St. Thomas More Catholic Church - Pugwash, NS
Posted by: T0SHEA
N 45° 51.125 W 063° 39.509
20T E 448876 N 5077823
While not as active as in years past, St. Thomas More has been the Catholic Church of Pugwash, since at least 1878. It's unknown how many churches the congregation has had in that time, possibly even just this one.
Waymark Code: WMV14X
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 02/05/2017
Views: 0
Though we can't say for certain when this church came into use, it is certain that there was a "St. Thomas More" in Pugwash by 1913, and probably by 1909. Records from the church date to November 12, 1878. The style of this building is in accordance with a date as early as 1878, but not much later than 1910.
Of note are the square steeple and octagonal belfry, both representative of the 1880-1890 era. The belfry has semicircular vents on each of the eight sides and a fairly tall Witch's Cap style spire atop with flared eaves.
The building has all Roman arched windows with transoms, single windows on the sides of the nave and double windows on the front elevation and further above on the tower. Now completely covered in vinyl siding and asphalt shingles, the church would have had wood shiplap siding and wood shingles when built. A few of the windows appear to retain the original wood frames, while most have been replaced with vinyl windows. A small vestry extends from the rear of the rectangular sanctuary.
Still active, the church conducts mass every second week, having to share pastors with five other churches in the parish, Saint Brigid's, Parrsboro, Saint John the Baptist, Springhill, Saint Paul the Apostle, River Hebert, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Joggins and Holy Family, Amherst.