire, England.
Construction of Holy Trinity Church began in 1854 on a rocky point of land known in Cree as Amachewespimawin (ᐊᒫᒌᐧᐧᐃᐢᐱᒪᐧᐃᐣ; "shooting-up place").[9] Reverend Hunt personally designed the church and oversaw the work, hiring a master carpenter from Red River to assist, while much of the labour was done by the local Cree congregation.[10] The frame was built with locally cut timber, using post-and-beam techniques with mortise and tenon joints; stone footings were laid for the foundation, and wood shingles were fashioned from local materials.[11] Hunt had brought with him from England a supply of tools, nails, locks, hinges, hardwood lumber, and nearly a thousand pieces of stained glass for the windows[12] (An initial shipment of stained glass was lost when a boat capsized in the Churchill River rapids, requiring a second order from England[13]). Despite financial and logistical challenges that slowed progress until 1856,[14] the great church was completed after six years of work. The tall spire and weathervane were secured in early 1860, and the first service was held in the finished church on June 10, 1860, conducted in the Cree language.[15] At the time of its completion, Holy Trinity was praised for its fine Gothic design and became a landmark visible for kilometres along the river (Bishop David Anderson, visiting in 1859, was so impressed by the lofty new church that he remarked it could serve as a cathedral for the North—"but for the fact that it was constructed of wood"[16]).
Holy Trinity Anglican Church quickly became the heart of a thriving mission community. By the 1860s, the Stanley Mission station encompassed the church, a parsonage, schoolhouse, carpentry shop, warehouse, barn, icehouse, and other buildings, as well as a cemetery on site.[17] The mission supported a small agrarian settlement; mission staff and local families cultivated crops and even operated a grist mill to grind local wheat into flour. Through the late 19th century, Stanley Mission served as an important base for Anglican evangelism in northern Saskatchewan, ministering to the Cree and acting as the region's earliest Anglican parish. In the early 1900s, however, the focus of Anglican activity shifted to the larger mission at Lac La Ronge. By 1905 the newer mission and residential school at La Ronge had eclipsed Stanley Mission as the Anglican headquarters in the area.[18] The community at Stanley Mission began to decline in the 20th century: a severe epidemic (likely influenza or smallpox) in 1919–20 killed many residents, and an increasing number of people moved to the opposite side of the river, where new trading posts and a First Nations reserve were established in the 1920s. By the 1960s, nearly the entire population had relocated across the river, leaving Holy Trinity Church standing virtually alone on its point of land.
Architecture
Interior of Holy Trinity Church, showing the wooden vaulted ceiling, dark-stained beams, and original wooden pews painted with ochre-tinted pink and blue colours
The interior of Holy Trinity Anglican Church showcases a range of Carpenter Gothic architectural details. The tall nave is divided from the side aisles by pointed arch openings, evoking the feel of medieval church arcades. The church is a large white wood-frame structure built in the Gothic Revival tradition adapted to local materials (often termed Carpenter Gothic). It measures 23m (75ft) to the tip of its steeple, and features a steeply pitched gable roof and a tall, slender spire that has made it a prominent landmark against the northern Saskatchewan skyline. The building's floor plan consists of a high central nave with lower side aisles, a design that gives the impression of a small cathedral. Its exterior is characterized by pointed-arch windows and doorways in the Gothic style. The tower at the entrance exhibits elongated lancet windows, and along the nave and clerestory there are paired and single lancet windows filled with multi-coloured glass panes set in rectangular leaded patterns. The church rests on a foundation of local stone, and the wood frame uses hand-hewn timbers with infill of mud and rubble for insulation. Originally painted a light ochre-white, the exterior and interior woodwork were stained or painted with pigments derived from local ochre clay, giving unique pink and blue hues to some of the woodwork.[19] Overhead, a wooden barrel-vaulted ceiling spans the length of the nave, supported by an elaborate system of exposed beams and trusses. The beams are dark-stained, highlighting the craftsmanship of the hand-hewn timber structure. A clerestory level above the aisles contains small windows with red, blue, and yellow stained glass panes that diffuse coloured light into the interior. At the east end of the church is a narrowed chancel (sanctuary) where the altar is placed, and at the west end the entry vestibule sits at the base of the tower. Many original fittings and furnishings remain in place. The wooden pews — the same benches used by the congregation in the 19th century — are still painted with the traditional pink and blue ochre paint on their trim, and the original wooden pulpit and altar rail are preserved. Local Cree artistic touches were historically added as well; for example, hand-made beadwork was used to decorate the pulpit frontal. The church bell, mounted in the tower, would be rung before services and could be heard echoing across the river to call worshippers to church.
Beadwork frontal
Over the years, the structure has seen restoration to ensure its preservation. A major restoration in the 1980s stabilized the church: a new foundation was laid and the weathered bell tower was reconstructed, while retaining as much original material as possible.[20] The church today appears much as it did in the 19th century, with its original design and many original elements intact, a testament to the skill of its builders and the care of its custodians.
