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JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF I JOURNAL DE LA SOCIETE POUR L'ETUDE DE L'<br />
ARCHITECTURE!~<br />
<strong>CANADA</strong><br />
VOL. 31 > N• 1 > 2006
THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF ARCHITECTURE IN <strong>CANADA</strong> is a learned society<br />
devoted to the examination of the role of the built environment in Canadian society. Its membership includes<br />
structural and landscape architects, architectural historians and planners, sociologists, ethnologists, and<br />
specialists in such fields as heritage conservation and landscape history. Founded in 1974, the Society is currently<br />
the sole national society whose focus of interest is Canada's built environment in all of its manifestations.<br />
The Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, published twice a year, is a refereed journal.<br />
Membership fees, including subscription to the Journal, are payable at the following rates: Student, $30;<br />
lndividual,$50; Organization I Corporation, $75; Patron, $20 (plus a donation of not less than $100) .<br />
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LA SOCIETE POUR L'ETUDE DE L'ARCHITECTURE AU <strong>CANADA</strong> est une societe savante qui se<br />
consacre a \'etude du rcile de l'environnement bati dans Ia societe canadienne. Ses membres sont architectes,<br />
architectes paysagistes, historiens de !'architecture et de l'urbanisme, urbanistes, sociologues, ethnologues<br />
ou specialistes du patrimoine et de l'histoire du paysage. Fondee en 1974, Ia Societe est presentement Ia seule<br />
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The Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada is produced<br />
with the assistance of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of<br />
Canada and the Canada Research Chair on Urban Heritage, UQAM.<br />
Le Journal de Ia Societe pour /'etude de /'architecture au Canada est publie<br />
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ISSN 1486-0872<br />
(supersedes I remplace ISSN 0228-0744)<br />
EDITING, PROOFREADING, TRANSLATION I REVISION LINGUISTIQUE, TRADUGION<br />
MICHELINE GIROUX-AUBIN<br />
ASSISTANT EDITOR !ADJOINT A LA REDACTION<br />
MARTIN DROUIN<br />
GRAPHIC DESIGN I CONCEPTION GRAPHIQUE<br />
MARIKE PARADIS<br />
PRINTING I IMPRESSION<br />
MARQUIS IMPRIMEUR INC., MONTMAGNY (QC)<br />
COVER I COUVERTURE<br />
Rockwood Villa, Kingston, by George Browne, t 84t.<br />
(PHOTO: PETER COFFMAN)<br />
PAGE MAKE-UP I MISE EN PAGES<br />
B GRAPHISTES<br />
JOURNAL EDITOR I REDACTEUR DU JOURNAL<br />
LUC NOPPEN<br />
Chaire de recherche du Canada en patrimoine urbain<br />
lnstitut du patrimoine<br />
Universite du Quebec a Montreal<br />
CP 8888, succ. centre-ville<br />
Montreal, (QC) H3C 3P8<br />
(514) 987-3000 x-25621 I : (514) 987-7827<br />
e: noppen.luc@uqam.ca<br />
WEB SITE I SITE WEB<br />
LANA STEWART<br />
Lana Stewart<br />
Parks Canada<br />
25, Eddy Street, 5th Floor<br />
Gatineau, QC KIA OMS<br />
(819) 997·6098<br />
e: lana.stewart@pc.gc.ca<br />
EDITOR OF NEWS & VIEWS I<br />
REDACTRICE DE NOUVELLES ET COUPS D'CEIL<br />
HEATHER BRETZ<br />
CPV Group Architects & Engineers Ltd.<br />
Calgary, Alberta<br />
e : HeatherB @cpvgroup.com<br />
PRESIDENT I PRESIDENT<br />
PIERRE DU PREY<br />
Department of Art<br />
Ontario Hall<br />
Queen 's <strong>University</strong><br />
Kingston, ON KZL 3N6<br />
(613) 533 -6166 1 I : (613) 533-6891<br />
e : pduprey@post.queensu.ca<br />
VICE-PRESIDENTS I VICE-PRESIDENT(E)S<br />
ANDREW WALDRON<br />
Architectural Historian, National Historic Sites Directorate<br />
Parks Cana da<br />
5'" Floor, 25 Eddy Street<br />
Hull, QC KIA OMS<br />
(819) 953-5587 I I : (819) 953-4909<br />
e: andrew.waldron@pc.gc.ca<br />
LUCIE K. MORISSET<br />
~tudes urbaines et touristiques<br />
~cole des sciences de Ia gestion<br />
Universite du Quebec a Montreal<br />
C.P. 8888, succ. Centre-ville<br />
Montreal, QC H3C 3P8<br />
(514) 987-3000 x 4585 1 I: (514) 987-7827<br />
e: morisset.\ucie@uqam.ca<br />
TREASURER I TRESORIERE<br />
JULIE HARRIS<br />
Julie Harris<br />
342, Maclaren St.<br />
Ottawa, ON K2P OM6<br />
e : jharris@contentworks.ca<br />
SECRETARY I SECRETAIRE<br />
MARIE-FRANCE BISSON<br />
Ecole de design, UQAM<br />
Case postale 8888, succursale «Centre-vi lle»<br />
Montreal (Quebec)<br />
H3C 3P8<br />
(514) 987 3000 # 3866<br />
e: docomomo@er.uqam.ca<br />
PROVINCIAL REPRESENTATIVES I<br />
REPRESENTANT(E)S DES PROVINCES<br />
GEORGE CHALKER<br />
Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador<br />
P.O. Box 5171<br />
St. John's, NF At( SVS<br />
(709) 739-1892 1 I : (709) 739-5413<br />
e: george@heritagefoundation.ca<br />
TERRENCE SMITH LAMOTHE<br />
1935 Vernon<br />
Halifax, NS B3H 3N8<br />
(902) 425-0tOt<br />
THOMAS HORROCKS<br />
ADI limited<br />
1133 Regent Street, Suite 300<br />
Fredericton, NB E3B 3Z2<br />
(506) 452-9000 I I : (906) 452-7303<br />
e: thd @adi.ca I horto@reg2.health.nb.ca<br />
CLAUDINE DEOM<br />
2078, avenue Claremont<br />
Montreal, QC H3Z 2P8<br />
t I I: (514) 488·4071<br />
e : cdeom@supernet.ca<br />
SHARON VATTAY<br />
11 Elm Avenue, Apt #3 22<br />
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1 N2<br />
(416) 964-7235<br />
svattay @chass.utoronto.ca<br />
TERRENCE J. SINCLAIR<br />
Heritage Branch<br />
Saskatchewan Department of Municipal Affairs,<br />
Culture and Hou sing<br />
430-1855 Victoria Avenue<br />
Regina, SK S4P 3V7<br />
(306) 787-5777 I I : (306) 787·0069<br />
e: tsinclair@mach.gov.sk.ca<br />
L. FREDERICK VALENTINE<br />
CPV Group Architects & Engineers Ltd.<br />
Suite 500 110-12th Avenue SW<br />
Calgary, AB T2R OG7<br />
(403) 262·551 11 I: (403) 262·5519<br />
e: fval @cpv-architecture.com<br />
DANIEL MILLETTE<br />
511 -55 Water Street<br />
Vancouver, BC V6B 1A1<br />
t I I : (604) 687-4907<br />
e : lucubratio@yahoo.com<br />
KAYHAN NADJI<br />
126 Niven Dr.<br />
Yellowknife, NT X1A 3W8<br />
t I I : (867) 920-6331<br />
e: kayhan_nadji @gov.nt.ca<br />
SHELLEY BRUCE<br />
25 Forks Market Road # 401<br />
Winnipeg, MB R3C 4S8<br />
(204) 983-2221<br />
ANNE HOWATT<br />
P.O. Box 2311<br />
Charlottetown, P.E.I. CIA 8C1<br />
(9 02) 626-8076<br />
e: ahowatt@upei.ca
CONTENTS I TABLE DES MATIERES<br />
JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF j JOURNAL DE LA SOCIETE POUR L'ETUDE DE L'<br />
ARCHITECTURE!~<br />
<strong>CANADA</strong><br />
ANALYSES I ANALYSES<br />
ESSAIS I ESSAYS<br />
CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
> PETER COFFMAN<br />
St. John's Anglican Cathedral and<br />
the Beginnings of Ecclesiological Gothic<br />
in Newfoundland<br />
> STEVEN MANNELL<br />
Toronto's Tower of Pure Water:<br />
A Lost Civic Vision<br />
> BARRY MAGRILL<br />
Challenging "Amateur Architecture" in the<br />
Diocese of British Columbia 1875-1900<br />
> J. DOUGLAS STEWART<br />
The Shamrock and the Maple Leaf:<br />
The Irish Roots of George Browne's<br />
Canadian Architecture<br />
> RoN WILLIAMS<br />
French Patterns in Western Canadian<br />
Landscapes<br />
> ANDREW WALDRON<br />
The Studio Building, 25 Severn Street,<br />
Toronto, Ontario<br />
3<br />
23<br />
35<br />
43<br />
55<br />
65<br />
VOL . 31 > No 1 > 2006
ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL<br />
AND THE BEGINNINGS OF ECCLESIOLOGICAL GOTHIC<br />
IN NEWFOUNDLAND<br />
PETER COFFMAN is currently in the final stages<br />
of a doctorate in the Department of Art at<br />
>PETER COFFMAN 1<br />
Queen's <strong>University</strong> in Kingston. He has published<br />
on numerous aspects of English medieval and<br />
Canadian Gothic Revival architecture.<br />
The Anglican cathedral of St. John<br />
the Baptist in St. John's, Newfoundland<br />
(fig. 1), is a quintessentially Eng -<br />
lish Gothic building of the thirteenth<br />
century, built six hundred years later<br />
and three thousand miles from England.<br />
Notwithstanding its remote location in<br />
one of the most impoverished corners<br />
of the British Empire, it was designed<br />
by the most famous and prolific architect<br />
of Victorian England, George (later<br />
Sir George) Gilbert Scott. The existence<br />
of such an extraordinary monument in<br />
such an unlikely place is due to the convergence<br />
of a number of social, religious,<br />
economic, and architectural factors that<br />
have never received scholarly attention.<br />
The goal of this paper is to redress that<br />
neglect by examining events leading to<br />
and including the cathedral's first building<br />
campaign, which occurred from 1847<br />
to 1850.<br />
FIG. 1. ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL. FROM THE SOUTH. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
As late as 1836, there was only one Anglican<br />
church in the city of St. John's. That<br />
church (fig. 2) was an extremely modest<br />
affair that would later be described as<br />
"a wooden shed of the most monstrous<br />
description." 2 The process that eventually<br />
led to its replacement by Gilbert<br />
Scott's cathedral was triggered by a<br />
growing sense of crisis in the Established<br />
(i .e. Anglican) Church with respect to its<br />
colonial affairs. That sense of crisis was a<br />
central theme of the 1838 annual meeting<br />
of the Society for the Propagation of<br />
the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG), which<br />
had been founded at the beginning of<br />
the eighteenth century to serve the interests<br />
of the Established Church abroad.'<br />
According to their annual report of 1838,<br />
Britain had planted colonies in places as<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006 > 3-22<br />
3
P ETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
,-<br />
t·-_a<br />
·"' '<br />
4 H ..<br />
!<br />
.... "l<br />
'<br />
..... 1<br />
.. ,<br />
...<br />
'
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 3. ROMAN CATHOLIC BASILICA AND CITY OF ST. JOHN'S. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
FIG. 4. ROMAN CATHOLIC BASILICA. FROM<br />
THE (LITURGICAL) WEST. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
exterior, while relatively austere decoratively<br />
(presumably due to the extremes<br />
of weather experienced in St . John's),<br />
is immensely impressive (figs. 4-5). The<br />
interior is richly adorned with a massive,<br />
flat, coffered ceiling above an elaborate<br />
cornice supported by a variation on the<br />
Corinthian order (fig. 6). In its style and<br />
monumentality, it is linked to some of the<br />
most important churches in the Roman<br />
Catholic world, such as St. Peter's in Rome<br />
and St. John in lateran (the latter, like<br />
Fleming's church, uses a giant order in the<br />
interior), two churches with some of the<br />
deepest, oldest roots in the Roman Catholic<br />
tradition. Monumental and majestic,<br />
loudly announcing its affiliation to Rome,<br />
and towering above everything else in<br />
the city, the basilica would have seemed<br />
to Wix and his contemporaries the very<br />
embodiment of the Catholic menace.<br />
The lone church building that the Anglicans<br />
of St. John's could offer as an architectural<br />
rebuttal to Dissent and Romanism was a<br />
wooden church (fig. 2) on the site of the<br />
present cathedral.' 6 Extremely anxious to<br />
build a second Anglican church in St. John's,<br />
Wix issued a challenge to readers of his Journal<br />
to make donations towards that goal:<br />
FIG. 5. ROMAN CATHOLIC BASILICA. FROM THE (LITURGICAL) SOUTH. ! PETER COFFMAN<br />
"You will , at least, contribute your mite diocese at that time included Newfoundtowards<br />
the erection of a second church land) as growing evidence of the Church's<br />
in the capital of this island, where, taking scandalous neglect of her colonial duties.<br />
his stand upon the world to come, the The time for action had come:<br />
Christian missionary may effect a moral,<br />
a spiritual movement, in the mass of [.. .] there is a strong and growing conviction<br />
ignorance, superstition, idolatry, and various that something must be done; that things<br />
wickedness by which he is surrounded. 17<br />
must not be suffered to remain where they<br />
are; that this country will be deeply sinful<br />
At their 1838 annual meeting, the SPG cited before God if it permits the dependencies of<br />
Wix's Journal as well as several touching the empire to grow up in practical atheism,<br />
stories of spiritually starved fishermen told and in all the wickedness necessarily resulting<br />
by Nova Scotia Bishop John Inglis (whose<br />
from such a state [ ... ]. 18 5<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 6. ROMAN CATHOLIC BASILICA. INTERIOR. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
FIG. 7. ST. THOMAS ANGLICAN CHURCH, ST. JOHN'S. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
FIG. 8. DESIGN FOR ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN'S,<br />
BY HENRY PURCELL. I CATHEDRAL ARCHIVES<br />
By the time that alarm was sounded, the<br />
Church had already begun taking action.<br />
Wix's campaign for a second church in<br />
St. John's had been successful, resulting<br />
in the building of St. Thomas Church in<br />
1836, which still stands (fig. 7) . 19 More dramatic<br />
action followed with the creation<br />
of the diocese of Newfoundland in 1839,<br />
and arrival of the first bishop, Aubrey<br />
George Spencer, the following year.<br />
A bishop requires a cathedral, and it was<br />
immediately apparent to Spencer that the<br />
"wooden shed" he had inherited was not<br />
up to the job. Given that he was "surrounded<br />
by a Roman-Catholic population<br />
numerically superior, and of a most proselytizing<br />
spirit," Spencer thought it advisable<br />
that any new church "partake of a<br />
cathedral character" in order to project<br />
the right image to the public. 20 Such a<br />
building, he believed, could be built for<br />
around £4000, a quarter of which the<br />
colony might be expected to raise itself.<br />
As the church of St. Thomas had absorbed<br />
some of the numbers formerly trying<br />
to fit into the original church, Spencer<br />
recommended that a smaller building<br />
constructed from durable materials (i.e.<br />
stone) would be preferable to a bigger<br />
one that would be vulnerable to fire and<br />
"the deleterious qualities of these hyperborean<br />
climates." 2 '<br />
The resulting design (fig. 8), commissioned<br />
from a Cork native working in<br />
Newfoundland named James Purcell, is<br />
an example of the historically inaccurate<br />
Gothic idiom popularized by the Church<br />
commissioners in England, who, in 1818,<br />
had been granted one million pounds to<br />
alleviate the shortage of Anglican church<br />
space throughout Britain." That by 1840<br />
the so-called "commissioners' Gothic" was<br />
already considered out of date in England<br />
matters little, since Spencer's church was<br />
never built. Stone was purchased, the<br />
cornerstone was laid, and the project<br />
languished-as did, evidently, its patron,<br />
who found the Newfoundland climate<br />
too rigorous for his delicate health. His<br />
transfer to the See of Jamaica in 1843 was<br />
"welcomed as a relief from a burden under<br />
which he was evidently sinking." 23<br />
The man selected as Spencer's successor was<br />
the Rev. Edward Feild (1801 -1876). Born in<br />
Worcester, Feild had received his B.A. and<br />
M.A . from Oxford, 24 the birthplace of the<br />
Tractarian ideals of the Oxford Movement.<br />
That movement, and its architectural equivalent,<br />
the Cambridge Camden Society, had<br />
had a profound impact on Feild-and they<br />
were about to have a profound impact on<br />
Newfoundland.<br />
Feild was steeped in the architectural<br />
theories of the Cambridge Camden<br />
Society (later renamed the Ecclesiological<br />
Society), which had been formed by<br />
a group of Cambridge undergraduates<br />
in 1839. Their aim was to promote precise,<br />
"scientific" study of English Gothic<br />
church architect Jre in order to facilitate<br />
the creation of worship spaces that would<br />
be appropriate to the High Church liturgy<br />
advocated by the members of the<br />
Oxford Movement (also known as " Tractarians").<br />
According to the Cambridge<br />
Camden Society, the Church of England<br />
was the true, holy "Catholic" Church (by<br />
which they meant " universal," as originally<br />
intended; thus the frequent references<br />
to Roman Catholics as "Romanists"<br />
or " Papists," rather than "Catholics" ).<br />
Gothic-which was understood to be a<br />
native English style-was its natural and<br />
correct architectural expression.<br />
6<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I AN ALYSE<br />
One of the Society's goals was to establish<br />
appropriate guidelines for the building<br />
of churches in the colonies. They began<br />
addressing the issue with a series of articles<br />
published between 1847 and 1850<br />
entitled "Colonial Church Architecture"<br />
in their periodical, The Ecclesiologist.<br />
The series began in response to a request<br />
from the bishop of Colombo, Ceylon (now<br />
Sri Lanka), for aid in adapting Gothic for<br />
a cathedral in a tropical climate. In addition<br />
to Ceylon, 25 articles in the sporadic<br />
fourteen-part series discussed churches<br />
proposed, planned, and built in Tasmania/6<br />
Adelaide, 27 Guiana/ 8 Calcutta, 29<br />
Sydney, 30 Newfoundland, 31 Fredericton 32 ,<br />
and Cape Town." The articles are a series<br />
of ad hoc case studies rather than a systematic<br />
exploration of the topic, but certain<br />
general principles do emerge. That<br />
the style must be Gothic was a premise,<br />
rather than a point of argument. "Middle<br />
pointed" (better known today as "Decorated"<br />
Gothic) was preferred, although<br />
"first pointed" (Early English) was certainly<br />
acceptable if that was all that<br />
funds would allow. While English Gothic<br />
models had to be adhered to as strictly<br />
as possible, allowances could and indeed<br />
should be made for local climatic conditions<br />
(especially in extreme instances<br />
like Colombo) and the availability of (or<br />
lack thereof) local building expertise and<br />
craftsmen. Stone was the preferred material,<br />
but alternatives such as brick or even<br />
wood could be used when necessary. If<br />
scarcely better than its wooden predeceslocal<br />
building traditions offered any use-<br />
ful lessons in building for local circum-<br />
stances, such lessons could be adopted.<br />
Feild arrived in St. John's in 1844, full<br />
of missionary zeal for the High Church<br />
liturgy and its Gothic architectural expres-<br />
sion. Like Spencer, he found the existing<br />
wooden church hopelessly inadequate,<br />
and prospects for re-building seemed<br />
bleak. "With respect to our Cathedral,"<br />
he wrote to his close friend and fellow<br />
clergyman William Scott in England, "the<br />
prospects are dark and disheartening." 34<br />
The main problem, unsurprisingly, was<br />
money. A considerable sum had already<br />
been spent by Bishop Spencer on materials.<br />
According to Feild, £3,764.14.3<br />
[3746 pounds, 14 shillings, 3 pence] had<br />
been paid for cut stone, with a further<br />
£500 still owing on the last instalment.' 5<br />
The stone-already cut into windows,<br />
doors, pinnacles, and buttresses according<br />
to James Purcell's design-had been<br />
imported from lreland.' 6 At that stage,<br />
Purcell was still under contract as cathedral<br />
architect, a position that he maintained<br />
until October of 1844. 37 By that<br />
time, both money and will seemed to<br />
have evaporated. "The fact is there are<br />
no more means to complete or proceed<br />
with it," Feild wrote to Scott, "and I can<br />
see no disposition on the part of the people<br />
to come forward with additional subscriptions<br />
at all adequate to the object.'' 38<br />
Or, as Feild put it rather more colourfully<br />
to the SPG, "Our projected Cathedral<br />
seems to have died a natural or unnatural<br />
death through want of funds, and of<br />
love. The subject now is never raised even<br />
in talk." 39<br />
While Feild doubtless regretted the want<br />
of funds, he wholeheartedly shared in<br />
the want of love. As a high churchman<br />
and supporter of the Cambridge Camden<br />
Society, Feild found Purcell's design to be<br />
sor, and lamented to William Scott: "No<br />
pillars are contemplated, but a flat roof<br />
of 100ft. by 50! no chancel or choir, no<br />
font, no tracery in any windows." 40<br />
Feild appealed directly to the Cambridge<br />
Camden Society for architectural advice,<br />
sending them drawings of Purcell's design<br />
in 1845. Their response is now lost, but<br />
the crux of it is clear from a letter Feild<br />
wrote to William Scott:<br />
I have now to beg you to convey my<br />
respectful and earnest thanks to the<br />
Committee of ye Camden Society, who<br />
made and forwarded the report on the<br />
drawings of our Cathedral by Mr. Purcell. I<br />
of course anticipated ye sentence. No one<br />
who had ever seen a decent church could<br />
tolerate such an abortion. 4 1<br />
Purcell's drawings had apparently been<br />
assessed by Benjamin Webb himself, one<br />
of the founding members of the Cambridge<br />
Camden Society. 42 Instead of pursuing<br />
Purcell's design, Webb suggested<br />
that Feild adopt the church of St. Michael,<br />
Longstanton, as a model (a standard recommendation<br />
of the Camdenians when<br />
faced with the question of churches in<br />
the colonies). Feild doubted that they<br />
could even afford to emulate that modest<br />
model, and expressed increasing frustration<br />
at the Society's inability to assist<br />
on the question of how to make use of<br />
the existing building materials in a more<br />
ecclesiologically acceptable church:<br />
The information which I received from<br />
the Camden Society was nothing more<br />
than I myself knew before I consulted<br />
them-viz that the plans were in every<br />
respect abominable. This was the sum and<br />
