The original St. Barnabas Church, a small wood framed building, was erected in 1906 on this site on the north side of the Bow River, to be replaced by a second St. Barnabas in 1912, the cornerstone for which was laid on June 12, 1912. Somehow those careless Anglicans managed to burn their brick and stone church down in 1957. Saved, however, were the bell tower and most of the stained glass.
Undeterred, they got to work and on October 13, 1957, the cornerstone for the new church, which is also of brick, was laid. They've not yet managed to torch this church and it continues in use today. More or less as a memorial to the older church, the old Gothic Revival tower was incorporated into the new church, the new sanctuary being built on the east side of the tower. Later, the parish hall was built to the west of the tower, with a hallway attached to its west edge. The original cornerstones for the old church remain in a buttress of the tower. As the cornerstone indicates, the 1906 St. Barnabas was the first Anglican Church to be built in the city north of the Bow River, which tends to split the city in two. The first Anglican Church in the city, and what is now the Diocese of Calgary, the original Church of the Redeemer, a wood frame building, was completed and opened for worship August 3, 1884. It was eventually replaced by a sandstone building in 1905, that building now being the Cathedral of the Diocese of Calgary.
While definitely anachronistic in appearance, the inclusion of the tower into the more contemporary styling of the sanctuary and church hall sets St. Barnabas apart from all other churches in Calgary.
Text from the cornerstone reads as follows:
To the Glory of God
This Stone Was Laid
By Cyprian
First Bishop of Calgary
On June 12th 1912 A.D.
This church replaces the first Anglican
Church built in Calgary north of the
Bow River and on this site in 1906 A.D.
Following is text from a heritage plaque placed at the church by the Heritage Advisory Board of Calgary.
St. Barnabas Anglican Church Tower
The first Anglican church built in 1906 on the north side of the Bow River was a small frame structure, situated on the open prairie. By 1912 a larger church was needed and a traditional English-style brick and stone building, designed by Leo Dowler and James Stevenson, replaced the frame structure. Ezra Riley, a longtime resident, donated the cost of the new church in memory of his baby daughter and his parents, Thomas and Georgina Riley, who were early homesteaders in what is now north-west Calgary. Their tombs remain in the churchyard. Fire destroyed most of the church in 1957, but the tower and most of the stained glass windows survived. A new church, built the following year, incorporated these remaining features.
Plaque Placed by the Heritage Advisory Board of the City of Calgary, 1995