St. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral - Nelson, BC
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member ScroogieII
N 49° 29.427 W 117° 17.538
11U E 478831 N 5482020
This magnificently appointed church has stood at 701 Ward Street, barely two blocks above downtown Nelson, since its completion in 1899.
Waymark Code: WM132TV
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 09/03/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member bluesnote
Views: 1

In January of 1928 the interior of the cathedral was gutted by fire and rebuilt immediately, with the aid of insurance money and many donations. Many of the present memorial stained glass windows were donated at this time, as was the organ, replacing the one destroyed in the fire.

The church, designed by architect George D. Curtis, is an excellent example of "Gothic Perpendicular" church architecture. Built of stone with a wood rafter ceiling and wood interior appointments, the cathedral is a standout among the many churches of Nelson. It is probably the most impressive religious building in the city and possesses a total of seventeen stained glass windows, all donated as personal memorials.

The church is available to tour in July and August.
St. Saviour's Church was opened at Nelson in 1898. At the first meeting of the Synod of the newly organized Diocese of Kootenay in 1900, St. Saviour was chosen as the Cathedral, but since the 1960s it has been designated as a Pro-Cathedral. Besides the various areas progressively separated from the original Nelson Missionary District, the parish also included St. Andrew-by-the-Lake, Willow Point until this congregation was transferred to the parish of Kokanee in 1957. In 1966 the parish of the Church of the Redeemer was joined with St. Saviour's Parish.
From the Memory BC
St. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
St. Saviour’s Pro-Cathedral is a stone and woodframe gable-roofed church on the southeast corner of the intersection of Ward and Silica Streets in the Uphill neighbourhood of Nelson, B.C.

HERITAGE VALUE
The building is primarily important for being perhaps Nelson’s most impressive church building, and for its contribution to the sense that the city had arrived as the Kootenay region’s powerful economic and administrative centre, with a large and respectable middle class population.

The site is important for its continued use since 1892 as the home of the city’s Anglican congregants, originally in a temporary Mission Room under the direction of the first missionary priest-in-charge, the Reverend A. J. Reid. With the laying of St. Saviour’s cornerstone in 1898, the earlier wooden building was replaced by the current Pro-Cathedral structure, completed in 1899, and later rebuilt above its original stonework after the 1928 fire.

The 1898 church, designed by the architect George D. Curtis, is an excellent example of Gothic Perpendicular church architecture. Its impressive size and detailing made the building a stand-out among its contemporary Protestant churches, which were generally much smaller, and very simply detailed, and is a symbol of the determination of the pioneers of Nelson to build a city of great stature, the “Queen City”.

Its 1929 reconstruction largely conformed to the original Pro-Cathedral design, but is particularly notable for the memorial stained glass windows and the pipe organ (donated by Le Baron de Veber in memory of Lorne Campbell), the Redeemer Chapel and a columbarium. More recent restoration work to the church roof and the remarkable Good Shepherd stained glass window (donated by Selwyn G. Blaylock) in the Sanctuary is evidence of a continued commitment to the careful conservation of the building.

Located with many other churches in the lower reaches of the well-appointed residential streets of the Uphill neighbourhood, St. Saviour’s is a valuable contributor to the physical transition between the large commercial buildings of the commercial core and the houses of its white-collar workers, both because of its substantial size and institutional character.

The church is important for its complete rebuilding of the wood portions after its burning in 1928, a testament to both the quality of the tradesmen in town, and the enduring central role of the church in community life during the interwar and both the World Wars.
From the City of Nelson Heritage Register, Page 42
Photo goes Here
Official Heritage Registry: [Web Link]

Address:
723 Ward Street
Nelson, BC
V1L 1T3


Heritage Registry Page Number: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To log a visit to a Waymark in this category at least one photo of the property, taken by the visitor, must be included with the visit, as well any comments they have concerning either their visit or the site itself. Suggested inclusions are: what you like about the site, its history, any deviations from the description in the heritage listing noted by the visitor, and the overall state of repair of the site.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest Western Canadian Heritage
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
There are no logs for this waymark yet.