substance of all ye information I got-and<br />
this I needed not: but what I might do or<br />
attempt with the materials (which I desired<br />
to know) on this point I got no information<br />
or advice at all. 43<br />
Many other obstacles stood between Feild<br />
and the church he desired. His High Church<br />
vision, and its Gothic architectural manifestation,<br />
while vigorously supported by the<br />
SPG and the Cambridge Camden Society,<br />
met with considerable resistance in the<br />
colony of Newfoundland, both from his<br />
flock and even his own clergy. His association<br />
with the Cambridge Camden Society<br />
was regarded with deep suspicion in Newfoundland.<br />
His appointment-without his<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
7
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
consent or even knowledge-as a patron<br />
of that society filled him with dismay:<br />
$ 0UlH SIOC Hlllr;.<br />
You know how shamefully and perseveringly<br />
that Society is attacked in t he Newspaper s<br />
which are ye authorities here, and do all<br />
ye mischief [...]. I hear that I have been<br />
attacked in the Record Newspaper for<br />
having a regular Tractarian Curate [...] and<br />
that charge alone would alienate I know<br />
how many of these ignorant and excited<br />
fishmongers from me and ye Church. 44<br />
TH£ .HAABOUR 01- ST JOHNS<br />
In a subsequent letter, Feild reminded<br />
Scott: "We are dealing remember here<br />
with cold, coarse, calculating, covetous<br />
colonists-a race of men not seen or<br />
understood in England." 45<br />
By October of 1845, Feild reported to the<br />
SPG that the feelings in St. John's were<br />
so negative towards the Church and himself<br />
that the only viable option seemed to<br />
be temporary withdrawal to that most<br />
remote (at least from Newfoundland)<br />
part of his diocese, Bermuda. 46 Although<br />
Feild found the Governor of Bermuda<br />
uncooperative, he had had enough of<br />
the opposite problem in Newfoundland:<br />
"Here the Governor is my warmest friend<br />
and the people generally despise or<br />
dislike me." 47<br />
By that time, any dream of an ecclesiologically<br />
correct Anglican cathedral in<br />
St. John's must have seemed hopeless to<br />
Feild. In an extraordinary plot twist, Feild's<br />
opportunity arrived by stealth, cloaked in<br />
a social, economic, and material disaster<br />
unparalleled in the history of Newfoundland.<br />
On June 9, 1846, at approximately<br />
8:00a.m., a fire was started by an overflowing<br />
glue pot in the shop of a cabinetmaker<br />
named Hamlin, on George Street. 48<br />
The fire quickly spread to Queen Street,<br />
where the wooden buildings served as<br />
ready kindling. A brisk west wind spread<br />
the flames to "Bennett's and Stewart's<br />
The silver lining for Feild was that he could<br />
start planning a new church unencumbered<br />
by his predecessor's intentions. To do so<br />
would cost money, and, considering the<br />
scale of the destitution in St. John's, there<br />
was no reason to believe that there would<br />
be much available. Feild set his sights correspondingly<br />
low:<br />
What I mean to attempt is a mere oblong<br />
building [without tower, or bell turret) from<br />
120 to 125ft. long and from 58 to 60 wide<br />
inside-a clerestory and two aisles: with a<br />
large arch in ye East end for a chancel at some<br />
future time. I think the Church of St. Wilfred in<br />
Pugin's book is nearly what I should attemptm<br />
inus the tower, chancel, etc. 51<br />
The book by Pugin that Feild refers to<br />
is The Present State of Ecclesiastical<br />
Architecture in England, published in<br />
1843 and containing three illustrations<br />
of St. Wilfrid, which Pugin was building<br />
at Hulme, near Manchester. 5 2 Feild also<br />
made reference to St. Wilfrid in corre-<br />
spondence with the SPG, stating that its<br />
ground plan and elevation seemed to<br />
him "the best adapted to our purpose<br />
of any 1 know." 53 St. Wilfrid (figs. 10-11) is<br />
a modest but meticulously correct Gothic<br />
oil vats," 49 at which point it was realized<br />
that virtual annihilation of the city was<br />
inevitable. Attempts to create firebreaks<br />
by blowing up buildings were unsuccessful.<br />
By nightfall, the city of St . John's<br />
was largely destroyed (fig. 9), although<br />
coincidentally neither the Roman Catholic<br />
cathedral nor Wix's church of St. Thomas<br />
was damaged. Remarkably, the only<br />
deaths were one artilleryman and two<br />
civilians who perished attempting to blow<br />
up a house as a firebreak. The human toll<br />
was otherwise colossal; it is estimated<br />
that 12,000 people were left homeless,<br />
and forced to huddle together out of<br />
doors on the Barrens until temporary<br />
shelters could be erected. Fortunately,<br />
the weather was warm.<br />
Initially at least, Feild felt the enormity of<br />
the calamity as strongly as anybody. "Is it<br />
a judgement for our sins? he asked Scott.<br />
Alas! how well deserved." 50 Both Feild's<br />
wooden cathedral and the building materials<br />
for Purcell's cathedral were totally lost<br />
in the fire. Inept and inadequate as both<br />
seemed to Feild, they were an embarrassment<br />
of riches compared to what was left.<br />
;; MILLS ~.<br />
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8<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
P ETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
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FIG. 10. A.W.N. PUG IN, ST. WILFRID'S CHURCH. PLAN. I PUG IN. ON THE PRESENT STATE OF ECCLESIASTICAL<br />
ARCHITEGURE IN ENGLAND<br />
FIG. 11. A.W.N. PUG IN, ST. WILFRID'S CHURCH. EXTERIOR. I PUGIN. ON THE PRESENT STATE OF ECCLESIASTICAL<br />
ARCHITEUURE IN ENGLAND<br />
parish church with nave, aisles, clerestory,<br />
chancel, and a tower on the northwest<br />
corner. The style is Early English Gothic.<br />
While not at all cathedral-like, St. Wilfrid<br />
mated that, due to the scarcity of skilled<br />
With such modestly encouraging devellabour<br />
and materials in Newfoundland,<br />
costs would be double what they were in<br />
England. 54 Considering Feild's immediate<br />
plan was to build a version of St. Wilfrid<br />
without a tower or chancel, his fundraising<br />
expectations were obviously (and<br />
understandably) quite modest.<br />
Some help, however, was forthcoming.<br />
The Record reprinted a letter from Feild<br />
to the SPG in which he speculated that at<br />
least £8000 would be necessary to build<br />
a plain church in stone. It was announced<br />
that the SPG had, in response, opened a<br />
"Special Fund for the rebuilding of the parish<br />
church of St. John [sic] ." 55 It was subsequently<br />
announced that the Standing<br />
Committee of the Society for Promoting<br />
Christian Knowledge (SPCK) had placed<br />
£2000 at Feild's disposal for the rebuilding<br />
of his church, the one condition being<br />
that at least one third of the seats in the<br />
new church be set aside for the poor " in<br />
did have the virtue of being built, according<br />
to Pugin, for only £5000. Feild estisuch<br />
a manner as the Bishop may deem<br />
most expedient." 56 The archbishop of<br />
Canterbury, William Howley, also made<br />
a "most liberal donation" towards the<br />
building of new church . 57<br />
opments, Feild continued to consider<br />
the question of how the new cathedral<br />
ought to be built. He appealed to the SPG<br />
for "an experienced, honest architect or<br />
builder, who can understand our difficulties,<br />
modify plans, and adapt our materials."<br />
58 For the funds available, which<br />
were expected to be less than £10,000,<br />
Feild envisaged being able to create "a<br />
plain oblong building, 50 or 60 feet by<br />
120 or 100." 59 The exterior, he concluded,<br />
would have to be "of a simple and severe<br />
character," but the interior must still be<br />
meticulously adapted for the High Church<br />
liturgy. 60 At some point in the summer of<br />
1846, the SPG sent drawings to St. John's<br />
for consideration as designs for the cathedral.<br />
The drawings do not survive, but the<br />
response to them of Archdeacon Thomas<br />
Bridge, who was acting on Feild's behalf<br />
while the latter was on a visitation, does:<br />
"The plans are in themselves pretty, but,<br />
if I may give an opinion, the style of the<br />
churches represented in them is too rural<br />
for a metropolis (and such St. John's is)<br />
which may reasonably be expected to be<br />
much improved in respect of the character<br />
of church buildings, on its being<br />
restored." 61<br />
That seems to strike a d iscordant note<br />
with the modesty of Feild's expectations,<br />
which consisted of an incomplete version<br />
of Pugin's St. Wilfrid. Bridge had, however,<br />
reason to believe that the financial<br />
prospects of the project might be<br />
brighter than he, or Feild, or anyone else,<br />
had dared to believe. Rumours of a financial<br />
windfall had reached St. John's, and<br />
Bridge was very cannily positioning the<br />
Church such that they might catch it.<br />
Shortly after the fire, a Committee for the<br />
Relief of the Sufferers at the late Conflagration<br />
at St. John's, Newfoundland, had been<br />
formed in London, headed by Lord Mayor<br />
John Johnson. On July 27, the Committee<br />
sent a petition to Queen Victoria, asking<br />
her to "command that a collection be made<br />
in all churches and chapels for the relief of<br />
the sufferers." 62 On September 3, Earl Grey,<br />
Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote<br />
to the Government of Newfoundland:<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
9
P ETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
I have to acquaint you that Her Majesty has<br />
been pleased to issue Her Royal Letters<br />
to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York,<br />
authorizing their Graces to adopt proper<br />
measures for promoting subscriptions in<br />
their respective provinces for the relief<br />
of the sufferers by the recent fires at<br />
St. John's, Newfoundland. 6 3<br />
Word of the Queen's letter reached Newfound<br />
land while Feild was on a visitation.<br />
The initial response came from Bridge,<br />
in the letter cited above to the SPG. His<br />
argument touched a nerve apparently<br />
still as raw as it had been in the time of<br />
Edward Wix:<br />
It is believed here that there is to be<br />
a Queen's Letter [ .. .] . I hope it may be<br />
possible to make some arrangements for<br />
the disposal of the Collections under it, by<br />
which a portion of them may be applied<br />
to the restoration of the church. That, I<br />
think, would be right and just, seeing that<br />
the great bulk of those who will share in<br />
the Relief supplied for those who have<br />
suffered temporal loss by the late fire, will<br />
not belong to our Communion, whilst all the<br />
contributions under a Queen's Letter will, of<br />
course, come from members of it. 64<br />
In short, that was Anglican money, and<br />
there was a limit to how much of it should<br />
go to Roman Catholics, however destitute.<br />
One month later, Bridge wrote again to<br />
the SPG to express his disappointment<br />
that the Queen's letter had been issued<br />
without a stipulation that a portion of<br />
it be set aside for the rebuilding of the<br />
church. He reiterated his main argument-that<br />
the funds raised would be<br />
entirely contributed by members of the<br />
Church of England, while the vast majority<br />
of the St. John's residents who stood<br />
to benefit from them would be Roman<br />
Catholics. 65 Moreover, Bridge pointed out,<br />
the Board of Commissioners appointed in<br />
St. John's to dispense relief money could<br />
not be counted on, as they consisted of<br />
two Romanists, one Presbyterian, and<br />
three Congregationalists. Even if they<br />
were so disposed to do what Bridge considered<br />
the right thing by the Anglican<br />
Church, they would be equally inclined<br />
to appropriate an equivalent sum for the<br />
rebuilding of the Roman Catholic convent,<br />
which was the only other religious build-<br />
ing destroyed in the fire. On that point<br />
there could be no doubt: "I presume it<br />
would not be agreeable to our Brethren<br />
at home, and I confess it would not be<br />
to me, that any portion of a Collection<br />
made exclusively in our Churches should<br />
be so applied." 66<br />
Bridge concluded:<br />
Would it be possible since the Queen's Letter<br />
has been issued, without the stipulation in<br />
it which is so desirable, for some steps to<br />
be taken, before the Collections get into<br />
the hands of the "Philistines" here, that a<br />
portion of them shall be appropriated to the<br />
restoration of our church? The Romanists<br />
among us suppose that the Queen's Letter<br />
is to be altogether for the Church ; many<br />
have said so to meB 7<br />
Feild, meanwhile, had returned to<br />
St. John's, and, having doubtless been<br />
informed by Bridge of the magnitude and<br />
urgency of the opportunity, decided to<br />
travel to England. 68 While still in St. John's,<br />
Feild drew up a memorial to be sent to<br />
Earl Grey, in which it was argued that the<br />
only place of worship destroyed in the<br />
fire was the Anglican church (technically<br />
true, if one does not consider a convent<br />
a "place of worship"). that the subsequent<br />
destitution of the Anglican community<br />
in St. John's made it impossible<br />
for them to fund a replacement building<br />
themselves, that the special appeal made<br />
in England on behalf of the church was<br />
undermined by the larger appeal being<br />
made on behalf of those who had suffered<br />
temporal loss, and finally (but perhaps<br />
most importantly of all), that"[ .. .]<br />
the collections to be made under the<br />
authority of the Queen's Letter will be<br />
gathered wholly from members of the<br />
Church of England, whilst a very large<br />
majority of those to whose benefit they<br />
will be applied here will not be of that<br />
communion." 69<br />
Promising news had already reached<br />
Bridge. In October, he reported to Earnest<br />
Hawkins of the SPG that he had<br />
received "cheering intelligence" regarding<br />
the Queen's letter contributions. 70 By<br />
mid-December, Bridge was rejoicing that<br />
Lord Grey had determined that a portion<br />
of the Queen's letter funds should<br />
go towards the church, and that while<br />
he would leave it to the Government in<br />
Newfoundland to determine the amount,<br />
he would recommend that a portion not<br />
exceeding one third of the total be so<br />
used. 71<br />
The final deal was struck during Feild's trip<br />
to England. No official record of the meeting<br />
between Feild and Grey exists, but a<br />
letter of December 21 informed Feild that,<br />
while Lord Grey was "very much engaged"<br />
that day, he would be happy to meet with<br />
him at 3:00 p.m. the following afternoon. 72<br />
A subsequent letter from Grey to Feild,<br />
dated December 22, states:<br />
[ ... ] under the c ircumstances, as I am<br />
aware that the parties who applied for the<br />
Queen's Letter did mention the rebuilding of<br />
the church as one of the objects for which<br />
the collection was desired, and also that it<br />
was one particularly referred to by many<br />
Clergymen in their Sermons preceding the<br />
Collections, I shall think it right to direct the<br />
Governor to reserve for this purpose one half<br />
of the total amount of the Collections. 73<br />
10<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
It is difficult to assess to what degree<br />
the arguments given may be taken at<br />
face value. It is clear from Bridge's letters<br />
that the Queen's letter itself contained<br />
no stipulation regarding the<br />
rebuilding of the church. Indeed, the<br />
one surviving transcription of the original<br />
petition to the Queen by the mayor's<br />
committee does state that the collection<br />
was needed "for the relief of the sufferers,<br />
and for rebuilding the Episcopal<br />
church." 74 That would seem unequivocal,<br />
but the issue is muddied by the fact that<br />
the petition is inserted into the House of<br />
Commons Papers, Reports &c not in its<br />
proper chronological place, which would<br />
be July 1846, but in November of that<br />
year-immediately after the memorial to<br />
Grey that pointed out the non-Anglican<br />
affiliations of the majority of the fire sufferers.<br />
This is not to say that the original<br />
petition was tampered with retroactively<br />
in order to support an argument that had<br />
suddenly grown heated, but it would be<br />
reassuring to have earlier corroborative<br />
evidence on record. As for the claim that<br />
many of the clergymen who raised the<br />
funds had mentioned the rebuilding of<br />
the church in their sermons, it is impossible<br />
with existing documents to get to<br />
the truth of that matter. One wonders<br />
how much closer Feild and Grey came to<br />
that truth from inside the latter's London<br />
office.<br />
One thing that can be ascertained for<br />
certain is that some citizens of St. John's<br />
did not find the arguments convincing.<br />
Among the first to voice his displeasure<br />
was the Roman Catholic bishop, Michael<br />
Fleming. In a letter to a Mr. J. O'Connell,<br />
which was subsequently forwarded to<br />
Lord Grey, Fleming pointed out that the<br />
Anglican building that had burned was to<br />
be replaced anyway, and that it "was not<br />
intrinsically worth £200." In return, Feild<br />
was to be given half of the Queen's letter<br />
funds, which at that point (May, 1847)<br />
totalled £29,000 and was still climbing<br />
(thus making Feild's share £14,500). 75 Lord<br />
Grey instructed the Governor of Newfoundland<br />
(by then Sir Gaspar Le Marchant)<br />
"to ascertain [...]to what extent the<br />
information received by Bishop Fleming<br />
[... ] is accurate or erroneous," and to<br />
"afford the Bishop of Newfoundland<br />
[i.e. Feild] every necessary opportunity<br />
for controverting or correcting Bishop<br />
Fleming's statements." 76 Feild replied<br />
that, while it was true that a new church<br />
had been planned, the fire had wiped out<br />
the means of those whose subscriptions<br />
would have built it. Moreover, Feild<br />
argued:<br />
It is not true that our old churc h was not<br />
worth £200. This statement is very far<br />
indeed from being a correct one. To prove<br />
that it is not correct, it may suffice to say<br />
that the church was accommodated with<br />
decent and sufficient pew sittings for BOO<br />
persons, and was supplied with all usual and<br />
necessary appendages and furniture. 77<br />
It is a mystery why Feild failed to make<br />
the potentially more compelling argument<br />
that the building materials from the<br />
planned church could not have survived<br />
the fire, and thus all the project's assets<br />
were effectively wiped out. However, his<br />
remarks seem to have satisfied Lord Grey,<br />
who raised no further objections.<br />
The Relief Committee in St. John's, however,<br />
still had objections. It was "with<br />
feelings of much regret" that Governor<br />
Le Marchant was required to forward<br />
to Lord Grey another objection to the<br />
appropriation, which he then proceeded<br />
to undermine by explaining that only<br />
eleven of forty members of the Committee<br />
had been present to draft it, and<br />
only nine of those eleven had supported<br />
the petition, and all of those nine were<br />
either Romanists or Dissenters. 78 The petition<br />
attempted to argue that the Queen's<br />
letter monies would be better spent on<br />
those made destitute by the fire, and that<br />
a "building in every way adequate may be<br />
erected for a reasonable sum" of £5000-<br />
£6,000.79 Grey's perfunctory reply was<br />
that he found no argument that "requires<br />
or would justify a change in the decision<br />
which I have already communicated to<br />
you [ ... ]."•o<br />
The committee tried one more time,<br />
sending a memorial to Lord Grey that<br />
seethed with indignation. Entitled "The<br />
memorial of certain of the Middle Class in<br />
St. John's, Sufferers by the Conflagration<br />
of 9'h June," the precision and vigour with<br />
which it presented its objections merit its<br />
quotation at length:<br />
[ .. . ] Your memorialists now have the<br />
unpleasant task of remarking upon the<br />
extraordinary procedure of the Episcopal<br />
Bishop of St. John's , in reference to the<br />
monies raised under the Queen's Letter<br />
[ ... ] (T]hat the replacing of an old wooden<br />
building overvalued at 500 /., which was<br />
to have been taken down within a year or<br />
two, by a stone cathedral, the foundationstone<br />
of which was laid nearly three years<br />
before the fire, at which time Bishop<br />
Spencer returned thanks to the Almighty<br />
for inclining the hearts of his church to<br />
contribute the means for its erection, the<br />
materials of which were paid for and on the<br />
spot; that Bishop Feild, should, under these<br />
circumstances, have placed the distress<br />
of 12,000 persons in equal balance with<br />
the object of his ambition, is a matter of<br />
surprise to all, of injustice to many of his<br />
own denomination, and of serious injury<br />
to the cause of religion he is sworn to<br />
protect. 81<br />
Lord Grey politely acknowledged receipt<br />
of the memorial, saying that he had laid<br />
the petition before the Queen, but for<br />
reasons previously stated, was not able to<br />
advise her Majesty to comply with itY<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
11
P ETER C OFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 12. ST. GILES, CAMBERWELL,<br />
BY GEORGE GILBERT SCOTI.I PETER COFFMAN<br />
Doubtless, the issue was beyond argument<br />
by that time. The final decision had<br />
