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 A History of Greenock Church, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, from 1821 to 1906 Posted by:  T0SHEA
N 45° 04.605 W 067° 03.225
19T E 653189 N 4993318
The old wooden Greenock (AKA Greenoch) Church was built in the years 1821 to 1824, combining the American meeting house form with the British Palladian style.
Waymark Code: WMR3PV
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Date Posted: 05/08/2016
Views: 2
The church has a very interesting tower, consisting of a weather vane atop a two tiered octagonal steeple atop a clock tower, atop a bell tower, the whole growing out of the large narthex with double entrance door and a small faux portico.
This was only the second church build in Saint Andrews, the first being an Episcopal Church built a few years earlier. Completed in 1824, the church came to be what we see today through the benevolence of one Captain Christopher Scott, a man of some wealth, who had it completed using his own money and to suit his own taste, with cost being of little concern. As an example, the pulpit cost £500 (more than it cost to lay the stone foundation, frame, roof and side the church) and required two years' work by two of the best craftsmen that could be found.
The pulpit was completed almost entirely without the use of nails or metal of any kind, the hinges and the screws of the doors
being the only hardware employed in its building. The church was named after Captain Scott's hometown, Greenock (Greenoch), Scotland, from whence the plans for the church were derived. Unfortunately, the name of the architect seems to be lost to history.
Now a National Historic Site and a Municipal Heritage Property, the church appears to be no longer in use for services.
Greenock Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Greenock Church National Historic Site of Canada is a handsome, wooden Palladian-style church, distinguished by a classically inspired entry porch and staged spire. Its double height interior with its high pulpit, box pews and galleries, shows the influence of earlier meeting houses. The church is set in the heart of a historic townsite, recognized as the St. Andrews Historic District National Historic Site of Canada. Official recognition refers to the church on its legal property.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Greenock Presbyterian Church is designated a Local Historic Place for its interior and exterior architecture, for its connection with early religious struggles in St. Andrews and for its connection with Christopher Scott and the country of Scotland. Nationally, it is recognized for its interior and exterior components and for marking the growth of Presbyterianism and the Kirk of Scotland in New Brunswick.
The Greenock Presbyterian Church is recognized as a good example of British Palladian architecture. The interior of the church is a key feature to the building. An upper balcony occupies two sides of the church with the southwest end being supported by ten handsome bird’s eye maple pillars. The most striking part of the interior is the pulpit which is a marvel of beauty and excellence. The top of the pulpit is level with the balcony floor. The pulpit is composed of mahogany and bird’s eye maple, the mahogany having been brought from Honduras specifically for the construction of the pulpit. Gordon Gilchrist was in charge of the work on the pulpit and no nails or hardware were used. The cost of the pulpit was 500 pounds, far more than the cost of any of the houses in the town at the time, and completion took two skilled workmen two years to construct. Benevolent Christopher Scott obtained the design from his home town of Greenock, Scotland.
The main structure of the church is in the style of a large Colonial meeting house, while the vestibule and tower are British Palladian in style. An interesting element on the exterior of the tower is a carved representation of an oak tree in full leaf, beneath which is inscribed in large letters “GREENOCK CHURCH – FINISHED JUNE 1824”. Greenock, being Christopher Scott’s hometown, is a slight modification of “Green Oak”. The church has a large handsome entranceway with heavy doors, an arched transom window flanked by Corinthian columns and is crowned by a pediment. Above the entrance is a beautiful Palladian window with four fluted Corinthian columns. This level is crowned by a clock and a steeple.
The Greenock Presbyterian Church is also recognized for its association with the early religious struggles in St. Andrews and for its connection with Christopher Scott and the Country of Scotland. From the arrival of the Loyalists in 1783 until 1820, the Protestant Church was the only church in St. Andrews. So beloved was Rev. Samuel Andrews that all denominations were content to listen to his preaching. When the beloved reverend passed away in 1817, his replacement was far less favourable. Catholics, Presbyterians and other denominations looked toward forming their own denominations. Rev. John Cassilis of Scotland arrived in St. Andrews in 1818 and inspired in his congregation a determination to have a church of their own. In 1821, when a substantial sum of money was raised, a contract was given to Donald D. Morrison to build the church. The funds became exhausted and the church stood unfinished until November 1822.
Oral tradition states that in the fall of 1822, Christopher Scott, a wealthy St. Andrews resident who had hailed from Scotland, overheard rude remarks concerning the inability of the Presbyterians to afford a church of their own. With individual cost and without regard to expense, he finished the church with his own taste. When completed it was one of the most beautiful and costly church buildings in the province.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
Aspects of this site which contribute to its heritage values include:
- its central location and relationship to the St. Andrews Historic District National Historic Site of Canada;
- those features which speak to the Palladian style as it was applied to church architecture, namely the symmetrical elevation and plan, rectangular volume, evenly spaced openings, and classical features such as the Palladian window, staged spire mounted over the entry, pediment, and classical mouldings, both inside and out;
- those features which speak to the evolving nature of the building from meetinghouse to church, namely the timber-frame construction and wood cladding, the rectangular massing under a pitched roof with the main entrance orientated on the short end, and marked by a tower with a polygonal spire that rises above the entry, and the double rows of evenly spaced rectangular sash windows on each side elevation;
- the open interior volume with a finely carved elevated pulpit opposite the entrance, the box pews facing the pulpit, a three-sided gallery supported by Ionic pillars, the simple, white-painted plaster wall finish, and the interior simplicity of decoration, demonstrating its architectural qualities through the subtle use of classical mouldings, excellent craftsmanship and fine materials, including birdseye maple and mahogany for interior fittings.
From Historic Places Canada
ISBN Number: 9781179131825
Author(s): Melville N. Cockburn
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