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 1851 - Wilmot United Church - Fredericton, NB Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 45° 57.671 W 066° 38.504
19T E 682732 N 5092438
Designed by architect Matthew Stead, the Fredericton Methodist Church, now Wilmot United Church, is an artful blend of two architectural traditions – the Georgian and the Gothic.
Waymark Code: WMP8AY
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Date Posted: 07/18/2015
Views: 6
Built in 1851-52 as the Fredericton Methodist Church, with Church Union in Canada it became the Wilmot United Church. It was named after Judge Lemuel Allan Wilmot (1868-1873), New Brunswick’s first native-born Lieutenant Governor and a strong proponent of the Methodist Church. Nearby is the Anglican Cathedral, under construction at the time this church was built. It was purely intentional that the spire of this church rose to 206 feet, substantially taller than the original 178 feet of the Anglican Cathedral. (Its spire was later lengthened, eventually rising to 198 feet.)
An interesting artefact within the church is a 7-foot long wooden hand with extended index finger, carved from a piece of white pine. It originally surmounted the spire but, due to structural problems, was taken down in 1974 and thenceforth displayed within the church.
In the church is a 2,000 pipe Casavant organ, installed in 1951. Fifty years later it was restored and rededicated on February 18, 2001, exactly 50 years after its original dedication. The cost to install the organ in 1951 was $28,724. The restoration 50 years later cost approximately $105,000.
When built, this church boasted a seating capacity in excess of 800 people, the most in Fredericton at the time. Built on the corner of King and Carleton Streets, the town has since grown up around it, leaving it centered in downtown Fredericton. It remains the last of the large wooden churches of the Capitol City.
Wilmot United Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Wilmot United Church is an impressive landmark on the corner of King and Carleton Streets in the centre of downtown Fredericton. It is one of the finest examples of carpenter-Gothic architecture in New Brunswick.
HERITAGE VALUE
Wilmot United Church is designated a Provincial Historic Site for its location, its architecture and its congregation of Methodists.
Known originally as the Fredericton Methodist Church, its prominent location in the centre of Fredericton’s downtown reflects the important role of Wilmot United Church in the religious and social life of the capital city. The growing influence of members of the Methodist community in business and politics is reflected in the ambitious architectural detail of the church’s façade. This building boasted the largest auditorium in 19th- century Fredericton, seating in excess of 800 people. In 1925, the church was named after New Brunswick’s first native-born Lieutenant Governor, Judge Lemuel Allan Wilmot (1868-1873), who exemplified the integration of civic leadership and church life through his efforts to plan and finance the construction of the church, his service as a church trustee, Sunday School Superintendent and leader of the choir.
Built in 1851-52, Wilmot United Church is also significant architecturally because, both inside and out, it exemplifies a key transition in Victorian aesthetic preferences. Architect Matthew Stead and chief contractor, John Purvis achieved a convincing balance of two architectural traditions – the Georgian and the Gothic. Behind the amassing of well-executed Gothic decorative detail, stands the familiar rectangular configuration of a Methodist meetinghouse inspired by earlier Georgian forms brought to New Brunswick in the late 18th century by the Loyalists. The attention to Gothic detail is most in evidence around windows, doors, and especially in the church tower and belfry. Leading Methodists in mid-19th-century Fredericton borrowed and adapted these Gothic designs from Anglican sources and most particularly, they were influenced by the design of Christ Church Cathedral which was being constructed at precisely the same time just a few blocks away from Wilmot United Church.
Wilmot United Church is also a symbol of the growing influence of the Methodists in the colonial capital. It was no accident that the steeple of the Methodist church exceeded the height of the steeple atop the nearby Anglican Cathedral. The 206-foot steeple was surmounted by a distinctive 7-foot carved hand, fashioned from a single piece of white pine, with the index finger pointing upward to heaven. This remained as a prominent landmark on the Fredericton skyline for 122 years until it was removed in 1974 due to structural problems. The carved hand remains on display inside the church. Having joined the United Church of Canada in 1925, today this building exists as the last of the large wooden frame churches that once dominated the Fredericton skyline.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character-defining elements that describe the Georgian Church with Gothic embellishment include:
- context and location;
- overall proportions of this rectangular wooden building, with its relatively low-pitched gable roof, no chancel extension and the dominant tower centering the front façade;
- array of striking gothic elements applied to this essentially Georgian model, most notably the windows, the largest of which is a four-lancet composition at the base of the tower, complemented by six double-lancet stained glass windows, all with elegant tracery and Gothic tops along each side of the church;
- abundance of Gothic embellishment on the church exterior including the simple and conical finials, columns, applied buttresses, various floral motifs and pointed arches above windows and doors, and an elaborately recessed Gothic door;
- attention to Gothic aesthetics in the church interior where a pair of stairways ascend to the left and right of the main floor of the church consisting of a large, rectangular auditorium with galleries on three sides supported by ten moulded columns rising to the vaulted ceiling, 50 feet above the floor of the nave;
- box-pews that typified New Brunswick’s Georgian churches;
- carved hand on display in the church.
From Historic Places Canada
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Year of construction: 1851
Cross-listed waymark: [Web Link]
Full inscription:
Erected 1851
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