been made almost a year earlier, during a<br />
private meeting between Lord Grey and<br />
the bishop, in the first dark afternoon folexpertise<br />
was primarily in planning and<br />
building rather than architectural design.<br />
The firm enjoyed fair success as builders<br />
of workhouses, although Scott-the son,<br />
grandson, nephew, brother, cousin, and<br />
uncle of clergymen-became increasingly<br />
attracted to ecclesiastical commissions. His<br />
first church commission was for a parish<br />
church in Lincoln, about which he would<br />
later observe, "I cannot say anything in its<br />
favour, excepting that it was better than<br />
many then erected." 85 It was built in 1839,<br />
the same year that the Cambridge Camden<br />
Society was founded, leading Scott to<br />
reflect "I only wish I had known its founders<br />
at the time." 86 Six more church commissions<br />
followed-"all agreed[ ...] in the<br />
meagerness of their construction," Scott<br />
later confessed-before he was stirred to<br />
a more serious contemplation of Gothic by<br />
the work of the Cambridge Camden Society<br />
and the writings of Pugin: "Pugin's<br />
articles excited me almost to a fury, and<br />
I suddenly found myself like a person<br />
awakened from a long feverish dream,<br />
which had rendered him unconscious of<br />
what was going on about h im." 87 the north porch, the pitch of the roof,<br />
the pinnacles at the base of the spire,<br />
the arrangement of the spire lights, the<br />
belfry windows, and the placement of<br />
the flying buttresses. By the standards<br />
of The Ecc/esiologist, however, that was<br />
a glowing review.<br />
Scott's reputation as a Gothic designer<br />
was consolidated by his triumph in the<br />
competition for the Nikolai-Kirche in<br />
Hamburg (1844) . It established him as<br />
the foremost Gothic architect of the day<br />
(save for Pugin), but it also got him into<br />
trouble in The Ecclesiologist:<br />
[... ] Now this building, as designed for the<br />
wor ship of one of th e worst sections of<br />
an her etical sec t [ ... ] hardly comes under<br />
our notic e. Mr. Scott's lithograph present s<br />
a north-west view , and we are b ound to<br />
confess that the spire is beautiful, and<br />
well managed [...]. But the question arises,<br />
how must w e charac t erize t he spirit that<br />
prostitutes Christian arc hitecture to suc h<br />
an use? 90<br />
lowing the winter solstice. All subsequent<br />
That stinging rebuke-entirely on ideodialogue<br />
was diplomatic showmanship .<br />
Where all else had failed, fire would at<br />
last succeed . Edward Feild would get his<br />
Gothic cathedral.<br />
Having procured funding for a reasonably<br />
ambitious building, Feild needed an<br />
at least equally ambitious architect. He<br />
found one in George Gilbert Scott (1811-<br />
1878). How Feild made the acquaintance<br />
of Scott is not known (he was no relation<br />
to William Scott 83 ), but it was probably<br />
through mutual contacts at the Cambridge<br />
Camden Society, which at that<br />
time viewed Scott as an architect of considerable<br />
promise. George Gilbert Scott<br />
opened his independent architectural<br />
practice in 1835. 84 Much of his early work,<br />
including St. John's Cathedral, was done in<br />
partnership with William Moffat, whose<br />
Scott's newly learned devotion to Gothic<br />
brought him the commission for the<br />
Martyr's Memorial in Oxford (1842-1844),<br />
resulting in a design that he later found<br />
imperfect, but still believed "was better<br />
than any one but Pugin would then<br />
have procured." 88 In the same years, Scott<br />
built what he considered to be his first<br />
truly good church: St. Giles, Camberwell<br />
(fig. 12) . A lithograph of the design was<br />
sent to the Cambridge Camden Society,<br />
which deemed it (in The Ecc/esiologist)<br />
a "magnificent" design. 89 Their praise<br />
was not unqualified: they objected to<br />
the shortness of the chancel, remained<br />
unconvinced of the appropriateness of<br />
the hexagonal apse (Lichfield being the<br />
only English medieval precedent), and<br />
objected to the placement of the transept<br />
doors, the size of the windows in<br />
logical grounds, not architectural onesintroduced<br />
a note of tension between<br />
Scott and the Ecclesiological Society<br />
that never disappeared. In fact, as Gavin<br />
Stamp has observed, 9 ' Scott was held in.<br />
particularly high regard by the Society,<br />
but he was always hypersensitive to criticism-and<br />
there was also some truth to<br />
Scott's complaint that the Ecclesiologists<br />
represented an uneasy mix of constantly<br />
shifting ideals and unshakable belief in<br />
their own infallibility. In spite of the fact<br />
that they frequently changed their minds<br />
in matters of taste and propriety, they<br />
were always equally convinced that they<br />
were right. "There was no class of men",<br />
Scott wrote, "whom the Cambridge Camden<br />
Society held in such scorn, as those<br />
who adhered to their own last opinion<br />
but one." 92 JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
12
P ETER CoFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 14. ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL. FIRST DESIGN,<br />
BY GEORGE GILBERT SC OTT. I ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS<br />
Scott's views on the national and denominational<br />
meanings of Gothic were ideally<br />
suited to the situation in Newfoundland.<br />
What that colony needed was an emphatic<br />
visual statement of England and its Established<br />
Church, and, for Scott, that was precisely<br />
what Gothic provided. Scott was a<br />
prolific writer throughout his career, and<br />
his encyclopaedic knowledge of medieval<br />
architecture left him in no doubt that England,<br />
primarily through the Church, had<br />
developed its own distinct Gothic idiom,<br />
and that this idiom was the national style.<br />
"England produced a style of her own,"<br />
wrote Scott (quoting E.A. Freeman), "inferior<br />
to none in purity of Gothic principle,<br />
and surpassing every other in the matchless<br />
beauty of its detail." 93 Indeed Gothic<br />
was, for Scott, "the only [style] which we<br />
can, as Christians or as Englishmen, call<br />
our own [.. .]." 94 In Remarks on Secular<br />
and Domestic Architecture (1857), Scott<br />
observed that the Gothic Revival was "the<br />
it must have been written some time in<br />
the late 1840s, making it exactly contemporary<br />
with the construction of Scott's<br />
cathedral in St. John's. Thus, it is a reflection<br />
of Scott's ideas at the very moment<br />
his first cathedral was being built. In it,<br />
Scott argued that, contrary to the impression<br />
that may be formed by the superficial<br />
observer, Gothic was not the style of<br />
the Roman Church. Admittedly, Gothic<br />
arose during the Roman Church's greatest<br />
period of domination, but Scott was "not<br />
[...] shaken in [his] conviction that it arose<br />
rather in spite of, rather than as a consequence<br />
of, that usurped domination and<br />
its accompanying errors." 99 Gothic, after<br />
all, was a product of countries north of the<br />
Alps, and it was Rome herself that set up<br />
a "Pagan standard before the eyes of the<br />
world" 100 by replacing old St. Peter's Basilica,<br />
an act that completed the "unchristianizing"<br />
of art begun in the Renaissance. In<br />
England, by contrast, that " paganization"<br />
Finally, Scott concluded :<br />
I t hink, then, it can hardly be denied, that<br />
the influence of Rome had no concern in<br />
the rise of pointed architecture; t hat the<br />
increasing corruption of the Roman Church<br />
was accompanied by a decline in the purity<br />
of our Northern architecture; and that its<br />
final extinction was brought about directly<br />
by the example and influence of Rome<br />
herself. 102<br />
As a piece of polemics, that is not perfectly<br />
convincing. Indeed, one merely has<br />
to disentangle Scott's apparently wilful<br />
conflation of "Rome" as the geographical<br />
seat of the Popes and "Rome" as an ideologically<br />
unified belief system, and the<br />
whole argument begins to unravel. In the<br />
tortured ingenuity of its arguments, not<br />
to mention the sheer unlikeliness of its<br />
premise, Scott's essay parallels a sermon<br />
that had been delivered and published<br />
revival of our own national architecture," 95 of art was much slower to take hold, and: a few years earlier by Newfoundland<br />
and that it had brought church architec- "[...]we accordingly find, at Oxford and Archdeacon Thomas Bridge, entitled The<br />
ture " back to our true national type," 96 elsewhere, buildings designed in medieval Two Religions; or, The Question Settled,<br />
and was "essentially national" (his italics)Y 7 taste dating down to the Great Rebellion Which Is the Oldest Church, the Anglican<br />
Of particular interest is an essay entitled [... ] clearly showing that it was still held or the Romish? 103 As the title implies, the<br />
On the claims of Romanists (as such) upon by many to be the architecture of our own argument was that the Anglican Church,<br />
Pointed ArchitectureY 8 Published in 1850, church [...] ." 101<br />
rather than the Roman, was the "original"<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N 1 > 2006<br />
13
P ETER C OFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
Church in that its authority was based in<br />
scripture rather than in generations of<br />
subsequent Church teaching and tradition.<br />
True venerability, according to such argument,<br />
belonged to the Church of England;<br />
that gave it a prior claim to authority just<br />
as Scott had argued it had a prior claim to<br />
Gothic. That similarity of outlook is one<br />
of the things that made Scott the perfect<br />
architect for Feild's cathedral. Gothic, to<br />
Scott, was not the architecture of Rome:<br />
it was the architecture of England and of<br />
the English Church, and had stood historically<br />
in direct opposition to Rome. That was<br />
precisely the statement that needed to be<br />
made, in visual, architectural terms, by the<br />
Anglican cathedral in St. John's-particularly<br />
in light of the lengthening shadow of the<br />
Classical, "pagan" Romanist cathedral that<br />
continued under construction unscathed by<br />
the fire of 1846.<br />
Analysis of Scott's design for St. John's<br />
Cathedral is made more difficult by the<br />
building's complicated history of building<br />
and rebuilding campaigns. Construction<br />
was begun in 1847 and the nave,<br />
which was to serve for thirty years as<br />
the entire church, was consecrated in<br />
1850. There was no further activity until<br />
1880, by which time both Fei ld and Scott<br />
were dead. By 1885, the crossing, transepts,<br />
and choir had been completed<br />
under the direction of George Gilbert<br />
Scott Jr., the original architect's son. The<br />
younger Scott's work appears to have<br />
followed his father's plans quite closely.<br />
The nave, meanwhile, was destroyed in<br />
a fire of 1892, eventually to be rebuilt<br />
by C.P. Hopson of Toronto in 1902-1903.<br />
Once again, Sir Gilbert Scott's original<br />
plan seems to have been followed quite<br />
closely, although not in every detail. Thus,<br />
the cathedral as it stands today is very<br />
much a building in the spirit of Sir George<br />
Gilbert Scott, but, to gain a better understanding<br />
of the letter of his intentions, it<br />
is necessary to examine some of his surviving<br />
drawings of the building.<br />
What may be one of Scott' s earliest<br />
designs for the cathedral in St. John's is<br />
shown on a floor plan labelled "Newfoundland.<br />
Plan showing proposed<br />
arrangement" (fig. 13). It is signed "Geo.<br />
Gilbert Scott. Architect. 20 Spring Gardens,<br />
London." Undated, it is a modest<br />
oblong with aisles, chancel, vestry, and<br />
south porch. Its strong resemblance<br />
to Pugin's St . Wilfrid suggests that this<br />
FIG. 16. ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL INTERIOR<br />
CHOIR ELEVATION, BY GEORGE GILBERT SCOTT. I<br />
ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITEOS<br />
model was still in Feild's mind-which,<br />
in turn, suggests that this drawing may<br />
date from before December 22, 1846<br />
(the date of Feild's momentous meeting<br />
with Lord Grey). It is probably safe<br />
to assume that the aisles, chancel, and<br />
vestry would have been clearly articulated<br />
on the exterior, as the Ecclesiologists<br />
would have demanded and as they<br />
are at St. Wilfrid's. There appears to be<br />
little in the way of elaborate articulation.<br />
The nave piers consist of round cores with<br />
four attached shafts. The most intriguing<br />
feature of the drawing is the relatively<br />
massive compound piers of the chancel<br />
arch. Immensely bigger than the nave<br />
piers, they would seem to be intended<br />
as support for a tower, although there<br />
are no corresponding piers at the opposite<br />
corners of the chancel-and in any<br />
event that would be a very odd location<br />
for a tower, completely without medieval<br />
authority. Most likely, those piers<br />
reflect the plan explained by Feild to<br />
Scott: " What I mean to attempt is a mere<br />
oblong building (without tower, or bell<br />
turret) from 120 to 125ft. long and from<br />
58 to 60 wide inside-a clerestory and<br />
two aisles: with a large arch in ye East end<br />
for a chancel at some future t ime." 104 Thus<br />
14<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006
P ETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 18. SOUTHWELL MINSTER, NOTIINGHAMSHIRE. NORTH CHOIR PIER. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
the main function of the massive piers is<br />
probably not to support the chancel arch,<br />
but to become the western crossing piers<br />
of a future eastern arm.<br />
Other drawings by Scott, preserved in the<br />
Drawings Collection of the Royal Institute of<br />
British Architects, show increasingly ambitious<br />
plans. A drawing entitled " St. John's<br />
Newfoundland. First Design for Church"<br />
(fig. 14), shows a long nave, with aisles<br />
and south porch, apparently aisleless transepts<br />
of full height, a monumental crossing<br />
tower with a squat spire, and a choir with<br />
what may be aisles (or may more likely be<br />
a vestry). Substantial buttresses articulate<br />
the bays and corners of the building. The<br />
style throughout is Early English Gothic.<br />
Additional drawings show some of the<br />
details that Scott planned for the cathedral.<br />
Figure 15 is an exterior elevation<br />
of the north side. Details are suggested<br />
rather than explicitly rendered, and were<br />
evidently still in the process of being<br />
worked out. The choir is substantially<br />
more elaborate than the nave (this is in<br />
strict observance of Ecclesiological principles),<br />
with cusped and multi-light windows<br />
as opposed to the latter's lancets.<br />
The transept fa 2006<br />
15
P ETER C OFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 19. ST. JOHN 'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL. NAVE INTERIOR BEFORE 1880. I CATHEDRAL ARCHIVES<br />
FIG. 20. ST. JOHN'S ANGLICAN CATHEDRAL. NAVE EXTERIOR BE<br />
FORE 1880. 1 CATHEDRAL ARCHIVES<br />
than high and upright. There is no continuous<br />
vertical articulation : the shafts<br />
of the piers end at the capitals, and the<br />
shafts marking the bays of the clerestory<br />
are corbelled out. The main arcade is<br />
thick and richly moulded. Fortunately, all<br />
of those features are retained exactly in<br />
Hopson's 1902 rebuilding, so the present<br />
nave is as decidedly English a space as its<br />
predecessor.<br />
That strongly English quality is equally<br />
evident on the exterior of Scott's design<br />
(fig. 20). The east end (not built until<br />
after Scott's death) is a sheer, cliff-like<br />
mass, reminiscent of northern models like<br />
Lincoln and York Minster. The graduated<br />
lancets of the west end recall northern<br />
English prototypes such as the famous<br />
"Five Sisters" windows in the north transept<br />
of York Minster (fig. 21). The deeply<br />
recessed but relatively diminutive west<br />
door is also an English type, seen at such<br />
places as the cathedrals of Wells, Ripon,<br />
and York Minster.<br />
The Englishness of the design needs<br />
emphasizing for two reasons . First, it is<br />
precisely the solution required by the<br />
situation that so troubled Wix and other<br />
Newfoundland clergymen who found<br />
themselves isolated in a sea of popery.<br />
The Roman Catholic cathedral might have<br />
been rising longer and higher, but at last<br />
the established Church had a strong public<br />
symbol and identity-a visual brand, if<br />
you will-that was demonstrably English<br />
and Anglican. Second, St. John's Cathedral<br />
stands at the tail end of a phase of<br />
ecclesiology that was heavily antiquarian-copyist,<br />
in the language of the<br />
day-rather than innovative. Scott's nave<br />
was finished in 1850, the same year that<br />
William Butterfield would begin work<br />
on All Saints, Margaret Street, a building<br />
that would vastly enlarge the formal<br />
palette of the Ecclesiological Society and<br />
the Church of England. Both Italian and<br />
Early French Gothic would soon leave a<br />
strong mark in the designs of such Gothic<br />
Revival architects as Butterfield, George<br />
Edmund Street, 108 and even Scott himself.'<br />
09 Indeed, in one of the very few<br />
scholarly references to St . John's Cathedral,<br />
David Brownlee has referred to<br />
"French spirit" of Scott's design. 110 Such<br />
a characterization, however, can only be<br />
rooted in an imperfect knowledge of the<br />
medieval models upon which the building<br />
is based, and of the social, religious, and<br />
political circumstances that caused it to<br />
be introduced into Newfoundland. Scott<br />
was confused about neither. According<br />
to him, adaptability was a hallmark<br />
of Gothic, but it should never lose its<br />
national and spiritual essence:<br />
Our architecture should everywhere be<br />
both English and Christian, but should have<br />
in it that intrinsic pr inc iple of life which<br />
would admit of its ready adaptation to the<br />
climate of the torrid or the frozen zone, to<br />
the scorc hed plantations of Jamaica or the<br />
icy rocks of Labrador. The style should be<br />
essentially one, but it should posses an<br />
elasticity which would render it suitable to<br />
t he most varied external conditions. 111<br />
Scott apparently regarded St. John's<br />
Cathedral as something of a showpiece<br />
in his portfolio. It was displayed in the<br />
Architecture Room at the exhibition of<br />
the Royal Academy in 1848, 112 exhibited<br />
again at the Free Architectural Exhibition<br />
in 1849,' 13 and also appeared in the<br />
Illustrated London News on June 23, 1849<br />
(fig. 22). That illustration is perhaps the<br />
best surviving impression remaining of<br />
Scott's plans for the whole cathedral. The<br />
pure Early English of the earlier drawing<br />
16<br />
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PETER C OFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 21 . YORK MINSTER. NORTH TRANSEPT EXTERIOR. I PETER COFFMAN<br />
(fig. 14), while perhaps appropriate for<br />
the rugged, hyperborean environment<br />
of Newfoundland, had been transformed<br />
into a more complex arrangement of tall<br />
lancet windows (the definitive characteristic<br />
of Early English) and more expansive<br />
windows in the east end inspired by Decorated<br />
Gothic models such as the east window<br />
of Lincoln Cathedral. Scott's design,<br />
admittedly, is not "pure" Decorated:<br />
the tracery is of the heavy "plate" type<br />
rather than the more slender "bar" variety-possibly<br />
a concession to the rigours<br />
of the Newfoundland climate.<br />
In 1848, Scott's design was the subject<br />
of a lengthy article in The Ecc/esiologist' 14<br />
that began with a brief summary of the<br />
history of Anglican church buildings in<br />
St. John's. The original church, which<br />
had become the cathedral in 1839, had<br />
been "a wooden shed of the most monstrous<br />
description. "' 15 Archdeacon Wix<br />
had been responsible for the building of<br />
another wooden church (St. Thomas), "of<br />
somewhat better form [.. .] though the<br />
intention was certainly better than the<br />
effect."' 16 After the creation of the diocese<br />
of Newfoundland, a cathedral was<br />
commissioned, " piously, we own, rather<br />
than decorously, by Bishop Spencer."'" of William Scott, as G.G. Scott explained<br />
It was, unfortunately, "a sham Gothic in a letter to Feild in 1847:<br />
conventicle a few degrees worse than<br />
the church in [.. .] S. Pancras"" 8 (also Subsequent to your Lor dship's departure<br />
illustrated and ridiculed in Pugin's book some little discussion arose as to the<br />
Contrasts). The far superior church under style, Mr. William Scott thinking that a<br />
construction in the aftermath of the fire somewhat more advanced period of Gothic<br />
of 1846 was "a remarkable illustration Architecture might with some modification<br />
of the actual value of severe tempo- have been preferable, and I was led to take<br />
ral visitations."" 9 After the fire, half of more trouble in designing the architectural<br />
the money from the Queen's letter had features of the choir from a wish to show<br />
been "quite properly" apportioned by how a progression in point of ornamental<br />
Lord Grey for the cathedral, "yet not character might be obtained in the parts<br />
without sundry reclamations, especially not now undertaken, and that though the<br />
from the noisy Hiberno-Romanists, who present portion of the work might be more<br />
form the majority of the Newfoundland simple and less developed than could be<br />
