Unusually, the present church was built on the site of the previous wood frame church, not because it had burned down, but simply because the congregation had outgrown it.
Built of red brick with contrasting white stone trim and quoins, it does make for a rather striking building. The blending of English Gothic and Greek allowed for very nice treatment of the doorways especially, of which there are three, each slightly different in finish from the others. The brick insets in the stone door frames are particularly eye catching. The Greek pediment above each door was a nice, if eclectic, finishing touch.
Built by the well known firm of Rhodes and Curry Co. Ltd. of Amherst, Nova Scotia and designed by Leslie G. Fairn of Aylesford, Nova Scotia, though obviously more recent in style than the stone churches of Moncton, Highfield Street United Baptist remains a very interesting building, architecturally speaking.
Highfield Street United Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Highfield Street United Baptist Church is located at corner St George Street and Highfield Street in Moncton. It consists of an orange brick English Gothic and Greek designed church with contrasting off-white quoins and trims with a prominent square bell tower.
HERITAGE VALUE
Highfield Street United Baptist Church is designated a Local Historic Place for its unique blend of English Gothic and Greek architectural designs. It is also recognized for being one of Moncton’s oldest religious organizations.
The church was designed by architect Leslie G. Fairn of Aylesford, Nova Scotia. It was built by Rhodes and Curry Company of Amherst, N. S between 1922 and 1923. In 1953, the Youth Centre was added to the north side of the building. The accurate reproduction of detail by Modern Construction Company created a seamless integration with the existing structure.
The use of orange brick, contrasting light-coloured quoins and trim and a prominent bell tower insured its place as an irreplaceable feature of St. George Street’s streetscape. The use of Gothic tracery, gabled pediments and parapets contrast the smooth contours of Roman arch openings and also help to break up the brick wall construction. The coffer paneled education room on the south side can be opened to expand the seating capacity and to allow extra natural light in through its clearstory windows.
Highfield Street United Baptist Church is also designated for its association with one of Moncton’s oldest religious organizations. In 1877, a congregation of 21 members formed the nucleus of what would become the Moncton Christian Free and Baptist Church later called the West End United Baptist Church. Their first church, after humble beginnings at the Free Meeting House and the Temperance Hall, was built on this site in 1878. By 1922, the congregation had outgrown its facilities, so the original church was razed to make way for the current structure. Rev. Dr. E. W. Patterson, president of Acadia University, dedicated the new church in 1923.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character-defining elements relating to location and context include:
- erected on site of previous wooden church.
The character-defining elements relating to the exterior elements of the structure include:
- east-west cruciform layout;
- brick walls;
- square bell tower with paired Roman arch windows and continuous hood moulding;
- main entrance in bell tower;
- single, paired, triple rectangular 4 over 1 double hung windows;
- capped buttresses;
- quoins on door and window openings;
- canted slip sills and lintels;
- steeply pitched gable roofs;
- Roman arch tripartite window on west façade and north transept with continuous segmented arch dripstone trim and spandrel panels;
- stepped parapets;
- gabled porticos with label moulding over quoined brick pilasters with carved capitals;
- Roman arch door openings with tracery in shaped transoms and trefoil panels in spandrels;
- paired Roman arch windows with trefoil tracery;
- moulded eaves;
- smooth stringcourses;
- black granite cornerstone: “Highfield Street United Baptist Church 1922”.
The character-defining elements relating to the interior elements of the structure include:
- oak-stained Douglas fir woodwork;
- iconographic and memorial stained glass windows throughout;
- square paired and triple pilasters under vaulted ceiling with crests carved onto capitals;
- corbel brackets supporting decorative moulded Roman arch;
- original curved pews with quatrefoil carvings on ends;
- coffered and lath balconies;
- brass pipe organ;
- lozenge window glazing;
- stairway with balustrade, square newel posts and pendants;
- rectangular tripartite clearstory windows;
- panel doors.
From Historic Places Canada