Missionaries and clergy
Holy Trinity Church and the Stanley Mission owe their establishment to several notable missionaries and clergy. James Settee (circa 1809–1902) was a Cree catechist who can be regarded as the founder of the mission. After converting to Christianity and receiving training at Red River, Settee was dispatched to the Lac la Ronge area in 1846, where he lived among the Cree and taught the rudiments of the Christian faith. His dedicated work over the next few years prepared the way for mass conversions — culminating in the baptism of 107 Cree people in 1847 — and demonstrated to church leaders that a permanent mission would be fruitful. Settee was later ordained as an Anglican minister (one of the first Indigenous clergy in western Canada)[21] and continued to serve in the northwest, though by the time Holy Trinity Church was being built, he had moved on to other mission fields.
Reverend Robert Hunt (1828–1919) was the pioneering Anglican priest who officially founded Stanley Mission and oversaw the construction of Holy Trinity Church. Arriving from England in 1850, Rev. Hunt took charge of the fledgling mission from Settee and selected the Stanley Mission site in 1851. In addition to designing Holy Trinity Church, Hunt supervised its construction from 1854 to 1860, teaching local workers building techniques such as pit-sawing lumber by hand. Hunt ministered at Stanley Mission for over a decade, baptizing and teaching many, until 1863 when his health deteriorated. He and his wife had six children during their years at Stanley; one son, born at the mission, later became a clergyman in England. Rev. Hunt left the mission in 1863 (after 12 years of service) and was succeeded by other clergy. His legacy at Stanley Mission is remembered through his role in creating the church and nurturing one of the first permanent Christian congregations in northern Saskatchewan.
Following Hunt's departure, Reverend Thomas Trivett Smith served briefly at Stanley Mission (circa 1863–1864).[22] In 1864, Reverend John Alexander Mackay (1838–1923) was appointed to lead the mission, a post he would hold for nearly 13 years.[23] Rev. Mackay became one of the most celebrated missionaries in the Diocese of Saskatchewan: he was later named an Archdeacon for his long and devoted service. Under Archdeacon Mackay's ministry (1864–1877), the Stanley Mission congregation remained active and the church continued to be a focal point for the surrounding Cree communities. Mackay's leadership helped solidify the Anglican presence in the region even as administrative headquarters shifted elsewhere. In subsequent decades, other clergy rotated through Stanley Mission, but many of their names are sparsely recorded.
Contemporary history
By the early 20th century, Stanley Mission's prominence had waned as mission activities consolidated at La Ronge. The original settlement at Stanley gradually dispersed. An epidemic around 1919–1920 devastated the community, and the establishment of new stores, a Hudson's Bay Company post, and a First Nations reserve on the south side of the Churchill River drew residents away from the old mission point. Over time, nearly all of Stanley Mission's people relocated to the south shore. In the 1920s and 1930s, a smaller Anglican chapel (St. Stephen's) was built in the new village across the river for more convenient regular worship, while Holy Trinity Church remained standing across the water. By 1970, the historic church stood largely alone, and access was only possible by boat (or winter ice) as there were no bridges or roads to the site. An all-weather road reached the vicinity in 1978, connecting Stanley Mission to La Ronge, but Holy Trinity Anglican Church remains accessible only by water transport today.
Even as a historic site, Holy Trinity Anglican Church has continued to be used and cherished by the community. The church is officially cared for as part of Lac La Ronge Provincial Park (under the Saskatchewan Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport) and kept open for visitors and tour groups year-round[24]. According to Bishop Charles Arthurson (a Cree bishop of Saskatchewan), the church's age and history lend it a powerful spiritual atmosphere: "The people still use it… It's a very holy place to have a service… [Rev. Hunt] built it over a hundred years ago, and it's still standing," Arthurson said in 2002.[25] Regular weekly services are generally held in the newer chapel in the main community, but Holy Trinity remains consecrated and in active use on special dates. Notably, since the inaugural service in 1860, worship at Holy Trinity has often been conducted in the Cree language, reflecting the mother tongue of the congregation then and now.
Holy Trinity Anglican Church is a nationally and provincially recognized historic site, valued for both its architectural merit and its historical significance. It stands as the oldest surviving church in Western Canada, and specifically the oldest building of any kind in Saskatchewan. The church's age, nearly unchanged architecture, and picturesque setting make it an iconic heritage landmark. The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada designated Holy Trinity a National Historic Site of Canada in 1970, citing it as an exemplary Gothic Revival mission church and noting its status as "the oldest church west of the Red River".[26] The province of Saskatchewan later designated it a Provincial Heritage Property on August 26, 1981.[27] Holy Trinity is also incorporated into the protected area of Lac La Ronge Provincial Park to ensure its conservation.
Beyond its official designations, Holy Trinity's legacy within the Anglican Church of Canada is significant. It was the first permanent church established in what would become the Diocese of Saskatchewan, playing a pioneering role in the Anglican missionary expansion into the Canadian northwest.
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