The Parish of St. James
The congregation started to worship in 1849, when settlers started to move west from the Red River Settlement. The Parish of St. James was founded June 17, 1851 on a provisional land grant from the Hudson Bay Company to serve settlers, military pensioners, and retired HBC personnel. Early notes indicated that it extended for seven miles along the Assiniboine River, but checking the maps it is actually four miles from the Forks, and covered 284.4 acres.
The original church was consecrated in 1855, in the middle of the cemetery that now looks across at Polo Park. The Parish of St.James gave its name to the growing village. Rev. W. H. Taylor was the first rector and is the person who gave the name of St. James to the new parish, in the district of Assiniboia.
The site of the church is near an old Aboriginal Burial Ground. This spot was chosen because there was a ford nearby for people living on the south side of the Assiniboine River to cross over, and because the land had never been flooded. In fact, during the great flood of 1852, settlers camped here to escape the waters, and the rectory that had already been built acted as a refuge for others. The original timbers were washed away, and new lumber had to be rafted down from Baie St. Paul, to be hand-hewn and fitted into place by volunteers from the parish.
Originally, there was a tower at the front of the church, but it was removed in 1871 due to structural problems with its foundation. During the ‘Riel Rebellion’ of 1869-70, it was used as a Watch Tower from which riders could be seen approaching from Portage la Prairie to attempt to free Riel’s prisoners.
This original church served as the centre of parish life until November 26, 1922 when the new church opened on Collegiate Street. In 1936 the Heritage Church was condemned; annual services were held on the cemetery grounds to fulfill the spirit of the original land grant and to keep the ground as an ecclesiastic site. The City of St. James and the parish restored the building in 1967, as a Canadian Centennial project, and it was re-dedicated on June 21,1967. ( For the many visitors who’ve been asking: restoration mainly involved the structure beneath the church, to make the foundation sound, as well as general repairs and appearance. The ceiling and the hardwood floors are ‘original’ in that they were added as improvements while the church was still in use, in Victorian times, probably around the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.)
The Heritage Church was designated a Provincial Heritage Site on June 25, 1978.
(Information obtained from www.stjamesanglicanchurch.ca)
The cache has been placed in the church yard with the permision of Reverend Canon Dr. Murray Still. Cache is made to blend into it's surroundings, but is not located on any headstones, so there is no need to search them. Please place cache back exactly as found. Also please be respectful of the church grounds and be sure to latch the gate as you go through.