colonists." 120<br />
wished, this object might be avoided in<br />
proceeding eastward 122<br />
The Ecc/esiologist then proceeded to analyze<br />
and comment upon the design itself. For Scott (i.e. the architect, not the<br />
"The style, they noted, is First-Pointed clergyman), that blend of Early English<br />
[Early English] of the latest phase in the and Decorated probably represented an<br />
nave and transepts: transitional towards ideal synthesis rather than a compromise.<br />
Middle-Pointed [Decorated] in the While he considered Decorated the apogee<br />
of Gothic (as indeed did Pugin and<br />
choir."' 21 That stylistic combination had,<br />
in fact, come about initially at the urging the Ecclesiological Society), Early English<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N 1 > 2006<br />
17
P ETER C OFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
was, in his view, a style that "may well be<br />
the pride of Englishmen." ' 23 Thus, Scott<br />
concluded, "it may be reasonable to wed<br />
the grandeur of one with the elegance<br />
of the other." 124 Scott would also have<br />
been well aware that an earlier medieval<br />
nave joined to a later east end was by no<br />
means an unusual arrangement in English<br />
cathedrals, Lincoln being perhaps the<br />
most notable example (in addition to the<br />
one closest in design to Scott's cathedral<br />
at St . John's).<br />
The review in The Ecclesiologist was<br />
generally favourable, although they<br />
expressed disappointment in the design's<br />
lack of originality-a criticism that would<br />
have been unimaginable just a few years<br />
earlier while the Ecclesiologists still<br />
favoured copyism over innovation (Scott's<br />
complaint of the Society's contempt for<br />
anyone who "adhered to their own last<br />
opinion but one" evidently had some justification).<br />
The Society concluded: " The<br />
walls are of immense thickness: and the<br />
church by its durability and solid size, as<br />
well as by its unmistakable English and<br />
authenticated character, will, when it<br />
is completed according to the present<br />
designs, fully and very creditably represent<br />
our Church in one of the most cheerless<br />
of its seats." 125<br />
Be that as it may, completing the cathedral<br />
to Scott's designs was never going<br />
to be an easy matter. Scott himself never<br />
set foot in Newfoundland. To act as clerk<br />
of Works, he sent the Scotsman William<br />
Hay (1818-1888), who had trained under<br />
John Henderson in Edinburgh . Hay<br />
would remain for several years in British<br />
North America, and have a very successful<br />
career that would include work<br />
in Newfoundland, Ontario, Bermuda,<br />
and his native Scotland. 126 He was also<br />
a committed Gothicist who would contribute<br />
a heartfelt obituary of Pugin to<br />
the Anglo-American Magazine in 1853. 127<br />
18<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
Feild reported to the SPG in 1847 that<br />
Hay had arrived in St. John's, "but single<br />
handed except for his wife-no mason<br />
or labourer.'' 128 Hay and Feild seemed to<br />
maintain a good working relationship<br />
throughout the building campaign. "His<br />
ambition, I believe", wrote Feild, "is to do<br />
the work well." 129<br />
Although Scott produced drawings for<br />
the whole cathedral, the intention from<br />
the start was to complete the nave only<br />
and leave the rest to another generation.130<br />
That the cathedral was thus "commenced<br />
in faith" was warmly praised by<br />
The Ecclesiologist.' 31<br />
Even on the nave,<br />
however, progress was halting. By January<br />
of 1848, Feild reported to the English<br />
clergyman Cecil Wray that the south aisle<br />
walls, although they had been built to<br />
a height of some fifteen feet, still only<br />
reached the level of the nave floor due to<br />
the steep southward slope of the site. 132<br />
Moreover, the climate was proving a formidable<br />
challenge: "I am sorry to say that<br />
the frost has already done considerable<br />
complete the task thanks to recent donadamage<br />
by splitting many stones, which<br />
it seemed impossible could ever break<br />
or split[ ... ]. The builder who is a clever<br />
sensible Scotch man would not be persuaded<br />
the frost would have the power<br />
and effect which he now witnesses and<br />
deplores." 133<br />
By the spring of 1849, money was running<br />
out. Feild believed that the day would soon<br />
come when he would have to dispense with<br />
William Hay's services, "merely because I<br />
cannot pay him."' 34 By late 1849, Feild<br />
reported to Earnest Hawkins that the walls<br />
were complete, the aisle roofs finished, and<br />
that the nave roof would be done "in about<br />
three weeks." 135 Money remained a problem,<br />
and more fundraising was needed: "I<br />
have told Mr. W. Scott I should try to send<br />
you a sketch; will not our walled up aisles,<br />
and boarded tower arch, and no more<br />
money awake sympathy?" 136<br />
By that time, the entire share of the<br />
Queen's letter money (in excess of<br />
£16,000). as well as donations from<br />
numerous sources such as the SPG and<br />
SPCK (and very possibly several others<br />
whose records are lost) had produced not<br />
a cathedral but a nave-and an incomplete<br />
one at that.<br />
In June of 1850, The Ecclesiologist triumphantly<br />
reported: "We are happy<br />
to be able to announce the great forwardness<br />
of the cathedral of Fredericton,<br />
and the nave of S. John's Cathedral,<br />
Newfoundland, which is to be fitted<br />
with a temporary choir at its east end for<br />
immediate use ." 137<br />
Finally, in October of 1850, Feild was able<br />
to report to Lord Grey that the cathedral<br />
in St. John's (or more precisely, its nave)<br />
had been consecrated on St. Matthew's<br />
Day (September 21), and was now "in<br />
constant use." 138 The cost had been great,<br />
and indeed Feild had only been able to<br />
tions of considerable sums by private<br />
friends and the SPCK. Feild assured Lord<br />
Grey that all the funds had been "faithfully<br />
(I dare not say in every case wisely)<br />
spent." 139 He enclosed an account of the<br />
consecration from The Times, which<br />
boasted that, were the church ever to<br />
be completed according to its architect's<br />
plans, "no ecclesiastical edifice in British<br />
North America could rival it."' 40 In reply,<br />
Lord Grey declared that it afforded<br />
him "much satisfaction to learn that<br />
the cathedral church at St. John's has<br />
been consecrated, and that the building,<br />
though not completed, is now in constant<br />
use."141<br />
Officially satisfied Lord Grey may have<br />
been, but unofficial opinion in the office<br />
of the secretary of State for the Colonies<br />
appears to have been less than universally<br />
impressed with the process by which<br />
Feild established his Gothic foothold<br />
in Newfoundland. In January of 1850,<br />
Newfoundland Governor Le Marchant<br />
sent a letter to Lord Grey accompanying<br />
Feild's report on the nearly ready, yet still<br />
cash-strapped cathedral. Included was a<br />
report from William Hay, detailing £1446<br />
worth of work remaining to be done.' 42<br />
On the back of Le Marchant's letter is a<br />
hand-written internal memo from Arthur<br />
Blackwood, Senior Clerk, to H. Merivale,<br />
under-secretary of State for the Colonies.<br />
It reads:<br />
Mr. Merivale<br />
It would seem that the £16000 which has<br />
been spent on the Cathedral is insufficient<br />
to complete the Building, & that the Bishop<br />
does not know where the rest of the money<br />
is to be found to finish the interior & make<br />
it serviceable. Two good Stone Churches<br />
might have been built for that money.<br />
Acknowledge?<br />
ABd 23/ 1/50 143<br />
To a civil servant comfortably ensconced<br />
in V ictorian London, the job of building<br />
a thirteenth-century English cathedral<br />
on a rocky, remote, windswept, impoverished<br />
North Atlantic island must have<br />
looked fairly easy. This study has, hopefully,<br />
demonstrated otherwise.<br />
NOTES<br />
1. I would like to thank the many people who<br />
have helped me in the preparation of this<br />
article, and of the larger project of which it<br />
is a part. In particular, I would like to thank<br />
Malcolm Thurlby and Pierre du Prey for<br />
constant good advice and support. Shane<br />
O'Dea's knowledge of Newfoundland architecture<br />
is matched only by his generosity in<br />
sharing it. J. Mordaunt Crook and John Elliott<br />
provided invaluable advice during my research<br />
in England. Thanks are also due to the Royal<br />
Institute of British Architects for permission<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N•· 1 > 2006<br />
19
PETER COFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
to reproduce Scott's drawings of St . John's<br />
Cathedral. I am extremely grateful to the<br />
IHR (Institute of Historical Research) Mellon<br />
Foundation, the Canadian Centre for Architecture,<br />
the Social Sciences and Humanities<br />
Research Council of Canada, and the dean<br />
of Arts and Science at Queen's <strong>University</strong> for<br />
research funding. Particular thanks go to Julia<br />
Mathieson, former cathedral and current diocesan<br />
archivist in St. John's, without whom this<br />
article would not have been possible.<br />
2. « Colonial Church Architecture, Chapter VI :<br />
St. John's Cathedral, Newfoundland », The<br />
Ecclesiologist, no. 65, April 1848, new series<br />
no. 29, p. 275.<br />
3. See Report of the Incorporated Society for the<br />
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for<br />
the year 1838, London, SPG, 1838.<br />
4. Idem: 22.<br />
5. Wix, Edward, 1836, Six Months of a Newfoundland<br />
Missionary's Journal from February<br />
to August, 1835, London, Smith, Elder.<br />
6. Wix: 6.<br />
7. Population Returns, 1836 (Centre for Newfoundland<br />
Studies).<br />
8 . Darcy, J.B., 2003, Fire upon the Earth: The Life<br />
and Times of Bishop Michael Anthony Fleming,<br />
O.S.F., St. John's, Creative Publishers.<br />
9. O'Fiaherty, Patrick, 1999, Old Newfoundland,<br />
St . John's, Long Beach Press.<br />
10. Wix: X.<br />
11. Wix:X.<br />
12. Wix: IX.<br />
13. See O'Neill, Paul, 1993, «Who Designed the<br />
Roman Catholic Basilica?>>, Newfoundland<br />
Quarterly, vol. LXXXVIII, no. 1, p. 7-13 .<br />
14. It now shares that distinction with "The<br />
Rooms," a combined provincial art gallery,<br />
museum, and archives.<br />
15. The building, erroneously in the present<br />
author's view, has also been labelled "Romanesque<br />
Revival." See Ricketts, Shannon, Leslie<br />
Maitland, and Jacqueline Hucker, 2003 [2"d<br />
ed.]. A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles,<br />
Peterborough, Broadview Press, p. 94.<br />
16. See Rowe, C. Francis, 1989, In Fields Afar: A<br />
Review of the Establishment of the Anglican<br />
Parish of St. John's and its Cathedral, St . John's,<br />
Seawise Enterprises Ltd.<br />
17. Wix : 257.<br />
18. Report of the Incorporated Society for the<br />
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts<br />
for the year 1838, London, SPG, p. 23-24.<br />
19. See History of St. Thomas' Church, 1836-7961,<br />
based upon "The History of St. Thomas' and<br />
its Rectors," by the late H.W . LeMessurier,<br />
C.M.G., published in 1928. As amended and<br />
added to by the Centenary Historical Committee,<br />
R.G. MacDonald, Chairman (1936).<br />
20. Spencer, Aubrey George, 1842, The Church of<br />
God: A Sermon on Acts XX. 28, preached in<br />
the Parish Church of St. John's, Newfoundland,<br />
on Good Friday, 7842, by Aubrey George, Lord<br />
Bishop of Newfoundland, St . John's, p. LXX,<br />
J.W. Mcoubrey.<br />
21 . Ibid.: LXXI.<br />
22 . On the Commissioners Churches, see Port,<br />
Michael, 1961, Six Hundred New Churches,<br />
London, SPCK; Liscombe, Rhodri Windsor,<br />
1979, « Economy, Character and Durability:<br />
Specimen Designs for the Church Commissioners,<br />
1818 »,Architectural History, vol. 13, p. 43-<br />
57; Carr, Gerald, 1973, « Soane's Specimen<br />
Church Designs of 1818: A Reconsideration»,<br />
Architectural History, vol. 16, p. 37-54; Clark,<br />
Kenneth, 1928, The Gothic Revival: An Essay<br />
in the History of Taste, London, chap. V.<br />
23. Tucker, H.W ., 1877, Memoir of the Life and<br />
Episcopate of Edward Feild, D. D . Bishop of<br />
Newfoundland 1844- 1876, London, W .W .<br />
Gardner, p. 29.<br />
24. Rowley, Owsley Robert, 1928, The Anglican<br />
Episcopate of Canada and Newfoundland,<br />
Milwaukee and London, A . R. Mowbray &<br />
Co., p. 217.<br />
25. The Ecclesiologist, 1847, vol. 7, p. 168-171; 1847,<br />
vol. 8, p. 88-92.<br />
26, The Ecclesiologist, 1847, vol. 8, p. 86-88.<br />
27. The Ecclesiologist, 1847, vol. 8, p. 141-142.<br />
28. The Ecclesiologist, 1847, val. 8, p. 142-147;<br />
1848, vol. 9, p. 181-187; 1849, vol. 10, p. 193-<br />
194.<br />
29. The Ecclesiologist, 1848, vol. 8, p. 265-271 ;<br />
1849, val. 10, p. 193.<br />
30. The Ecclesiologist, 1848, val. 8, p. 271-274;<br />
1850, vol. 10, p. 327-330.<br />
31 . The Ecclesiologist, 1848, vol. 8, p . 274-279;<br />
1849, vol. 9, p. 215-217.<br />
32. The Ecclesiologist, 1848 vol. 8, p . 361-363;<br />
1849, vol. 10, p . 192-193.<br />
33. The Ecclesiologist, 1849, vol. 10, p. 101-102.<br />
34. Letters of Bishop Edward Feild to the Rev. William<br />
Scott, Diocesan Archives of Eastern Newfoundland<br />
and Labrador (DAENL), 100.43, box<br />
Six Hundred New Churches 2, file 4 . Tran <br />
scribed by Tim Power under the direction of<br />
Shane O'Dea. Letter dated July 11, 1844.<br />
35. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, August 22,<br />
1844.<br />
36. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, August, 1844.<br />
37. Thomas Bridge to Ernest Hawkins, secretary of<br />
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel<br />
in Foreign Parts, Provincial Archives of Newfoundland<br />
and Labrador (PANL). "G" Series:<br />
letters Read before the Society: reel 249. Letter<br />
dated August 24, 1846.<br />
38. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, August, 1844.<br />
39. DAENL, Feild to Ernest Hawkins, June 19,<br />
1845.<br />
40. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, August, 1844.<br />
41 . DAENL, Feild to William Scott, May 20, 1845.<br />
42. Ibid.<br />
43. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, March 10,<br />
1846.<br />
44. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, May 20, 1845.<br />
45. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, June 5, 1845.<br />
46. DAENL, Feild to Earnest Hawkins, October 9,<br />
1845.<br />
47. Ibid.<br />
48. Prowse, D.W., A History of Newfoundland,<br />
originally published St. John's, 1895; re-published<br />
Portugal Cove, Boulder Publications,<br />
2002, p. 458.<br />
49. That account is taken from the Newfoundlander<br />
of June 18, 1846; quoted in Prowse:<br />
458-459.<br />
50. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, June 23, 1846.<br />
51. Ibid.<br />
52. A .W .N. Pugin, 1843, On The Present State of<br />
Ecclesiastical Architecture in England, London,<br />
St. Barnabas Press. St. Wilfrid is illustrated in<br />
plates Ill, VII and XIV.<br />
53. DAENL, Feild to Earnest Hawkins, June 12,<br />
1846.<br />
54. DAENL, Feild to William Scott, June 23, 1846.<br />
55. The Record, July 13, 1846, no. 1,965.<br />
56. The Record, August 13, 1834, no. 1,972.<br />
20<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N 1 > 2006
PETER C OFFMAN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
57. Report of the Incorporated Society for the<br />
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,<br />
for the year 1848, London, 1848. Feild was<br />
offering this recollection as a tribute to the<br />
recently deceased Howley.<br />
58 . DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, June 12, 1846.<br />
59. Ibid.<br />
60. DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, August 7, 1846.<br />
61 . PANL, Bridge to Earnest Hawkins, August 24,<br />
1846.<br />
62 . House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 54, p. 59.<br />
63. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 30, p. 43.<br />
64. PANL, Bridge to Earnest Hawkins, August 24,<br />
1846.<br />
65. PANL, Bridge to Hawkins, September 7, 1846.<br />
66. Ibid.<br />
67. Ibid.<br />
68. PANL, Bridge to Hawkins, September 10,<br />
1846.<br />
69. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 35 enclosure, p. 45.<br />
70. PANL, Bridge to Hawkins, October 26, 1846.<br />
71 . PANL, Bridge to Hawkins, December 16,<br />
1846.<br />
72. DAENL, no. 668, box 4, file 4, letter 9.<br />
73 . Idem: letter 10.<br />
74 . House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 54 p. 59.<br />
75. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 59, p. 63 .<br />
76. Ibid.<br />
77. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 76 p. 84-85.<br />
78. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 79. p. 88.<br />
79. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, enclosure 1, no. 70, p. 95.<br />
80. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 80, p. 96.<br />
81. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, enclosure 2, no. 81 .<br />
82 . 1bid.<br />
83 . The architect had a brother, also named William<br />
Scott, also a clergyman. The two William<br />
Scotts are, however, different people- George<br />
Gilbert's brother was vicar of Abthorpe, while<br />
Feild's friend and colleague was vicar of Christ<br />
Church, Hoxton.<br />
84. Strangely, no recent, comprehensive monograph<br />
has been written on Scott. The standard<br />
reference is Cole, David, 1980, The Work of<br />
Sir Gilbert Scott, London, The Architectural<br />
Press . Basic data on Scott and his descendents<br />
can be found in Fisher, Geoffrey, Gavin Stamp<br />
& others, Catalogue of the Drawings Collection<br />
of the Royal Institute of British Architects:<br />
The Scott Family, p. 13-16. As Gavin Stamp has<br />
said, the best biography on Scott remains the<br />
architect's own (Scott, George Gilbert, 1995<br />
[1 " ed. London, 1879]. Personal and Professional<br />
Recollections, new ed. Stamford, Paul<br />
Watkins.<br />
85. Scott, 1995 : 85.<br />
86. Idem : 86.<br />
87. Idem : 88.<br />
88. Idem : 90.<br />
89. The Ecclesiologist, 1942, vol. 1, no. 4, p. 68.<br />
90. The Ecclesiologist, 1845, vol. 4, p. 184.<br />
91. Stamp, Gavin, 2001, « George Gilbert Scott<br />
and the Cambridge Camden Society >>, in A<br />
Church as it Should Be: The Cambridge Camden<br />
Society and its Influence, Donnington,<br />
Shaun Tyas.<br />
92 . Scott, 1995: 206.<br />
93 . Scott, George Gilbert, 1850, " On the Question<br />
of the selection of a single variety of<br />
Pointed Architecture for modern use, an of<br />
which variety has the strongest claims on such<br />
selection," A Plea for the Faithful Restoration<br />
of our Ancient Churches .. . to which are<br />
added some Miscellaneous Remarks on other<br />
subjects .. . , London, p. 95-96.<br />
94. Idem : 112-113.<br />
95 . Scott, George Gilbert, 1857, Remarks on<br />
Secular and Domestic Architecture, London,<br />
J. Murray, p. 10.<br />
96. Idem : 12.<br />
97. Idem: 16.<br />
98. From Scott, 1850: 39-51 .<br />
99. Idem : 40.<br />
100. Idem: 43.<br />
101 . Idem: 44.<br />
102. Idem : 44.<br />
103. Bridge, Thomas, 1841 , The Two Religions; or,<br />
the Question Settled, Which Is the Oldest<br />
Church, the Anglican or the Rom ish?, London,<br />
Gilbert and Rivington Printers.<br />
104. DAENL, Feild to Scott, June 23, 1846.<br />
105. See Scott, George Gilbert, 1878, Lectures on<br />
the Rise and Development of Gothic Architecture,<br />
London, J. Murray, p 157-158.<br />
106. On the theme of variety in English medieval<br />
architectural design, see Thurlby, Malcolm,<br />
and Yoshio Kusaba, 1991 , « The Nave of Saint<br />
Andrew at Steyning: A Study of Variety in<br />
Design in Twelfth-Century Architecture in<br />
Britain », Gesta, vol. XXX, no. 2, p. 163-175.<br />
107. Several such photographs are now available<br />
online from the Centre for Newfoundland<br />
Studies at Memorial <strong>University</strong>. One that<br />
clearly shows the fillet is : Centre for Newfoundland<br />
Studies, Coli- 137, 2.02.012 . See<br />
[http://www.library.mun.ca/qeii/cns/photos/<br />
geogfindaid.php#Arrange].<br />
108. On G.E. Street, and on the influence of Early<br />
French Gothic on the English Gothic Revival<br />
more generally, see Brownlee, David, 1984,<br />
The Law Courts: The Architecture of George<br />
Edmund Street, New York, Cambridge,<br />
Mass.<br />
109. At, for example, the polychrome stone and<br />
brick Midland Grand Hotel, St. Pancras.<br />
110. Brownlee, David, 1993, >, The Artist's Workshop:<br />
Studies in the History of Art 38, Washington,<br />
D.C., National Gallery of Art, p. 156-173.<br />
111 . Scott, 1850: 115.<br />
112. The Ecclesiologist, vol. 8, 1848, p. 360, comments:<br />
" We cannot conceive why the hanging<br />
committee should have placed this design<br />
in the highest row, while so many works of<br />
far inferior merit and interest occupy advantageous<br />
positions."<br />
113. That was apparently an exhibition set up by<br />
and for architects to the exhibition of the<br />
Royal Academy, which was widely considered<br />
by the profession not to do architecture<br />
justice. See The Ecclesiologist, 1849, vol. 9,<br />
p . 303.<br />
114. The Ecclesiologist, 1848, vol. 8, p. 272-279.<br />
115. Idem : 274.<br />
116. Idem : 275.<br />
117. Idem : 275.<br />
118. Idem : 274.<br />
119. Idem : 271 .<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N ~ 1 > 2006<br />
21
PETER C OFFM AN > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
120. Idem : 276.<br />
121. Idem : 277.<br />
122. G.G . Scott to Feild, August 3, 1847.<br />
123. G.G. Scott, 1850 : 96.<br />
124. Idem : 98.<br />
125. The Ecclesiologist, 1848, vol. 8, p. 278.<br />
