Fairview Cemetery
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Fairview Cemetery, formerly called St. Saviour's Anglican Cemetery, is a two-acre churchyard located to the east of the former Ellis homestead, on the southeast corner of Fairview Road and Regina Avenue.
HERITAGE VALUE
First used as a cemetery as early as 1892, the Fairview Cemetery is valued as the oldest Christian burial ground in the city, and contains the graves of many of the earliest pioneers. The site is also notable for its location on the old wagon road to the Fairview Townsite and as the location of a chapel, and later an Anglican Church, which provided the opportunity for worship for those traveling the road.
Fairview Cemetery is valued for its association with the Ellis family, who first owned the land and developed the family-built Ellis chapel (now demolished) in 1883, originally located on the eastern portion of the property, as a way to give thanks for surviving a family wagon accident. The chapel was sold to the Anglican Church in 1905 by the Ellis family for the consideration of $1.
Fairview Cemetery is also valued for its connection to the early practice of the Anglican Church in the south Okanagan, which eventually took over ownership of the site and operated it as the location of St. Saviour's Anglican Church from 1905 to 1965.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Fairview Cemetery include:
- graves and headstones from the early years of European settlement
- fence defining the cemetery bounds
- mature trees
- association with notable citizens and tragic events in the history of the city, including graves of the first constable murdered in the city, the city's first Reeve, and the first burial from settlers' families (a child who drowned in 1898)
- marble and granite monuments from the Granite Island quarry in the Gulf Islands
- red granite headstones from Nova Scotia
- granite outline of the footprint of the church, as expanded in 1906
From Historic Places Canada