This is another cache in my Historical series, which I am happy to say, has been getting very good reviews :-) Having only lived in Saint John for a few years, I've been discovering that Saint John has a long and fascinating past. So with that in mind, I’ve been placing containers across the city, near any historical locations that were instrumental in establishing and shaping this great little city!
See GC3HWQ3: Historic Saint John Series - County Courthouse for the first in the series and also to find links to the rest of the series.
Saint John is a city steeped in history. Commonly referred to as ‘the Loyalist City’ as well as ‘Canada’s Most Irish City,’ Saint John is Canada's oldest incorporated city (1785). Saint John is home to this country's oldest museum and farmers market. Saint John also established Canada's first police force. This city has been welcoming people from Eastern Europe, England and Ireland for centuries, with each group of immigrants leaving their unique imprint on Saint John culture, architecture and language.
The highlight of this cache site has been a landmark in the Saint John skyline for almost 200 years and can be seen from every direction of approach. When driving toward the city from the outlying areas, a person knows they're getting close when all the church steeples come into view. But there is one church that lacks a spire, and instead seems to have an inverted table on its tower. It's formally called 'St. John's Anglican Church', but all Saint Johners simply know it as the 'Stone Church'
Saint John was a rapidly-growing city in the 1820s, and with the revival of trade at the close of the war of 1812 it became evident that Trinity Church was no longer large enough to serve all who wished to worship there. So, instead of enlarging the old church, it was decided at a meeting held on April 16, 1822, that a new church should be erected to meet the need and a committee was appointed to locate a suitable site. Not only was the purpose of the new church to be a house of worship for the local population, but also to serve the soldiers garrisoned at nearby Fort Howe. The Hon. Judge Chipman offered a piece of land on condition that a pew on the floor, and another in the gallery, be reserved for his use.
Mindful of the high prevalence of fires among the city's wooden structures, and the ever present fear of a widespread fire, the Trinity Vestry decided to build in stone. And so St. John's Church became the first stone building constructed in Saint John. The materials required were listed as follows in an advertisement of the day: "2,000 tons of rough masonry, 700 tons of freestone, 400 hogsheads of lime, 30,000 bricks well burned, 200,000 feet lumber of various scanting". The stone was brought from England as ballast on returning cargo ships. As a matter of fact, the stone for both St. John's Church and the Saint John County Courthouse originated in the same location. Because they used the same materials and the same style of early church construction as was used in England, the church bears a strong resemblance to many parish churches throughout England built toward the end of the 12th Century. The contract price was 3900 pounds but when finished the cost had doubled. It was calculated it would hold fifteen hundred persons. The church was built in 1824, and in July of 1826, the tower was finished, and the bell hung, but the erection of the spire was abandoned. The turrets of the tower were erected by a Mr. Cunningham from a design of his own and differed from what was originally intended. Mr. Joseph Bell, a Scot from Dumfries, was the mason who carved them.
The first service was held on September 11, 1825 and the first rector, the Rev. Benjamin Gerrish Gray was also responsible for Trinity Church. He was instrumental in the erection of the old Grace Church, Portland, which was the precursor of St. Luke’s Church on Main Street.
In November of 1833, a fire destroyed the rectory on Wellington Row. Rev. Benjamin Gray’s wife and a servant maid perished in the flames.
Reverend Benjamin's son, Reverend John William Dering Gray succeeded him as rector until his death in 1868. Prior to that, he had served as a curate to his father. In total, he had served the parish for a total of forty-two years.
In 1877, Saint Johners' worst fears were realized! This was the year of an infamous widespread fire that engulfed most of the city; this was the year of the "Saint John Great Fire". The Great Fire destroyed more than half the buildings in the city center but fortunately, the church was spared. In the end, stone was obviously the right choice.
During the years of 1895-6, the church was renovated and the Lectern, in the form of a handsome eagle whose outstretched wings bear the Holy Bible, was presented by Mr. Arthur Thorne. The oak cover for the Font was presented in 1895 by the "Young Men's and Boys' Society." The Royal Coat of Arms hanging in the centre of the back gallery are said to have been carved by a sailor from a visiting man-of-war. Mounted on a shield, it once marked the Garrison Pews chosen by Lieutenant-Governor Sir Howard Douglas in return for a gift of six hundred pounds sterling. They were wall pews midway on the left side and raised six inches higher than the adjoining pews. A brass plate marks the present Garrison Pew reserved for officers at the front of the church.
The Stone church underwent an extensive rehabilitation in 2007. The work was undertaken by Saint John firm, Richard & Co. Architecture, and considerable effort was required to match both the texture and implementation of stone that had been used in the original construction of the church.
The Stone Church was added to the List of National Historic Sites of Canada in 1989.