126. On Hay's work in Ontario, see MacRae,<br />
Marion, and Anthony Adamson, 1975, Hallowed<br />
Walls: Church Architecture of Upper<br />
Canada, Toronto, Clarke, Irwin. On his work in<br />
Bermuda, see Magrill, Barry, 2004, « ' Development'<br />
and Ecclesiology in the Outposts of<br />
the British Empire: William Hay's Gothic Solutions<br />
for Church Building in Tropical Climates<br />
(1840-1890) >>, Journal of the Society for the<br />
Study of Architecture in Canada, vol. 29,<br />
nos. 1-2, p . 15-26.<br />
127. Hay, William, 1853, , Anglo<br />
American Magazine, January-July, p. 70-73.<br />
128. DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, May 10, 1847.<br />
129. DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, July 25, 1848.<br />
130. A certain amount of confusion seemed to<br />
occur over that, but was cleared up in a letter<br />
from G.G. Scott to Feild on August 3, 1847.<br />
131 . The Ecclesiologist, 1848, vol. 8, p. 278.<br />
132. Lambeth Palace Library, MS 1604, Edward<br />
Feild to Cecil Wray, January 26, 1848.<br />
133. Ibid.<br />
134. DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, May 21 , 1849.<br />
135. DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, October 17, 1849.<br />
136. DAENL, Feild to Hawkins, November 15, 1849.<br />
137. The Ecclesiologist, 1850, vol. 11 , p. 54.<br />
138. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c,<br />
vol. XXXVI, enclosure, no. 101.<br />
139. Ibid.<br />
140. The Times and General Commercial Gazette,<br />
Saturday, September 28, 1850, no. 78.<br />
141 . House of Commons Papers, Reports &c.<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 102.<br />
142. House of Commons Papers, Reports &c.<br />
vol. XXXVI, no. 99.<br />
143. Public Records Office, no. 548, January 3,<br />
1850, >.<br />
22<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > No 1 > 2006
ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
TORONTO'S TOWER OF PURE WATER:<br />
A LOST CIVIC VISION<br />
STEVEN MANNELL is Professor in the School of<br />
Architecture at <strong>Dalhousie</strong> <strong>University</strong>, teaching in<br />
the areas of design and technology, and is principal<br />
>STEVEN MAN NELL<br />
of Steven Mannell Architect of Halifax. In addition<br />
to his ongoing study of twentieth-century public<br />
works and waterworks, he is active in the field of<br />
modern heritage. His book Atlantic Modern: The<br />
Architecture of the Atlantic Provinces 1 950-20:0<br />
was published by Tuns Press in 2004.<br />
THE DISTRICT NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK AS PROPOSED BY POMPHREY AND HARRIS WITH BRICK AND STONE CLADDING,<br />
VIEWED FROM THE SPADINA ROAD BRIDGE, SHOWING THE TUNNEL PORTAL AND VALVE HOUSE BUILDINGS IN THE CENTRE<br />
OF THE VIEW, WITH STEPS GIVING ACCESS FROM THE RESERVOIR TOP DOWN INTO THE RAVINE PARK. J PHOTOMONTAGE, RENOER·<br />
lNG AND DIGITAL MODEL: BEN JAMIN CHECKWITCH, STEVEN MAN NEll, WILLIAM RAWLINGS. BASE PHOTO: ARTHUR GOSS. SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES, RGB,<br />
SERIES 721TEMS 1166 & 1167<br />
ABSTRACT<br />
The Toronto Water Works Extension<br />
(TWWE) project of 1913-1955 proposed<br />
a comprehensive water supply and distribution<br />
system in the context of a vision<br />
of public works as a great civic deed,<br />
demanding a great civic architecture. The<br />
St. Clair Reservoir was the first completed<br />
element of the TWWE, comprising a covered<br />
reservoir topped by a public park<br />
giving on to a developed ravine landscape.<br />
Organized in relation to views<br />
from new civic roadworks-the Spadina<br />
Road Bridge and the boulevarded St. Clair<br />
Avenue-the intended climax of the reservoir<br />
landscape was the ornamental<br />
St. Clair overhead tank. The proposed<br />
rich dressing of brick, limestone, and<br />
copper masks a large steel water tank,<br />
giving monumental architectural expression<br />
to prosaic engineering function in<br />
a manner that would characterize the<br />
architecture of the TWWE. The cancellation<br />
of the tank project by Toronto's<br />
Board of Control indicates a deep gulf<br />
between Harris and his political overseers<br />
regarding the value and importance of<br />
monumental architectural expression to<br />
the TWWE project and to public works<br />
in general. A contemporary reconstruction<br />
of the tank, using architectural CAD<br />
modeling and renderings constructed in<br />
accordance with archival documents, reveals<br />
the rich architectural expression of<br />
the tank design, while photomontages<br />
using archival photographs of the reservoir<br />
demonstrate the full civic vision of<br />
the reservoir landscape as a whole.<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N • 1 > 2006 > 23-34<br />
23
STEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 1. THE TOWER OF PURE WATER: DIGITAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE UN BUILT DISTRICT<br />
NO.3 OVERHEAD TANK, VIEWED FROM ABOVE SHOWING THE FRONT FA~E OF<br />
THE TANK FACING THE PLAYING FIELDS ON TOP OF THE ST. CLAIR RESERVOIR. THE<br />
DOORWAY WITH BROKEN PEDIMENT AND MONUMENTAL URN ISATTHE BASE; THE<br />
ROOFTOP CUPOLA ACCOMMODATES THE ROOF ACCESS LADDER. ! RENDERING AND DIGITAL<br />
MODEL: BENJAMIN CHECKWITCH, STEVEN MANNEll WilliAM RAWliNGS<br />
LA K ~<br />
Toronto & ~lii'Oistric:ts<br />
::~= -<br />
FIG. 2. GENERAL LAYOUT OF WATER WORKS EXTENSION, FROM THE 1913 COMMISSIONER'S<br />
REPORT. DARK GRAY CIRCLES ARE VICTORIA PARK (LEFT) AND SCARBOROUGH HEIGHTS<br />
(RIGHT). LIGHT GRAY CIRCLES ARE PARKDALE (LE FT) AND ST. CLAIR (TOP).I DIAGRAM R.C HARRI~<br />
1913, REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF WORKS ON ADDITIONS AND EXTENSIONS TO THE TORONTO WATfRWORKS PUMPING<br />
AND DISTRIBUnON PlANT, TORONTO, CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES PLATE NO. 1<br />
INTRODUCTION The cancellation of the tank project by tute one of the most beautiful areas in<br />
The Toronto Water Works Extension (TW<br />
WE) project of 1913-1955 proposed not<br />
only a comprehensive water supply and<br />
distribution system, but also embodied a<br />
highly developed vision of civil engineering<br />
and public works as great civic deeds,<br />
demanding a great civic architecture.'<br />
The St. Clair Reservoir was the first completed<br />
element of the TWWE, comprising<br />
a covered reservoir topped by a public<br />
park and giving on to a developed ravine<br />
landscape. The complex was organized in<br />
relation to the view from the monumental<br />
new bridge carrying Spadina Road to<br />
its intersection with the proposed civic<br />
tecture and landscape vision of the TWWE<br />
Toronto's Board of Control indicates the<br />
boulevard of St. Clair Avenue. The archideep<br />
gulf between Harris and his political<br />
overseers regarding the value and<br />
importance of monumental architectural<br />
expression to the TWWE project, and to<br />
public works in general.<br />
PRELUDE: THE TORONTO WATER<br />
WORKS EXTENSION PROJECT<br />
In 1913, newly installed Toronto works<br />
commissioner R.C. Harris presented his<br />
Report of the Commissioner of Works on<br />
Additions and Extensions to the Toronto<br />
Waterworks Pumping and Distribution<br />
Plant. Urgently prepared in rebuttal to<br />
the 1912 Report of the Board of Water<br />
Toronto." 2 Harris's report further sug-<br />
Commissioners sponsored by Harris's disgested<br />
linking the new waterworks to<br />
a proposed encircling carriage drive and<br />
parkway system for the city.<br />
The civic dimension was very dear to Harris.<br />
He had a hand in various manipulations<br />
of the Bloor Viaduct design process<br />
before becoming commissioner of works,<br />
and there is much evidence for his ongoing<br />
close relations with key figures in<br />
the Guild for Civic Art.' The Guild was a<br />
progressive planning advocacy group, including<br />
such architects as Edmund Burke<br />
and John Lyle, dedicated to implementing<br />
City Beautiful ideals in Toronto. Projects<br />
included:<br />
was the product of the collaboration of graced predecessor Charles Rust, Harris's • The G u i I d's 19 0 9 Report on a<br />
architect Thomas Canfield Pomphrey with 1913 Commissioner's Report proposed Comprehensive Plan for Systematic<br />
his patron, commissioner of works R.C.<br />
Harris; the climax of that collaboration<br />
construction of a duplicate waterworks<br />
just beyond the eastern city limit at Vic-<br />
Improvements in Toronto;<br />
was the ornamental St . Clair overhead toria Park. A vision of public works as civic • The Civic Plan Commission of 1911,<br />
tank, proposed for the southern prow of<br />
works pervaded the Commissioner's Rethe<br />
reservoir at the head of the ravine,<br />
which would have dominated views from<br />
the ravine and from the Spadina Bridge.<br />
port: "It is proposed to erect handsome<br />
buildings, which, in conjunction with the<br />
park district and the beach, will constirecommending<br />
ornamental space on<br />
roadways, boulevards between curb<br />
and sidewalks, and the beautification<br />
of St. Clair Avenue (by 1909, St. Clair<br />
24<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N ' 1 > 2006
S TEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
Fla . .._Dl•l••m •howin& cleval ion of willu dlatrkh and 1be lnluconnccdon ol the<br />
~~~~nt a nd new w&tH t upply IJ'ttana.<br />
FIG. 3. ELEVATION SCHEMATIC OF THE TWWE PROJECT OF 1926. THE ST. CLAIR RESERVOIR<br />
AND DISTRICT NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK ARE AT THE UPPER LEFT. I DIAGRAM WlLLIAM GORE,<br />
1929, • FOURTEEN MILUON DOllAR EXTENSIONS TO TORONTO'S WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM •. CONTRAO RECORDS AND<br />
ENGINEERING REVIEW, VOL 43, JUNE 19, P. 728, FIG. 2<br />
FIG. 4. PLAN OF THE TWWE DISTRICTS, FROM THE 1926 REPORT. DISTRICT NO. 3 IS TONED BLUE<br />
AT THE UPPER LEFT. I DIAGRAMo H.G. ACRES AND WILLIAM GORE, 1916, REPORT ON PROPOSED EXTENSIONSTO<br />
THE WATER WORKS SYSTEM, TORONTO, CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES. RG 1 REPORTS. BOX 4, PLATE 1<br />
was the main east-west street at the<br />
northern limit of the city);<br />
• Study of alternative alignments of the<br />
Bloor Viaduct (1911 );<br />
• A proposal for a Don Valley Parkway<br />
(1912);<br />
motives, and would be accompanied by<br />
significant improvements in social and<br />
market conditions in the city.• As well,<br />
Harris was certainly intimate with the<br />
contemporary report prepared by Cousins<br />
and the Harbour Commission on the<br />
future of the waterfront and port, which<br />
proposed a continuous belt of parks with<br />
scenic boulevard carriage drives along the<br />
• A proposal for a system of encircling western waterfront, then swinging south<br />
parks and parkways with boulevard<br />
carriage drives (1913).<br />
Harris also sat on the Civic Transportation<br />
Committee with the Hydro-electric Power<br />
Commission of Ontario's chief engineer<br />
across the Toronto Harbour islands and<br />
lagoons before returning to Woodbine<br />
Beach at the east. 5<br />
WATER SUPPLY PROBLEMS IN<br />
NORTHWESTERN TORONTO<br />
jor block west of the eventual site), just<br />
below St . Clair Avenue. 6 Upon submission<br />
ofthe drawings for approval in 1924, the<br />
City Architect wrote to Harris: "The suggested<br />
masonry housing is not specified,<br />
though shown on the drawing." 7 This suggests<br />
that the tank was considered and<br />
developed in ornamental terms, with an<br />
intention for decorative form, an impulse<br />
in keeping with recent trends in public<br />
works thinking. That tank proposal was<br />
killed by the Board of Control in June 1924<br />
due to (in Harris's words) the "strong protest<br />
from property owners in the area.""<br />
Other sites were mooted along the alignment<br />
of St. Clair Avenue, but none were<br />
developed due to the commissioner's<br />
F.A . Gaby and the Toronto Harbour Commission's<br />
chief engineer E.L. Cousins. The<br />
group produced the 1915 Report to the<br />
Concerns regarding water pressure and<br />
supply interruptions in the northwestern<br />
perception of likely neighbourhood<br />
opposition.<br />
Civic Transportation Committee on Radi- pumping District 3 were raised througha/<br />
Railway Entrances and arrangements out the late teens and early twenties. THE ST. CLAIR RESERVOIR<br />
within the city, advocating a major east-<br />
west electric-powered commuter rail line<br />
along waterfront, connecting to a northsouth<br />
line up Yonge Street to Summerhill<br />
Avenue. Ridership increases of 500 to 1000<br />
percent were predicted to result from the<br />
use of electric-rather than steam-loco-<br />
That district was largely above the level<br />
ofthe main reservoir at Rosehill, and thus<br />
dependent on steam and later electric<br />
pumps for supply, rather than gravity<br />
feed. The Works Department's in-house<br />
studies resulted in a proposal for a water<br />
tank located on Bathurst Street (one ma-<br />
War and recession had combined to place<br />
the 1913 report on hold. Finally, in 1925,<br />
an external consulting engineer's report<br />
was commissioned from H.G. Acres and<br />
William Gore. Their report, issued in 1926,<br />
declared: " The scheme above described<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006<br />
25
S TEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
~~<br />
ground and leave the ravine lands, worthless<br />
in the eyes of both city officials and<br />
the Eaton trustees. 12<br />
FIG. 5. SITE PLAN LAYOUT OF THE GROUNDS AND BUILD<br />
INGS ATOP THE ST. CLAIR RESERVOIR AND OF THE<br />
SPADINA ROAD BRIDGE. I DRAWING: H.G.ACRES & CO. LTD.<br />
AND GORE. NASMITH & STORRIE, 1929. WATER WORKS EXTENSION: ST.<br />
ClAJR RESERVOIR CONTRAG DRAWINGS. TORONTO, CITY OF TORONTO<br />
DEPARTMENT OF WORKS; SHEET R·l<br />
is substantially in harmony with the conception<br />
of the Commissioner of Works,<br />
as outlined in his 1913 Report." • However,<br />
the waterworks project had become<br />
FIG. 6. PLAN LAYOUT OF THE ST. CLAIR RESERVOIR SHOW<br />
ING HEXAGONAL LAYOUT OF CONCRETE COLUMNS. I<br />
DRAWING: H.G. ACRES & CO. LTD. AND GORE, NASMITH & STORRIE, 1929,<br />
WATER WORKS EXTENSION: StCLAIR RESERVOIR CONTRACT DRAWINGS,<br />
TORONTO, CITY OF TORONTO DEPARTMENT OF WORKS; SHEET R-3<br />
• A new filtered water tunnel across the<br />
lakefront from Victoria Park to John<br />
Street and Parkdale;<br />
St. Clair Avenue was a hot point for the<br />
activities of the Guild for Civic Art. The<br />
Guild's summary of accomplishments<br />
ranks the widening of St. Clair as number<br />
one in importance among the successes<br />
of its early years, along with the establishment<br />
of boulevards at the centre and<br />
between curb and sidewalk along St. Clair<br />
as number five in importance. 13 For Harris,<br />
the St. Clair site offered an opportunity<br />
to bring together in one project his multiple<br />
obsessions of waterworks, bridges,<br />
boulevard streets, and public parks. The<br />
park character of the reservoir design was<br />
confirmed in a letter from Gore to Harris<br />
dating from early 1926, before the Water<br />
Works Extension report was issued : "The<br />
whole will be sodded over and sidewalks<br />
and flower pots could be placed on same.<br />
The whole area will be closed with an ormuch<br />
more comprehensive than in 1913 • No changes to the existing Island filtration namental fence." 14 By 1929, the civic ambiand<br />
proposed an overall strategy for the and pumping works (centre south). 10 tions of the design were more ambitious:<br />
entire city. The full scope of the 1926<br />
" The reservoir has been made to conform<br />
scheme comprised: Together with the development of St. Clair to extensive improvements in roads and<br />
Avenue as the city's northern boulevard,<br />
bridges in the vicinity, and the grounds<br />
• A new duplicate waterworks (includ- the establishment of Lakeshore Boule- are to be laid out and planted for use as<br />
ing filtration, pumping and reservoirs)<br />
at Victoria Park, the eastern edge of<br />
the city;<br />
• A new Sunnyside pumping plant with<br />
surge tower at the western edge of<br />
the city, adjacent to the new Lakeshore<br />
Boulevard with its amusement<br />
parks, beach, and bathing station;<br />
• A new reservoir and overhead tank<br />
at St. Clair and Spadina, at the north<br />
edge on the city's central axis;<br />
• A new surge tower at the existing<br />
John Street pumping station, at the<br />
centre of the city;<br />
vard at the southwest, and the proposed a public park." ' 5<br />
north-south carriage drives, the waterworks<br />
projects mark out the key points<br />
Road bridges were as prominent as waterof<br />
a diagram of an encircled, quadrate<br />
Toronto.<br />
The proposed development of the<br />
St. Clair site comprised two waterworks<br />
components, a reservoir serving pumping<br />
District 2, and an overhead tank-serving<br />
district 3." The St. Clair and Spadina site<br />
was identified as early as 1925 for the reservoir<br />
location by Acres and Gore, and<br />
was finally purchased from the estate of<br />
Sir John Eaton in 1930, after the reservoir<br />
had been tendered. The expropriation<br />
process was controversial due to the<br />
city's initial attempt to take only the high<br />
works in Harris's vision of a renewed Toronto.<br />
Design of the Prince Edward Viaduct<br />
(1909-1919) involved significant collaboration<br />
with architects and designers outside<br />
of the Works Department, much public<br />
debate about alignment and image, and<br />
some degree of political interference.•• Perhaps<br />
in an effort to maintain tighter control<br />
of the very many bridges projected for<br />
the near future, Harris moved to develop<br />
in-house capacity for bridge design. By the<br />
late 1920s, the Works Department's designers<br />
had developed a characteristic bridge<br />
design based loosely on the Viaduct, with<br />
steel truss substructure surmounted by<br />
26<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
S TEVEN MANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 7. VIEW OF RESERVOIR AND BRIDGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION. I PHOTO: ARTHUR Gos~ CITY OF<br />
TORONTO ARCHM~ RG8. SERIES 6S. ITEM 71<br />
FIG. 8. VIEW OF INTERIOR OF RE SERVOIR UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SHOWING HEXAGONAL COL<br />
UMN GRID. I PHOTO: ARTHUR GOS~ CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVE~ RGS. SERIES 6S. ITEM 81<br />
concrete road deck, pylons, and rails. De <br />
ployed in various situations around the city,<br />
the consistency of the language of those<br />
bridges reinforced the systematic nature of<br />
public works in Harris's vision of the city.<br />
At the St. Clair site, the in-house engineers<br />
of the Works Department designed a steel<br />
truss and concrete bridge to replace the old<br />
wooden trestle on Spadina Road south of<br />
St. Clair, simultaneous to the reservoir design<br />
process of 1927 to 1929. The Spadina<br />
Road Bridge provides an appropriate frame<br />
and viewing platform for the reservoir park,<br />
along with a grand approach to the new<br />
boulevard of St. Clair Avenue. The reservoir<br />
and bridge were tendered together as one<br />
contract in 1929, w ith Nelson River Construction<br />
the successful bidder.' 7 Included<br />
in the contract were just two visible architectural<br />
elements, the tunnel portal and<br />
gatehouse buildings, along with steps and<br />
terraces and the foundations for an octagonal<br />
overhead tank, though not the tank<br />
itself.' 8 In describing the completed design,<br />
Gore noted that "[t)he tunnel portal has<br />
DISTRICT 3 OVERHEAD TANK<br />
In a letter from Gore to Harris in June<br />
1927, the architectural ambitions of the<br />
tank were established: " The tank will be<br />
protected from frost and heat by a building<br />
to an architect's design conforming<br />
with the gate house and pipe tunnel portal<br />
of the service reservoir and suitable<br />
to the surroundings." 20 During the period<br />
from late 1928 through early 1929, the<br />
language, layout, and detail of the Victoria<br />
Park works were finally resolved to<br />
the satisfaction of Harris, who was both<br />
particular and demanding in his review<br />
of drawings, and very concerned to avoid<br />
plain, workmanlike buildings. By mid-1931,<br />
Harris had become anxious to view the<br />
tank design. In September 1931, William<br />
Storrie replied to Harris: "Our architect<br />
Mr. Pomphrey is on holiday at the present<br />
time and as soon as he comes back we will<br />
have this matter attended to." 2 '<br />
Harris was compelled to repeat his rebeen<br />
that "Within the next few days we hope<br />
to place before you the design which we<br />
have selected out of a number of sketches<br />
that have been prepared for this Water<br />
Tower." That letter also noted that the<br />
tank plan had been changed to a dodecahedron<br />
from the original octagon,<br />
based on the advice of the steel tank<br />
manufacturer. 22<br />
THOMAS CANFIELD POMPHREY<br />
Thomas Canfield Pomphrey was apprenticed<br />
as an architect in Scotland<br />
before immigrating to Toronto, where<br />
he worked for John Lyle and Darling &<br />
Pearson, among other firms. He was badly<br />
wounded in the right shoulder during<br />
the war and spent a number of years in<br />
convalescent hospitals before resuming<br />
his practice in Toronto. In 1925, Pomphrey<br />
and William Ferguson won the competition<br />
for the Toronto Cenotaph and, from<br />
1927 (at the latest), he was staff architect<br />
for Gore, Nasmith & Storrie.2'<br />
featured architecturally and provides quest for architectural drawings a numthat<br />
access both inside and out to the reservoir ber of times, including twice in January Pomphrey's relationship to Commissioner<br />
and grounds."' 9 1932; Storrie replied on January 20, 1932 Harris appears to have undergone a<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N 1 > 200 6 27
S TEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
T<br />
T<br />
I<br />
FIG. 9. VIEW OFTHE VALVE HOUSE (UPPER LEVEL) AND TUNNEL PORTAL (LOWER LEVEL) ATTHE<br />
CROOK OF THE RESERVOIR. I STEVEN MANNELL<br />
FIG. 10. DETAIL OF THE ORNAMENTAL STONEWORK AT THE TUNNEL<br />
PORTAL PEDIMENT. I STEVEN MANNELL<br />
significant shift in course of the TWWE<br />
project. In October 1932, Harris complained<br />
to the engineers that Pomphrey<br />
alone had signed approval on drawings:<br />
"Will you please ensure that in future<br />
this approval is indicated on the drawings<br />
by a member of your firm and not<br />
by just one of the staff." 24 By the mid-<br />
1930s, however, Harris had a very different<br />
attitude towards Pomphrey. The<br />
commissioner of buildings had written<br />
to Harris, concerned that "[f]rom time to<br />
time Mr. Pomphrey of Messrs. Gore, Nasmith<br />
& Storey [sic] makes decisions on<br />
the Job in respect to materials and details,<br />
or interprets the specifications [.. .]1<br />
would be glad to know if this meets with<br />
your approval," to which Harris replied :<br />
"Mr. Pomphrey [...]when advising on the<br />
aforesaid work will request the presence<br />
of your Inspector so that he may be fully<br />
informed;" 25 an oblique but nonetheless<br />
definitive delegation of decision-making<br />
authority. From that point forward, Pomphrey<br />
was to be considered Harris's agent<br />
in all matters architectural-a delegation<br />
of authority that he never bestowed on<br />
the engineers, on a project where he<br />
otherwise insisted that all approvals be<br />
issued over his signature alone.<br />
THE TOWER OF PURE WATER<br />
The valve house and pipe tunnel portal<br />
buildings delineated in the 1929 reservoir<br />
contract drawings are the first expressions<br />
of the monumental architectural<br />
language to be deployed in the TWWE.<br />
Ornament conforms to a fairly generalized<br />
neo-classical manner, using such<br />
devices as urns, deep rustication, and<br />
prominent pediment forms, and contains<br />
none of the stylized references to water<br />
supply engineering process that characterize<br />
the later buildings at Victoria Park.<br />
In the plumpness of form and depth of<br />
modeling, the decorative carving of the<br />
portal has affinities to the details of Ferguson<br />
and Pomphrey's Toronto cenotaph<br />
of 1925.<br />
The overhead tank at St . Clair was intended<br />
to be a centrepiece of the Water<br />
Works Extension project, and its design<br />
was developed by Pomphrey under<br />
Harris's careful scrutiny over a period of<br />
three years following the tender of the<br />
reservoir. Situated on a triangular earthen<br />
prow at the south end of the St. Clair Reservoir,<br />
the tank was to command views<br />
from both the new Spadina Road Bridge<br />
and from the eventual Ravine Park below.<br />
William Storrie noted, somewhat laconically:<br />
"In keeping with the surroundings<br />
this tank is of an ornamental type [...]In<br />
general the building is to be faced with<br />
brick of first quality grey stock with stone<br />
base, pilasters and trim cut from the best<br />
quality Queenston limestone." 26 As proposed<br />
in the 1932 contract drawings, a<br />
standard steel water tank (capacity of<br />
460,000 gallons, or five million pounds<br />
of water) is encased by vertical limestone<br />
pilasters, projecting above the tank top in<br />
copper-capped finials. Continuous, deep<br />
relief copper spandrel panels bearing the<br />
"TWW" device are set between the pilasters,<br />
flanked by panels of yellow brick.<br />
The north side, facing the playing fields<br />
atop the reservoir, features a rusticated<br />
limestone portal, topped by a broken<br />
pediment with monumental urn. Towards<br />
the ravine and bridge, the tank presents<br />
a continuous projecting bay housing a<br />
28<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N 1 > 2006
STEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
tion of the St . Clair tower design in 1932,<br />
a large line drawing of the tower elevation<br />
takes the place of the Victoria Park<br />
rendering in articles on the TWWE, with<br />
the tower now acting as the exemplar of<br />
architectural quality and ambition. 29<br />
FIG. 11 . DISTRIG NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK: WORKING DRAWING<br />
ELEVATION AND SEGION SHOWING THE STEEL TANK<br />
CONCEALED BEHIND A MASONRY MASK. I DRAWING H.G<br />
ACRES & CO. LTD. AND GORE, NASMITH & STORRIE, 1929, WATER WORKS<br />
EXTENSION: Sf ClAIR RESERVOIR CONTRAG DRAWINGS, TORONTO, CITY OF<br />
TORONTO DEPARTMENT OF WORKS; SHEET R-1 01<br />
FIG. 12. DISTRICT NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK; DIGITAL MODEL<br />
SHOWING THE MASONRY MASK PARTLY REMOVED<br />
TO REVEAL THE STEEL WATER TANK. I RENDERING AND<br />
DIGITAL MODEL: BENJAMIN CHECKWITCH. STEVEN MANN Ell,<br />
WILLIAM RAWLINGS<br />
The matter of the name of the tank runs<br />
somewhat counter to the rhetoric of the<br />
architecture. In February 1932, Harris's<br />
assistant James Milne proposed "The<br />
St . Clair Water Tower," which Harris re <br />
jected as misleading: "I think that the<br />
name given to this tower should indicate<br />
the purpose of the tank, i.e., the district<br />
to be served, and to this end the structure<br />
might be designated 'District No. 3<br />
Water Tower."' Milne's chastened reply<br />
was: "District No.3 Water Tower is a very<br />
descriptive and most suitable name." 3 D<br />
roof access ladder extending above the Victoria Park pumping station, though<br />
parapet and culminating in a small dome the strong blue-green vertical panels of A FAMILY OF TOWERS IN THE<br />
and flagpole. copper vividly signal the reserve of pure TWWE<br />
water stored within the tower. 27 -----------------<br />
The classical language and the brick, limestone,<br />
and copper material palette of the<br />
overhead tank relate to those of the adjacent<br />
tunnel portal and the valve house,<br />
but with variations signalling the future<br />
direction of development of the architectural<br />
language of the TWWE. Deeply<br />
modeled horizontal limestone mouldings,<br />
neo-Greek urns, and heavy rustication<br />
around the tower doorway are carried<br />
over from the tunnel portal. Wall surfaces<br />
of the tower are brick panels framed by<br />
slightly projecting limestone pilasters, anticipating<br />
the Victoria Park filter building;<br />
other foreshadowing elements are the<br />
limestone finials that extend the pilasters<br />
above the roofline, and the metal decorative<br />
elements: flat incised copper panels<br />
and bronze grillage. Unlike the later<br />
Commissioner Harris's satisfaction with<br />
the design of the tower is expressed<br />
somewhat indirectly in articles on the<br />
TWWE published in engineering journals<br />
in the late 1920s and 1930s. Water filtration,<br />
pumping, and distribution are the<br />
principal focus of those articles, along<br />
with discussion of structural and material<br />
issues, and construction logistics. Architectural<br />
expression is touched upon only<br />
lightly in the texts, as in William Gore's<br />
1929 mention that "The architectural appearance[<br />
.. . ] should be quite pleasing." 28<br />
That article was accompanied by a large<br />
reproduction of a lovely inkwash rendering<br />
of the plan and elevation of the filter<br />
and administrative building at Victoria<br />
Park, done in beaux-arts manner. As the<br />
The creation of expressive towers out of<br />
operational necessity is a theme of the<br />
architecture of the TWWE. There are no<br />
purely honorific towers, rather each tower<br />
is incited by some necessary aspect of the<br />
purification or distribution of water:<br />
• The overhead storage tank at St. Clair is<br />
the founding tower design from 1932,<br />
and was to contain a reserve of water<br />
at high level to ensure pressure and<br />
supply in a power outage. As described<br />
above, the tank was to provide a monumental<br />
and visible sign of the vast<br />
subterranean reservoir; the column of<br />
water within expressed in bright bluegreen<br />
verticals of the oxidized copper<br />
panels on eleven of the twelve faces.<br />
buildings at Victoria Park, the decorative lead image in the article, dominating its • The surge tanks at John Street (on<br />
elements of the tower do not give figural first page, the filter building rendering an octagon plan, designed 1933) and<br />
rhetorical expression to the elements of<br />
engineering process. There are no carved<br />
equivalents to the stylized turbines of the<br />
unequivocally declares the central role of<br />
monumental architectural expression in<br />
the TWWE project. Following the comple-<br />
Sunnyside (Parkdale-on a round plan,<br />
designed 1934, redesigned 1938) both<br />
contain a regulating chamber allowing<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N 1 > 2006<br />
29
S TEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
for variations of pressure in the main<br />
waterfront distribution tunnel.<br />
• The alum feed tower at the Victoria<br />
Park pumping station, designed 1934,<br />
is a rectangular prism with battered<br />
walls housing two gravity feed alum<br />
flocculant hoppers and the associated<br />
head pump equipment. At the<br />
very top of the tower is a tall room<br />
with no defined function, featuring<br />
tall, round arched windows that act<br />
as a beacon on the landscape when<br />
illuminated after dark.<br />
An explicit architectural hierarchy among<br />
the towers is clear, and was consciously established.<br />
The alum tower and overhead<br />
tank were intended as high-order expressive<br />
architecture, rendered in panels of<br />
yellow brickwork (traditionally referred<br />
to in Toronto as "grey" or "stone" brick),<br />
framed by substantial limestone pilasters<br />
and cornices, with copper flashings and<br />
decorative panels and bronze ornamental<br />
screens, and Harris insisted on closely<br />
following their design development. The<br />
surge tanks were lower-order work, rendered<br />
in red utility brick with minimal<br />
flashing and stone detailing. That differentiation<br />
was established by direct order<br />
of the commissioner, well before any concerns<br />
for fiscal retrenchment. In March<br />
1932, Harris wrote to the engineers: "It<br />
has been decided to erect the surge tanks<br />
at John Street and Parkdale pumping<br />
stations without embellishments." The<br />
consultants were forced to write back to<br />
clarify such instruction, as a masonry skin<br />
was essential to protect the tanks from<br />
the elements, and certain "decorative"<br />
stone elements in fact had key structural<br />
or weather protection roles. 31<br />
Towers also play significant roles in the composition<br />
of other waterworks designed by<br />
Pomphrey for Gore, Nasmith, Storrie around<br />
the same period, at Calgary and Ottawa.<br />
Those are both associated with the gravity The Cenotaph's geometry follows that of<br />
feed of alum flocculant to the screened intake<br />
water. High-level viewing balconies are London, which manifests the axis mundi<br />
Lutyens's prototypical 1920 Cenotaph in<br />
another shared feature, though they were between the centre of the earth and dome<br />
not part of the public tour routes through of the sky through entasis of the sides towards<br />
a point 1000 feet in the sky, and with<br />
the works. In those waterworks, as at Victoria<br />
Park and St. Clair, the tower is a device for the steps and string courses following a<br />
organizing and orienting the overall composition.<br />
For Pomphrey, the tower is not an of the earth. 32 Towers are also a recurring<br />
curve centred 900 feet below the surface<br />
element of the literal, physically habitable theme in waterworks development more<br />
public space of the architecture; instead, generally, including such icons of water<br />
the towers acted in a manner analogous supply as Chicago's Water Tower. The role<br />
to the folly temple or hermitage of the of the tower in the image of water supply<br />
as a public service is emphasized in a<br />
English garden tradition, providing a focus<br />
for distant views and a place for imagined number of early twentieth-century publications,<br />
including numerous articles in The<br />
inhabitation. Any tower is a symbolic connection<br />
of earth to sky; in the context of the American City and the 1890 Architectural<br />
TWWE, where the overwhelming majority Competition for Water Towers sponsored<br />
of the physical construction is hidden below<br />
ground in the form of main and sup-<br />
by The Engineering Record. 33<br />
ply tunnels, and underwater in the form of THE END OF THE TANK<br />
the intake crib and tunnel, the tower also<br />
symbolically connects distribution and use of Design work on the District No. 3 overwater<br />
back to the sky and its clouds and rain, head tank was completed by early 1933,<br />
closing the hydrological cycle. That cosmo- and tenders were returned in September<br />
logical understanding of the TWWE towers of that year. 34 Construction (or not) of the<br />
provides a point of linkage to Ferguson and tank quickly became highly controversial,<br />
Pomphrey's Cenotaph in terms of symbolism. w ith Toronto's Board of Control unwilling<br />
30<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006
S TEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
lo' ill. ld \Va rer Tower fur Uhnrkl Nu. 3 .<br />
FIG. 14. LINE DRAWING OFTHE FRONT ELEVATION OF THE DISTRICT<br />
NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK. THIS IMAGE REPLACED THE VICTO<br />
RIA PARK RENDERING AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ARCHI<br />
TECTURAL AMBITIONS OFTHE TWWE IN THE ENGINEERING<br />
PUBLICATIONS OF THE EARLY 1930S. I DRAWJNG WIWAM STORRIE.<br />
1935, c THE TORONTO WATERWORKS EXTENSIONS •. ENGINEERING JOURNAl.<br />
VOL XVIII, N0. 2, FEBRUARY, P. 71 , FIG. 18<br />
to support the estimated $62,000 cost of<br />
the ornamental cladding (out of a total<br />
low bid of $113,347). Commissioner Harris<br />
composed a rare, signed memo to file,<br />
describing the events following upon his<br />
being "summoned to appear before the<br />
Board of Control" to justify the expenditure.35<br />
He immediately met with his senior<br />
staff engineer Mr. Powell, and William<br />
Storrie, to discuss strategy.<br />
The Toronto Telegram supported the opposition<br />
w ith the headline "Bill for Camouflage<br />
a Trifle Large." The local residents<br />
and the Toronto Star were generally in<br />
favour of the cladding scheme, as being<br />
"a credit to the city and to the fine district<br />
in which it will be erected," but at a time<br />
of economic difficulty, many felt the local<br />
district alone should bear the cost of<br />
the dressing. Given that the tank was intended<br />
to serve a different district of the<br />
city entirely, it was an ironic proposition.<br />
Harris had done little to ensure strong<br />
local support. A . E. LePage, in support of<br />
the tank also wrote to the mayor: "the<br />
ratepayers of the Hill should have the<br />
privilege, through the newspapers, of<br />
FIG. 15. THE FAMILY OF TOWERS IN THE TWWE. FROM LEFT: DISTRICT NO.3 OVERHEAD TANK, REAR ELEVATION OF THE DIGITAL<br />
MODEL SHOWING THE PROJECTING BAY AND CUPOLA HOUSING THE ROOF ACCESS LADDER; THE ALUM FEED TOWER AT<br />
VICTORIA PARK; THE SURGE TOWER AT THE JOHN STREET PUMPING STATION; AND THE SURGE TOWER AT THE PARKDALE<br />
f SUNNYSIDE PUMPING STATION. I FROM LEFTo RENDERING AND DIGITAL MODEL Of DISTRICT NO.3 TANKo BENJAMIN CHECKWITCH. STEVEN MANN ELL.<br />
WilliAM RAWLINGS. PHOTO OF JOHN STREET SURGE TOWER: ARTHUR GOSS, CITY Of TORONTO ARCHIVES, RGB, SERIES 6S, ITEM 13. PHOTOS Of VICTORIA PARK ALUM<br />
FEED TOWER AND PARKDALE SURGE TOWER: STEVEN MANN ELL<br />
seeing the designs, with and without ornamentation,<br />
together with a plan showing<br />
its exact location." 36<br />
On September 27, Harris sent a memo to<br />
the Board of Control along with a book<br />
of photos of exposed steel water tanks,<br />
provided by the fabricator. Regarding the<br />
exposed tanks, he wrote: "A few of these<br />
structures have been built in the United<br />
States. I have not seen any of them and<br />
therefore cannot advise as to their appearance.<br />
The designs however do not appeal<br />
to me." In regards to a more modest<br />
"dressed" tank, he advised : "[ ... ] we have<br />
made further study of the design and<br />
have concluded that modification cannot<br />
be made without such sacrifice of appearance<br />
as to make it relatively unsightly." 37<br />
Harris's rather haughty tone did little<br />
to appease the Board of Control. Consequently,<br />
on September 30, "in view<br />
of the existing financial conditions, the<br />
Board decided not to award a contract<br />
for this work [ ... ] and directed the commissioner<br />
of works to give the question<br />
of design further study with a view to<br />
having a new specification prepared for<br />
a less elaborate design." 38 The consulting<br />
engineers prepared drawings for an unadorned<br />
steel tank, but Harris preferred<br />
to cancel the tank altogether for the time<br />
being. Time proved to be the enemy of<br />
the tank, however. Designed to provide<br />
thirty minutes of pressure and supply during<br />
power outages, the need for the tank<br />
became increasingly reduced as both the<br />
number and the duration of power outages<br />
dropped steadily and dramatically<br />
through the late 1930s and early 1940s.<br />
By the time the Victoria Park works were<br />
operational in 1941, the data in the Works<br />
Department's annual reports show that<br />
power interruptions had become negligible,<br />
eliminating the problem the tank<br />
was meant to solve. 39<br />
The foundations had been constructed<br />
under the 1929 reservoir contract, and<br />
were diligently maintained, protected by<br />
a timber hoarding. Commissioner Harris<br />
passed away in 1945, having jealously<br />
protected the tank foundations through<br />
the intervening years. His vision of the<br />
Water Works Extension was maintained<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006<br />
31
STEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 16. EXTENDED FAM ILY OF WATERWORKS TOWERS DESIGNED BY POMPHREY AND GNS. FROM LEFT: LEMIEUX ISLAND WATER<br />
WORKS, OTIAWA; GLENMO RE WATER WORKS, CA LGARY. I STEVEN MANNELL<br />
by his immediate successors as commissioner<br />
of works, most of w ho had w o rked<br />
closely with Harris in the original vision<br />
and execution of the project. In 1947,<br />
the Ward 4 Committee of Women Voters<br />
wrote to Commissioner G.G. Powell<br />
complaining of the unsafe and unsightly<br />
condition of these foundatio ns, asking<br />
that they be removed. Pow ell instead o r<br />
dered the foundations to be prot ected<br />
by new hoardings. Evidently, even at t hat<br />
late date, Commissioner Harris's dream<br />
for the tower of pure w ater remained<br />
alive. 40<br />
BUILDING THE VIRTUAL TANK<br />
In a posthumous effort to red re ss the<br />
commissioner's frustrations, the archival<br />
model of the District No.3 overhead tank<br />
has been constructed in strict accordance<br />
w ith the 1933 contract drawing s, and is<br />
a full, three-d imensional representatio n<br />
of all physical elements of the tank . The<br />
model was constructed in Vector Works,<br />
a 3D CAD (computer-aided design) program,<br />
then exported to 3D Stud io MAX<br />
for fine tuning and rendering. The t exture<br />
and material maps are based on scans of<br />
the present state of the materials of the<br />
gatehouse and tunnel portal building<br />
at the St . Clair site, and of materials at<br />
the V ictoria Park filtration plant. Views<br />
of the model were then rendered and<br />
mapped onto scans of site and archival<br />
photographs us ing PhotoShop. Model<br />
construction is by Benjamin Checkwitch<br />
and material maps, renderings, and photomontages<br />
by William Rawlings, graduate<br />
students in the School of Architecture<br />
at <strong>Dalhousie</strong> <strong>University</strong>.<br />
A rchival models and digital reconstructions<br />
offer an opportunity to honour<br />
the fullness of an original design, uncovering<br />
particulars and qualities that<br />
may not be immediately evident in the<br />
surviving documents. In the case of the<br />
overhead tank, the building was fully designed<br />
and construction drawings were<br />
complete when the project was cancelled,<br />
so little interpolation was required in<br />
t he modeling. In effect, we carried out<br />
digitally what had been intended as a<br />
physical and material act in the 1930s,<br />
and the work was very literal-minded<br />
FIG. 17. HONOURABLE MENTION DESIGN FOR A WATER<br />
TOWER BY "ALERT" (0. VON NERTA, WASHINGTON<br />
D.C.), FROM THE 1893 ENGINEERING RECORD COM·<br />
PETITION FOR WATER TOWER, PUMPING AND POWER<br />
STATION DESIGNS. I DRAWI NGo !ENGINEERING RECORD EOITORSL<br />
1893, WATER TOWER, PUMPING AND POWER STATION DESIGNS, NEW<br />
YORK, ENGINEERING RECORD<br />
FIG. 18. FERGUSON & POMPHREY, COMPETITION-WINNING<br />
DESIGN FOR THE TORONTO CENOTAPH, 1925. I<br />
SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES, FO NDS 2008, SERIES 372,<br />
SUB-SERIES 41, ITEM 250<br />
3 2<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
STEVEN MANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
FIG. 19. RENDERED CAD MODEL OF THE DISTRICT NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK AS PROPOSED BY POMPHREY AND HARRIS WITH BRICK AND STONE CLADDING, COLLAGED INTO ARCHIVAL PANORAMIC<br />
PHOTOGRAPHS BY WORKS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ARTHUR GOSS. AERIAL VIEW FROM THE CORNER OF ST. CLAIR AVENUE AND SPADINA ROAD, SHOWING THE PLAYING FIELDS ON TOP OF<br />
