From Sunday, June 27, to Tuesday, June 29, 2021 Lytton broke the all-time Canadian high-temperature record, with each day hotter than the last. The heat peaked on Tuesday when the temperature reached 121 F (49.6 C). Then, late Wednesday afternoon, June 30, a wildfire broke out in the town and, aided by strong winds, burned 90% of Lytton to the ground in just minutes, including St. Mary's and St. Paul's Anglican Church.
Wildfire Races Through Lytton.
[Early 1880s]
The new St. Mary's and St. Paul's Anglican Church with its Gothic revival edifice announced the new settler religion that had infiltrated the region. The church was a legacy of Bishop George Hills, the clergyman who had braved the Fraser River's foot trails in 1860 and 1862 to assess the region for Anglican mission churches and schools. In 1866, Hills dispatched the Reverend John B. Good to Yale to minister to the local miners and Indians. An ambitious missionary with lofty aspirations, Good moved upriver to Lytton the following year to establish a large Anglican mission centre. He envisaged "a parsonage of convenient size, a commodious native church, and a training institution for boys and girls." He also had plans for a separate community complete with western-style houses to insulate his Anglican converts from the rest of the community.
From At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging
Built about 1872, St. Mary's and St. Paul's is fast coming up on its 150th anniversary. There has been an Anglican presence in this area since 1867. Originally St Paul's Anglican Church, the church stands on First Nations Land and is a First Nations church. It was built not long after the arrival of the first Anglican missionary in the area, circa 1867. Today the parish has but a single pastor, performing Holy Eucharist the 2nd & 4th Sundays at 10:30 am in Lytton at St. Mary’s & St. Paul’s April-September, at St. Barnabas’ October-March and at St. Andrew’s in Boothroyd 4th Sunday at 2 pm.
St. Mary's and St. Paul's was built at the site of the Lytton Cemetery, south and east of the town, along the east side of the Present Trans Canada Highway. In 1897 the church was moved to its present location, being rebuilt in the 1930s. The photo on the right, taken prior to the rebuild, shows the building to be essentially as it is today, with only minor changes effected by the "rebuild". Most notable is the removal of front windows and narthex windows, as well as the extension of the gable eaves, now supported by large brackets.
With a substantial lychgate at the street, the little Gothic Revival church is quite representative of Church of England churches of bygone years. The rectangular nave has a matching gable roofed narthex, transepts on each side and a small bell tower set back from the entrance, the roof of which has flared eaves and a wooden cross atop. A bell, probably the original, still hangs in the open belfry. While the nave's sides are buttressed, still further wall support has become necessary, with wood timbers supporting the north wall.
A special service celebrating another restoration of the church took place on September 4, 2016.