THE RESERVOIR. I PHOTOMONTAGE. RENDERING AND DIGITAL MODEL: BENJAM IN CHECKWITCH. STEVEN MANN ELL. WILLIAM RAWLINGS. BASE PHOTOGRAPH: ARTHUR GOSS. CITY Of TORONTO ARCHIVES, RG8, SER IES 65, ITE MS 1 57·1 58<br />
FIG. 20. THE DISTRICT NO. 3 OVERHEAD TANK AS PROPOSED BY POMPHREY AND HARRIS WITH BRICK AND STONE CLADDING,<br />
VIEWED FROM THE SPADINA ROAD BRIDGE, SHOWING THE TUNNEL PORTAL AND VALVE HOUSE BUILDINGS IN THE CEN<br />
TRE OF THE VIEW, WITH STEPS GIVING ACCESS FROM THE RESERVOIR TOP DOWN INTO THE RAVINE PARK. I PHOTOMONTAGE,<br />
RENDERING AND DIGITAL MODEl: BENJAMIN CHECKWITCH, STEVEN MANNELL WilliAM RAWLINGS. BASE PHOTO: ARTHUR GOSS. SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO<br />
ARCHIVES, RG8, SERIES 72 ITEMS 1166 & 1167<br />
rechecking of all the material notes on<br />
the original drawings confirmed the model,<br />
and overturned our preconceptions.<br />
Similarly, the scale of the tank had become<br />
loosely associated with the scale of<br />
the existing Parkdale surge tank; once the<br />
rendered model views were montaged<br />
into the site photographs, it became clear<br />
that the District No. 3 overhead tank was<br />
at least half again as large as we had envisioned,<br />
with a corresponding increase<br />
in our sense of its monumental presence<br />
on the site.<br />
NOTES<br />
FIG. 21. THE SAME VIEWPOINT AS ABOVE, SHOWING THE " UNADORNED" STEEL TANK, AS PROPOSED BY THE BOARD OF<br />
CONTROl. I PHOTOMONTAGE, RENDERING AND DIGITAL MODEL: BENJAMIN CHECKWITCH, STEVEN MANNELL. WILLIAM RAWLINGS. BASE PHOTO: ARTHUR GOSS,<br />
CITY OF TORONTO ARCHIVES, RGS, SERIES 72 ITEMS 1166-1167<br />
and somewhat pedantic. Yet, there were<br />
real discoveries to be made in the process.<br />
The exquisite quality of the original<br />
ink on linen construction drawings tend<br />
to focus the observer on their inherent<br />
qualities as artefacts, and distract from<br />
an appreciation of the building that the<br />
drawings were intended to project into<br />
the world. After some time working with<br />
the drawings, one tended to envision the<br />
tank in terms of its outlines and linear<br />
surface renderings, or with some effort it<br />
could be pictured as a grey-toned object.<br />
Material rendering of the model with<br />
colour and texture was startling-we<br />
were completely unprepared for the vivid<br />
blue-green verticals of the copper spandrels,<br />
which at first seemed lurid. A fast<br />
1. For an overview of the Toronto Water Works<br />
Extension project along with a detailed account<br />
of the Victoria Parks Water Works component<br />
ofthe project, see Mannell, Steven, 1999, «The<br />
Palace of Purification», Journal of the Society<br />
for the Study of Architecture in Canada,<br />
vol. 24, no. 3, p. 18-26. The author wishes to<br />
acknowledge the generous financial support<br />
of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research<br />
Council. As well, important assistance has been<br />
provided by the Water Supply Division of the<br />
City of Toronto Works and Emergency Services<br />
Department, The City of Toronto Archives (especially<br />
Lawrence Lee, Sally Gibson and Mark<br />
Cuddy), and Wayne Reeves. Manda Vranic of<br />
the Metro Toronto Archives and Records Centre<br />
(now City of Toronto Archives) identified<br />
the contract documents and drawings related<br />
to the overhead tank at the St. Clair Reservoir<br />
during research for the 1995-1997 MTARC<br />
(Metropolitan Toronto Archives and Records<br />
Centre) exhibition Pipe Dreams: The History<br />
of Water and Sewer Infrastructure in Toronto;<br />
these were brought to the author's attention<br />
by Wayne Reeves and Lawrence Lee.<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006<br />
33
STEVEN M ANNELL > ANALYSIS I ANALYSE<br />
2. Harris, R.C., 1913, Report of the Commissioner<br />
of Works on Additions and Extensions to the<br />
Toronto Waterworks Pumping and Distribution<br />
Plant, Toronto. For the preceding report: The<br />
Board of Water Commissioners, Report Upon<br />
the Existing Water Works System and Upon an<br />
Additional Water Supply, Toronto, 1912.<br />
3. Reports, articles, clippings, diagrams, and<br />
sketches relating to the Civic Plan Commission,<br />
the boulevard design for St. Clair Avenue, the<br />
Don Valley Parkway, and other proposals are<br />
found loose among the Toronto Guild of Civic<br />
Art papers in The Baldwin Room, Toronto Reference<br />
Library.<br />
4. Harris, R.C., F.A . Gaby, and E.L. Cousins, 1915,<br />
Report to the Civic Transportation Committee<br />
on Radial Railway Entrances and Rapid Transit<br />
for the City of Toronto, Toronto.<br />
5. Toronto Harbour Commissioners, Toronto Waterfront<br />
Development 1912-1920, Toronto, 191-?<br />
6. City of Toronto Archives (CTA), Series 13, Water<br />
Supply Section Correspondence, file 136.<br />
7. Taylor, Thomas, internal Works Department<br />
memorandum to G.G Powell, April 23, 1924.<br />
CTA, series 13, file 136.<br />
8. Harris, R.C., letter to James C. Forman, Esq., commissioner<br />
of assessment, April 22, 1925. CTA, series<br />
13, file 136.<br />
9. Acres, H.G ., and William Gore, 1926, Report on<br />
Proposed Ex tensions to the Water Works System,<br />
Toronto, p. 4.<br />
10. Acres and Gore: 3-4, 36-38.<br />
11 . Acres and Gore: 4, 35, 38.<br />
12. See correspondence, press clippings, and extracts<br />
from minutes of the Board of Control<br />
in CTA, series 13, file 781 . Of course, Toronto's<br />
ravine systems now form the basis of the city's<br />
only coherent parks network; ironically, the<br />
preservation of the ravine lands is entirely due<br />
t o the early t w entieth century sense of their<br />
worthlessness.<br />
13. Guild papers, Baldwin Room, Toronto Reference<br />
Library.<br />
14. Gore, William, letter to R.C. Harris, May 7, 1926.<br />
CTA, series 13, file 781.<br />
15. Gore, William, 1929, « Extensions to Water<br />
Works at Toronto », The Canadian Engineer,<br />
vol. 57, no. 2, July 9, p. 154.<br />
16. Fo r a brief discussion of the viaduct design process,<br />
see Mannell : 22.<br />
17. Correspondence related to the bidding and<br />
contract award for the reservoir and bridge<br />
are contained in CTA, series 13, file 261 .<br />
18. H.G. Acres & Co. Ltd. and Gore, Nasmith & Storrie,<br />
1929, Water Works Extension: St. Clair Reservoir<br />
contract drawings, Toronto, City of Toronto<br />
Department of Works.<br />
19. Gore, William, 1929, « Extensions to Water<br />
Works at Toronto >, The Canadian Engineer,<br />
vol. 57, no. 2, July 9, p. 154.<br />
20. Gore, William, letter to R.C. Harris, June 28, 1927.<br />
CTA, series 13, file 137.<br />
21 . Gore, William, letter to R.C. Harris, September<br />
2, 1931. CTA, series 13, file 138.<br />
22. Storrie, William, letter to R.C Harris, January 20,<br />
1932. CTA, series 13, file 137.<br />
23. Mannell, Steven, and Wayne C. Reeves, 1997,<br />
Thomas Canfield Pomphrey: Vita and Works,<br />
(unpublished paper).<br />
24. Harris, R.C., letter to William Gore, October 4,<br />
1932. CTA, series 13, file 261.<br />
25. Gillies, K.S., commissioner of buildings, letter to R.C.<br />
Harris, November 2, 1933; Harris, R.C., letter to K.S.<br />
Gillies, November 6, 1933. CTA, series 13, file 141.<br />
26. Storrie, William, 1935, « The Toronto Waterworks<br />
Extensions », Engineering Journal,<br />
vol. XVIII, no. 2, February, p. 70-71.<br />
27. H.G. Acres & Co. Ltd., and Gore, Nasmith & Storrie,<br />
1933, Water Works Extension: Overhead<br />
Tank District No.3 Contract Drawings, Toronto,<br />
City of Toronto Department of Works.<br />
28. Gore, William, 1929,
ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
CHALLENGING "AMATEUR ARCHITECTURE"<br />
IN THE DIOCESE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 1875-1900<br />
BARRY MAGRILL is a Ph.D. candidate in the<br />
Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory<br />
>BARRY MAGRILL 1<br />
at the <strong>University</strong> of British Columbia. His areas<br />
of interest include nineteenth-century architecture<br />
and social formations as well as medieval European<br />
architecture and sculpture.<br />
In the last quarter of the nineteenth<br />
century, "untutored" architects continued<br />
to work in Western Canada despite<br />
the increasing professionalization of<br />
architectural practice. 2 Those informally<br />
trained builders-cum-architects and enthusiasts-for-hire<br />
were constructed as<br />
"amateurs" by a process of professionalization<br />
in architectural practice. 3 An<br />
analysis of the status and practice of<br />
"amateur architects" in British Columbia<br />
affords an opportunity to look at a complex<br />
and conflictual social and economic<br />
system regarding "taste" and "fashion."<br />
In this paper, I will analyze the interface<br />
between the condition of the "amateur"<br />
and the claims of the "professional"<br />
with regard to churches built in Victoria,<br />
British Columbia in the last quarter of<br />
the nineteenth century.<br />
METHOD<br />
A description of the social operations of<br />
taste-cum-fashion will be followed by a<br />
cross-denominational case study focused<br />
upon the Anglican Church of St. James,<br />
James Bay (near Victoria) {1883) (fig. 1),<br />
and the Metropolitan Methodist Church<br />
{1890) (fig. 2) on Pandora Avenue in Victoria.<br />
The purpose of the case study is<br />
to illustrate an inversion of some contemporaneous<br />
observations about the<br />
way amateur architects found their inspiration.<br />
My employment of case study<br />
invites a multi-perspectival approach to<br />
data analysis that makes use of those<br />
nuances in the complicated social dynamics<br />
of church-building. Afterwards, the<br />
construction of those churches will be recontextualized<br />
by identifying particular<br />
geographical and inter-denominational<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006 > 35-42<br />
35
B ARRY M AGR ILL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
clientele while professionals might be immune.<br />
I contend, quite the contrary, that<br />
such pressures affected all practitioners,<br />
each in their own way.<br />
FIG. 2. METROPOLITAN METHODIST CHURCH, VICTORIA, BC. THOMAS HOOPER (1890).1 BRITISH COLUMBIA ARCHIVES<br />
tensions that took the form of architec-<br />
tural rivalry. Situating the analysis in the<br />
last quarter of the nineteenth century<br />
will illustrate how the development of<br />
eclecticism inverts the concept that amateurs<br />
were more susceptible to the latest<br />
fashion trends.<br />
CHALLENGING THE<br />
"FASHIONABLE AMATEUR"<br />
The term "amateur" architect had associations<br />
in the nineteenth century with<br />
less formal education and with the construction<br />
of more humble buildings. However,<br />
the term "amateur" refers less to the<br />
quality of architecture produced than it<br />
does to the legitimizing claims of so-called<br />
"professionals" relative to artistic and<br />
economic statuses. More recently, the<br />
term's association with the vernacular has<br />
resulted in a re-imagining of the status<br />
of local building practices in relation to<br />
artistic production.• That is, architecture<br />
produced by amateurs, upon close examination,<br />
was conducted in all seriousness<br />
and was also infused with the same nostalgic<br />
or antiquarian processes as those<br />
buildings produced by professionals.<br />
To set themselves apart from a so-called<br />
lesser class of builder, professional archi-<br />
tects instituted a kind of preferential and<br />
refined taste around themselves and their<br />
designs. 5 Indeed, taste was advertised as<br />
the lack of education forming public tasan<br />
enduring aspect of civilized society,<br />
the proof of which was visibly related to<br />
So-called "professionals," to legitimize<br />
claims of social superiority, continued<br />
to describe their practice in terms of<br />
"taste" as separated from those transient<br />
elements of "fashion." At the same time,<br />
fashion had a way of being presented as<br />
taste, in no small part, due to the marketing<br />
of new commercial practices. The<br />
conflation between taste and fashion<br />
was so complete that even those "elite"<br />
persons, whose social statuses depended<br />
upon projecting the "refined" aspects of<br />
taste, often stood accused of following<br />
fashion while calling it taste.<br />
An astute contemporary observer marked<br />
such distinctions. The British architect and<br />
author Charles Eastlake complained about<br />
te-cum-fashion in his popular book Hints<br />
on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholsthe<br />
appropriation of an ancient aesthetic tery, and Other Details. He lamented :<br />
in architectural design. 6<br />
Some late nineteenth-century audiences<br />
readily accepted that buildings designed<br />
by professional architects had greater<br />
claims to those more enduring-oftenantiquarian-aspects<br />
of taste. Those<br />
who followed such rationale believed<br />
that other less discerning amateurs would<br />
have been expected to follow the transient<br />
fashions of the day. Such audiences<br />
might be convinced that amateurs were<br />
" hopelessly" tied to rapid changes in style,<br />
an economic condition of modernity. That<br />
type of argument depended upon the logic<br />
that education in architecture meant<br />
that professionals rose above the whims<br />
of public fashion in ways less formally<br />
trained amateurs could not avoid. That<br />
is, economic pressures might cause amateurs<br />
to succumb to the dictates of their<br />
"The faculty of distinguishing good taste<br />
from bad design in the familiar objects<br />
of domestic life is a faculty which most<br />
educated people [ .. . ) conceive that they<br />
possess. How it has been acquired few<br />
would be able to explain. The general<br />
impression seems to be, that it is the peculiar<br />
inheritance of gentle blood, and independent<br />
of all training." 7 He continued<br />
by accusing both the "generally ignorant"<br />
and the educated classes of following the<br />
latest fashions being passed off as those<br />
more enduring aspects of taste. "The<br />
latest invention, although it might violate<br />
every principle of good design," he<br />
complained, "was sure to be a favourite<br />
with the majority."' Meanwhile, the public's<br />
fascination with the latest design,<br />
no matter how distasteful according to<br />
Eastlake, constructed the new as admirable<br />
and the old as hideous. 9 In Eastlake's<br />
36<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
B ARRY M AGRI LL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
estimation, those untutored amateurs<br />
pursued the latest trends erroneously<br />
associated with taste. Meanwhile, he argued<br />
that those educated professionals<br />
should remain dedicated to tradition,<br />
though it was mistakenly referred to as<br />
old-fashioned and ugly. Eastlake's position<br />
was a reaction to the way marketing<br />
compressed "fashion" in architectural<br />
practice together with taste. 10<br />
$1000 were received from England. The<br />
following November, a cornerstone was<br />
laid by Mrs. Cornwall. 13 Construction of<br />
the timber-framed church, dedicated<br />
St. James, was completed in January<br />
1885. The Colonist described the church<br />
as "very pretty," noting its vestry location<br />
under the tower. The press listed the<br />
church's cost of construction as $3500 and<br />
its architect as William de Ia Penotiere. 14<br />
Eastlake blamed the shift in the social<br />
operation of taste on the development<br />
of eclecticism, which he found aplenty<br />
in architecture. He wrote: "artistic taste<br />
in the nineteenth century, based as it is<br />
upon eclecticism rather than tradition,<br />
is capricious and subject to constant variation.""<br />
Eastlake's references to taste<br />
straddle domestic and religious architecture<br />
in his long introduction leading<br />
to an attack on the "miserable" status<br />
of English home decor. He knew his architecture,<br />
having reinforced the "invention"<br />
of the Gothic Revival by way of his<br />
contemporaneous and historical accounts<br />
Arriving in Vancouver from Ontario<br />
in 1884, de Ia Penotiere had no formal<br />
architectural training. 15 He went into<br />
partnership with George F. Wake as realestate<br />
agents and surveyors. Their one<br />
commission was St. James, James Bay,<br />
though de Ia Penotiere later formed a<br />
brief partnership with S.C. Burris, designing<br />
a residence on Victoria Crescent,<br />
as well as the fittings for the Victoria<br />
Club. 16<br />
Archival images of St. James, James Bay,<br />
in the B.C. Provincial Archives, show that<br />
the church was a simple timber structure<br />
FIG. 3. ST. ANDREW'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, VICTORIA, BC<br />
(1890). LEONARD BUTTRESS TRIMEN. I BARRY MAGRILL<br />
By November 1887, St. James had undergone<br />
a renovation, not to alter the aesthetic,<br />
but to insulate the walls and add a<br />
small antique porch in the main entrance.<br />
The church's aesthetic appeal must have<br />
endured because the Colonist continued<br />
to refer to the church as "handsome."' 7<br />
of eighteenth and nineteenth-century architectural<br />
with clapboard finish (fig. 1). Nave and<br />
practices.' 2 More importantly, chancel were separately articulated, as CASE STUDY: VICTORIA'S<br />
his position indicates both a desire to was the tower and broach spire that con- "FASHIONABLE" ECLECTICISM<br />
separate taste from fashion while clearly<br />
recognising the practice of their inextricable<br />
porosity.<br />
To put those observations into a Canadian<br />
context, I present a case study of two<br />
churches built nearly contemporaneously<br />
in the final decades of the nineteenth<br />
century and located not more than a mile<br />
from one another in Victoria, B.C.<br />
CASE STUDY: TRADITION AT<br />
ST. JAMES, JAMES BAY<br />
On November 4, 1883, the British Daily<br />
Colonist newspaper announced that<br />
four lots in James Bay (near Victoria)<br />
had been purchased at the cost of $2500<br />
for an Episcopal church. Contributions of<br />
nected those two building components.<br />
A fine proportion was achieved between<br />
the triple lancet window in the east end<br />
and the slim buttresses articulating the<br />
tower. In sum, the church was a competent<br />
version of Augustus Welby Pugin's<br />
"True Principles" for Gothic Revival building,<br />
popularized nearly forty years earlier.<br />
Pug in's principles called for separate<br />
building components that externally reflected<br />
internal liturgical functions, the<br />
truthful use of building materials, and<br />
simple planning that could allow the completion<br />
of a tower and spire in the initial<br />
building phase. In contrast with another<br />
church building by Methodist and Presbyterian<br />
congregations only a few miles<br />
away, St. James must have appeared oldfashioned<br />
and rather incongruous.<br />
By contrast, eclecticism on a grand scale<br />
signalled social privilege and pretension<br />
throughout most other parts of Victoria.<br />
Various religious congregations hired<br />
several prestigious architects and gave<br />
them large budgets with which to work.<br />
In the case of the Metropolitan Methodist<br />
Church on Pandora Avenue (1889-1891),<br />
social aspirations had dramatic economic<br />
results. The church's congregation opted<br />
to use stone for Thomas Hooper's (1857-<br />
1935)'8 Richardsonian Romanesque design<br />
originally envisioned and budgeted for<br />
brick. The rusticated masonry incorporated<br />
into the Scottish Baronial hanging<br />
turrets and a French Chateau arrangement<br />
created a more prestigious aesthetic.<br />
Unfortunately, the church's contractor,<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
37
BARRY MAGRILL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 4. ST. ANDREW'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, VICTORIA, BC (1892). PERRAULT &<br />
MESNARD. I BARRY MAGR ILL<br />
W.H. Burkholder, who bid $50,224 forthe<br />
builder trying to elevate his status. Intender,<br />
was unable to adjust for the chan-<br />
ge in richer material and was probably<br />
bankrupted by the building committee's<br />
Eastlake complained amateurs were susdesire<br />
for increased social status in the<br />
community.' 9<br />
The progressive and eclectic design for<br />
Metropolitan Methodist, which incorporated<br />
an amphitheatrical seating plan, roomy<br />
entrance area, and integrated Akron<br />
plan Sunday school, was more acceptable<br />
to nonconformist tastes. Such functional<br />
elements were rational manipulations of<br />
Gothic planning, but the exterior arrangement<br />
was precisely the aesthetic that<br />
Eastlake had termed "fashion ." That<br />
"fashionable" look was to be avoided<br />
More importantly, Metropolitan Methoby<br />
those architects calling themselves<br />
"professionals," according<br />
to Eastlake and<br />
other dominant Angl<br />
ican voices forming<br />
Canadian society. The<br />
Colonist described the<br />
design as Romanesque<br />
and drew attention to<br />
the 120-foot tower sur-<br />
rounded by an elabo-<br />
rate iron finial and its<br />
delicate ceiling. A roo-<br />
my entrance area and<br />
superior heating and<br />
acoustics also merited<br />
mention. 20<br />
ANALYSIS<br />
St. James was designed<br />
by an enthusiast-for-hire.<br />
Aside from real-estate<br />
sales and possibly<br />
some surveying work,<br />
William de Ia Penotiere<br />
had little legitimate<br />
claim to architectural<br />
practice. That is, he<br />
was not a contractor or<br />
terestingly, his design shows no signs of<br />
those fashionable aesthetics that Charles<br />
ceptible to. Still, the church was referred<br />
to as "pretty" and not hideous, in spite<br />
of its old-fashioned design.<br />
Otherwise, Thomas Hooper's design<br />
for the Metropolitan Methodist Church<br />
exhibits many of those fashionable elements<br />
of the day. Hooper had an exceptionally<br />
lengthy and respected career in<br />
architecture, though he died penniless<br />
after making and losing four fortunes. 21<br />
These cases show an inversion of the<br />
positions of amateur and professional.<br />
dist signals an instance wherein "fashion"<br />
was marketed to Canadian audiences as<br />
" taste." That is, the Colonist recognised<br />
the nomenclature of Hooper's design<br />
Romanesque-most likely because of the<br />
style's fashionableness.<br />
An amateur working in a city enamoured<br />
of the eclectic produced a conventional<br />
and not a fashionable design. To unders<br />
tand the diverse positions the churches<br />
used in this case study requires some re<br />
contextualization.<br />
RE-CONTEXTUALIZING THE<br />
CASE STUDY: CHURCH-BUILDING<br />
ACROSS THE STRAIT OF GEORGIA<br />
To put these cases into perspective, we<br />
examine a geographical rivalry between<br />
Vancouver and Victoria as well as interdenominational<br />
rivalries between Anglican<br />
and nonconformist congregations.<br />
Vancouver Island and lower mainland British<br />
Columbia experienced rapid growth<br />
in church building in the last quarter of<br />
the nineteenth century, commensurate<br />
with settlement expansion in Canada<br />
West. That growth in religious institution<br />
was associated with other factors<br />
affecting settle·• ent expansion, such as<br />
increased branc' ·line rail travel, shipping,<br />
and resource ext raction . The boom and<br />
bust economies introduced into Western<br />
Canada came along with increased missionary<br />
activity along coastal communities,<br />
especially with respect to First Nations<br />
and mining communities. Christian missions<br />
were established alongside the gold<br />
and coal-mining camps as quickly as strikes<br />
were discovered, and sometimes they<br />
moved on just as rapidly when resources<br />
dried up. Meanwhile, large towns such<br />
as V ictoria had wealthy religious congregations<br />
that attracted some impressive<br />
and progressive architects to design<br />
churches.<br />
38 JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006
B ARRY M AGRILL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 5. ST. AN DREW'S PRESBYTERIAN, VANCOUVE R, BC (1892). WILLIAM BLACKMORE. I BRITISH CO LUMBIA ARCHIV ES<br />
FIG. 6. CHRIST CHURCH (NOW CATHEDRAL), VANCOUVER, BC<br />
(1895). C.O. WICKENDEN. I BARRY MAGRILL<br />
In the 1880s, settlement expansion and<br />
the growth in religious institution in British<br />
Columbia coincided with an architectural<br />
rivalry that occurred between<br />
Victoria and Vancouver (the area formerly<br />
known as Granville dispersed around Hastings<br />
Mill). Agitated when the Canadian<br />
Pacific Railway was enticed to alter its<br />
western terminus from Port Moody to<br />
Vancouver, the political-cu m-architectural<br />
rivalry between Victoria and Vancouver<br />
was given spatial expression in civic,<br />
religious, and domestic buildings."<br />
That architectural rivalry continued in<br />
Victoria even after the actualization of<br />
the terminus in Vancouver in 1884. Thu s,<br />
throughout the 1880s and 1890s, Victoria<br />
continued to produce a more metropolitan-almost<br />
cosmopolitan-vision, which<br />
included new churches by a variety of<br />
denominations. The urban aspirations<br />
of Victoria tended to produce eclectic,<br />
progressive, and innovative architecture<br />
when one might have expected to discover<br />
more conventional architectural tastes.<br />
Leonard Buttress Trimen (1846-1892} won<br />
the competition to design St. Andrew's<br />
Presbyterian Church (1890} (fig. 3}, which<br />
incorporated Scottish Baronial elements<br />
in a brick-built Richardsonian Romanesque<br />
body. The Montreal firm of Perrault<br />
& Mesnard produced a High Victorian<br />
Gothic brick-clad design for St. Andrew's<br />
Roman Catholic Cathedral (1892} (fig. 4},<br />
complete with a tripartite west portal<br />
surmounted by a rose window within<br />
a large enclosing arch housing a central<br />
gable and sporting a 175-foot spire.<br />
Indeed, the modus operandi of those<br />
wealthy patrons and congregations was<br />
to pursue the leading edge of architectural<br />
design-eclecticism-, but call it<br />
"taste." That was precisely what Eastlake<br />
had deemed unacceptable.<br />
By contrast, dioceses located around Vancouver<br />
produced more modest church<br />
structures in the same time period,<br />
due to limited funding. Examples are<br />
St. Andrew's Presbyterian (1892} (fig. 5},<br />
Christ Church (1889-1895} (now Cathedral)<br />
(fig. 6), St. James Church (1898} (fig. 7}, and<br />
the Wesley Methodist Church on Georgia<br />
(1901) . The notable exception was Holy<br />
Rosary built for a Catholic congregation<br />
by T.E . Julian in 1899. St. Andrew's and the<br />
Wesleyan Methodist churches comprised<br />
impressive elements but were built of timber,<br />
not as rich a material as stone. Those<br />
more imposing churches in Vancouver<br />
arrived during the first two decades of the<br />
new century. Two examples are St. John's<br />
United Presbyterian Church (1906}, which<br />
combined a Gothic Revival design with<br />
hammer-dressed stone finish and amphitheatrical<br />
seating plan, as well as St. Francis<br />
Xavier Church on Pender Street (1910},<br />
which combined a large Gothic brick-built<br />
edifice with tall double towered western<br />
fac;ade . The increased economic activity in<br />
Vancouver after the turn of the century<br />
played a significant role in determining<br />
the town's ability to portray the latest<br />
architectural fashion.<br />
Vancouver's lack of early success in building<br />
monumental church stock is exemplified<br />
in the competition held to construct<br />
Christ Church on Georgia Street in 1891.<br />
The competition judges awarded the first<br />
prize to J.C.M. Keith's (1858-1940) 23 impressive<br />
Latin-cross design which incorporated<br />
a traditional arrangement of Early English<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
39
B ARRY MAGR ILL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 8. CHRIST CHURCH, ALERT BAY ON CORMORANT ISLAND, BC (1882). REV. ALFRED JAMES HALL. [ BARRY MAGRILL<br />
FIG. 9. ST. ANNE'S, PARKSVILLE, BC (1894).[ BARRY MAGRILL<br />
40 JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006
B ARRY M AGRILL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
lancet windows throughout an aisled nave,<br />
east and west transepts, as well as a monumental<br />
western tower and spire. However,<br />
funding limitations left Keith's plan unrealized<br />
. Three years later, local architect<br />
Charles Osborne Wickenden (1851-1934)<br />
produced a more modest but progressive<br />
design consisti ng of a longitudinal nave<br />
w ith side aisles, north and south porches,<br />
transepts, and a five-light lancet arrangement<br />
in the western wall. The exterior<br />
walling was done in hammer-dressed masonry,<br />
an economic nod to the fashionable<br />
Romanesque Revival. The innovative open<br />
interior space was spanned by a hammerbeam<br />
roof punctuated by fully integrated<br />
dormer windows. Though lagging behind<br />
Victoria in architectural aspirations, Christ<br />
Church shows a community catching up<br />
with some of the latest fashions by hiring<br />
the services of a professional architect,<br />
C.O. Wickenden.<br />
INTER-DENOMINATIONAL<br />
RIVALRY<br />
Architects designing religious buildings had<br />
multiple "clients." Church architecture ten-<br />
ded towards a co llective process involving<br />
produce an anachronism in a city dominathe<br />
designer, select parishioners formed<br />
rivals. Those rivalries were often spatial<br />
expressions of differences of liturg ical<br />
opinion. One need only glance at publications<br />
by the Cambridge Camden (later<br />
Ecclesio logica l) Society (1841-1868), which<br />
was affiliated with Anglicanism, to appreciate<br />
the depth of such rivalries.<br />
As the case studies data indicate, Anglican<br />
church-building continued into the<br />
end of the century with the use of a<br />
Gothic Revival idiom. Anglicans' dedication<br />
to antiquarianism remained almost<br />
completely intact. That de Ia Penotiere<br />
exhibited nostalgia for Anglican church<br />
stock nearly forty years old was also the<br />
responsibility of his clientele. By contrast,<br />
nonconformist congregations like<br />
the Methodist appeared more willing to<br />
encourage architectural experimentation.<br />
Those "profess ionals" who responded<br />
positively to eclecticism likely believed<br />
being au courant helped build their ca-<br />
reers . Given the state of eclecticism and<br />
its usage by professionals in Victoria, one<br />
can imagine the difficult task facing the<br />
Anglican congregation in James Bay when<br />
it was looking for an architect who would<br />
ted by a fashionable eclectic. St . James's<br />
body of the Architectural Institute of<br />
British Columbia (est. 1914). As a result,<br />
those enthusiasts-for-hire became less<br />
involved in urban church-building efforts.<br />
Amateurs and enthusiasts-for-hi re<br />
continued to pursue a kind of nostalgia<br />
for earlier Gothic themes, but they did<br />
so in rural loca les throughout Vancouver<br />
Island. Built in the last decades of the<br />
nineteenth century, Christ Church, Alert<br />
Bay (1882) (fig. 8), exhibits a traditional<br />
timber Gothic Revival design punctuated<br />
by imitation wood quoins articulating the<br />
w indows and cornering. As well, St. Ann's,<br />
French Creek (Parksville) (1894) (fig. 9), reimagines<br />
churches of log construction popular<br />
in Canada West in the earlier part<br />
of the century.<br />
Those distinctions between "amateur" and<br />
"professional" reinforced a system that privileged<br />
a group already more economically<br />
and socially advantaged. Thomas Hooper,<br />
for instance, was known as an "architect,"<br />
not only because of his ambitious artistic<br />
output, but because he advertised his services<br />
in newspapers like the Daily British<br />
Colonist. The fact that he could afford to<br />
advertise himself as a "professional" has resulted<br />
in his being historically recorded as an<br />
into a building committee and members "architect" turned out to be a well-inten- "architect." Thus, the architecture industry<br />
of the religious institution. Architects the-<br />
tioned real-estate agent.<br />
refore did not always have a free hand. At<br />
times, even the voices of respected finan- CONCLUSION<br />
cial benefactors and general publics were -----------------<br />
also anticipated in a church design. Those<br />
Despite some porosity between the labels<br />
in the late nineteenth century increasing ly<br />
constructed and projected an elite and scholarly<br />
public persona. Through their position<br />
of economic and social dominance, "professionals"<br />
and their clientele used marketing<br />
audiences may have been especially preva- "amateur" and "professional" in the last strategies to make fashion appear as taste.<br />
lent in the minds of some designers with<br />
respect to advertised competitions. Amateurs<br />
and professionals alike tried to design<br />
what their clientele wanted.<br />
Designing religious buildings required<br />
tact, especially in cases where architects<br />
crossed denominations, each believing<br />
as much in the correctness of its position<br />
with regard to architectural style as it did<br />
in the complete incorrect position of its<br />
quarter of the nineteenth century, clear<br />
career distinctions developed between<br />
those self-proclaimed, educated architects<br />
and building enthusiasts-for-hire.<br />
Gone were the early days of a "pioneer"<br />
mentality associated with multiple careers<br />
in surveying and architecture. 24 By<br />
the 1870s and 1880s, that compression<br />
of careers was largely vanishing, due in<br />
part to professionalization and culminating<br />
in eventual self-regu lation in the<br />
"Amateurs" did not have the financial luxury<br />
of following the latest fashion.<br />
NOTES<br />
1. I wish to acknowledge special thanks to Professor<br />
Rhodri Windsor-Li scombe for his ad vice<br />
and consultation in matters pertain ing to the<br />
framework of this paper. It should be noted,<br />
how ever, that any inconsistencies in the data<br />
are my own responsibility to bear. Research for<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
41
B ARRY M AGR ILL > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
this paper was generously provided by <strong>University</strong><br />
of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship.<br />
2. Luxton, D., 2003, Building the West, Vancouver,<br />
Talon.<br />
3. Upton, D., 1984, >,Winterthur<br />
Portfolio, val. 19, nos. 2-3, p. 105-150.<br />
4. Sandilands, R. (ed.), 1972. Architecture of the Fraser<br />
Valley, Vancouver, Opportunities for Youth,<br />
p. 6. The authors argue convincingly that the<br />
functionalist movement has tended to ennoble<br />
vernacular forms on the basis of their satisfying<br />
environmental demands, though I w ould add<br />
that less expensive and sma ller buildings are no<br />
less significant constituent elements of society.<br />
5. Upton: 105-150.<br />
19. Victoria Daily Colonist, February 21, 1890. The<br />
probable bankruptcy w as pointed out to me by<br />
Professor Jim Bugslag. Documented evidence<br />
w as still forthcoming at the time of publication.<br />
20. Victoria Daily Colonist, May 17, 1891, p. 2.<br />
21. For Hooper's biography, see Luxton, op. cit.<br />
22. Dempsey, H., 1984, The CPR West: The Iron Road<br />
and the Making of a Nation, Vancouver, Douglas<br />
& Mcintyre, p. 93-99.<br />
23. Keith emigrated from Scotland after studying<br />
w ith Alexander Ross (architect of St. Andrew's<br />
Epi scopa l Cathedral, Inverness 1866-1869). After<br />
brief stints in San Francisco and Seattle, Ke ith<br />
intended to move to Victoria but settled instead<br />
in Vancouver. See, Luxton, op. cit.<br />
24. Ibid.<br />
6. W indsor Liscombe, Rhodri, 2004, N' 1 > 2006
ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
THE SHAMROCK AND THE MAPLE LEAF: THE IRISH ROOTS<br />
OF GEORGE BROWNE'S CANADIAN ARCHITECTURE<br />
IN MEMORIAM SIR JOHN NEWENHAM ["COOLMORE'1 SUMMERSON (1904-1992}<br />
J. DOUGLAS STEWART is Pr·ofessor Eme1·itus 1n<br />
the History of Art, Queen's <strong>University</strong>. With !an<br />
> J. DouGLAs STEWART<br />
Wilson. he co-authored Heritage Kingston [1973].<br />
He has published numerous articles on Kingston<br />
architects, Including George Browne, Thomas<br />
Rogers, William Newlands. and Francis Sullivan<br />
His publications also include books and a1·ticles on<br />
English ba1·oque artists and architects, such as<br />
Van Dyck, Kneller, Gibbons, and Wren .<br />
George Browne died in Montreal on<br />
November 19, 1885. 1 Having been<br />
born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on November<br />
5,1811, 2 he is said to have been<br />
the son of an architect of the same name,<br />
but no trace of either has been found<br />
in Ireland. Indeed nothing is known<br />
about George Browne from his birth to<br />
his arrival in Quebec City in 1830, but<br />
we need not doubt his Irish birth since<br />
it is stated in two independent sources.<br />
However, he might have been taken from<br />
Ireland at a tender age. Only Browne's<br />
Canadian buildings demonstrate an Irish<br />
architectural background.<br />
There has been a great spate of publications<br />
on Irish architecture over the last<br />
decades, among which are the writings of<br />
Irish architectural historians Mark Bence<br />
Janes, Maurice Craig, the Knight of Glin,<br />
Edward McParland, Alistair Rowan, and<br />
others. But Irish architecture is inseparably<br />
linked to that of Great Britain. Hence<br />
there have been important contributions<br />
from British architectural historians, notably<br />
the present and past doyens of<br />
that field, Sir Howard Colvin and the late<br />
Sir John Summerson.<br />
FIG. 1. CASTLE GAR, COUNTY CORK, BY SIR RICHARD MORRISON, 1801 .1 J.D. STEWART<br />
The Middle Ages in Ireland saw the construction<br />
through the land, inter alia, of<br />
the characteristic tall "Tower" houses,<br />
which continued to be built until the end<br />
of the seventeenth century. "Classical"<br />
Irish architecture began with Sir Edward<br />
Lovett Pearce (c1699-1733), who travelled<br />
to Italy and on his return became the father<br />
of Irish Palladian ism. Yet Pearce loved<br />
massive, weighty forms; not for nothing<br />
was he related to Sir John Vanbrugh!<br />
The greatest Irish "neoclassical" architect<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006 > 43-54<br />
43
J . DoUGLAS STEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
The city hall has nine: two on the front<br />
corner pavilions, two inside the entrance<br />
"tunnel," and five at the back. 7 Wyatt windows<br />
also appear in profusion on the<br />
original five front fa~ades of the Hales<br />
cottages (1841 ; fig . 2). 8 At Ro ckwood<br />
Villa (fig. 4}, there is a Wyatt window<br />
on the left side, and two at the back. At<br />
St . Andrew's Manse (fig. 3}, it appears<br />
twice on the west side. At Ashton (Canadian<br />
National Institute for the Blind, 826<br />
Princess Street}, a variant on the design<br />
of the Manse, there is a large Wyatt window<br />
in the centre of the main fa ~ ade 9<br />
Otterburn's fa~ade has French-window<br />
versions of Wyatt windows. 10<br />
FIG. 2. HALES COTTAGES, 313 KING ST REET, KINGSTON, BY GEO RGE BROWNE, 1841. 1 J. NOLEN PAPERS. CORNELL UNIVERSITY<br />
James Gandon (1743-1823) was born in<br />
London, of Huguenot extraction, and<br />
became a pupil of Sir William Chambers<br />
(1723-1796}. The latter was the rival of<br />
the Adam brothers, who revolutionized<br />
English and Scottish architecture from<br />
the 1760s, making Palladianism in those<br />
lands seem heavy-handed and old-fashioned.<br />
But Gandon, who came to Ireland<br />
in 1781, in the words of Sir Howard Colvin,<br />
"rejected what he regarded as the<br />
meretricious elegance of the current<br />
Adam style and looked to French neoclassicism<br />
[ .. . ). French influence [ ... ) is<br />
apparent in many features of his public<br />
buildings in Dublin.[ ... ]" Furthermore, as<br />
Sir John Summerson observed, Gandon,<br />
unlike Chambers, "could open his mind<br />
to Wren," which makes Gandon's "Liffeyside<br />
buildings [the Customs House and<br />
The Four Courts) infinitely more powerful<br />
than [Chambers's Thames-side) Somerset<br />
House." Thus, despite his neoclassicism,<br />
Gandon, like Pearce, had a strong Baroque<br />
element in his style.'<br />
The architecture of George Browne<br />
(whose large library of architectural<br />
books included John Woolfe and James<br />
Gandon's 1767 continuation of Vitruvius<br />
Britannicus) shows a love of massive Baroque<br />
forms.• Browne also had a strong<br />
penchant for Irish architectural motifs,<br />
for example the Wyatt window. It was<br />
supposedly first used at Doddington Hall,<br />
Cheshire, by Samuel Wyatt in 1776. It is<br />
actually the old Palladian, or Venetian<br />
window, or Serliana, modified by abolishing<br />
the central arch, and carrying a<br />
straight lintel across the top of the three<br />
openings. Although invented in England,<br />
the Wyatt window became especially<br />
popular in lreland, 5 for example on the<br />
fa~ade of Sir Richard Morrison's Castlegar,<br />
County Cork (begun 1801; fig. 1). 6<br />
The Wyatt window is perhaps the commonest<br />
motif in George Browne's Kingston<br />
work. He used it in virtually every<br />
design he made there, even if it did not<br />
always appear in the finished building.<br />
Browne's St. Andrew's Manse (fig. 3} displays<br />
another lrishism, the gathering of<br />
chimney flues into one, or at most two,<br />
central stacks, linked together, rather than<br />
incorporating them in outside walls. According<br />
to Maurice Craig in Ireland, from<br />
the eighteenth century "in a remarkably<br />
high proportion of houses" the flues are<br />
treated in such manner, despite the arguments<br />
of theorists (like the Rev. John<br />
Payne) against the practice, because<br />
twisted flues soot up more readily and are<br />
more difficult to clean." Examples of centrally<br />
gathered flues are Francis Johnson's<br />
1808 designs for Phoenix Park Lodge (engraved<br />
1819) and Sir Richard Morrison's<br />
1807 Bearforest, County Cork."<br />
Browne used his St . Andrew's Manse central<br />
chimneystack (substituting a window<br />
for the panel) in his 1848 Montreal villa,<br />
Terra Nova, for John Molson, Jr., the<br />
documents for which were discovered<br />
by Robert Lemire.'' More recently, Lemire<br />
discovered a photograph taken around<br />
1914 by architect Robert Findlay, of Belleview<br />
Hall, the Mussen residence, which<br />
once stood on Dorchester Street, Montreal.<br />
As Lemire noted, 14 Belleview Hall<br />
had the same kind of chimney as Terra<br />
Nova. Also, Belleview Hall's hipped roof,<br />
44<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
J . D OUGLAS S TEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 3. ST. ANDREW'S MANSE, KINGSTON, BY GEORGE<br />
BROWNE, 1841. REAR VIEW. I JD. STEWART<br />
FIG. 4. ROCKWOOD VILLA, KINGSTON, BY GEORGE BROWNE, 1841 . OBLIQUE VIEW OF FA\ADE.I JOHN BREBN ER<br />
Tuscan brackets, corner pilasters, and<br />
wide stringcourse are all reminiscent of<br />
Browne's 1841 Rockwood Villa at Kingston<br />
(fig. 4). Between the Belleview Hall<br />
chimneystacks, there is a Wyatt window<br />
and that motif also appears on the main<br />
fa~ade. Lemire's attribution of Belleview<br />
Hall is entirely convincing, and an important<br />
addition to George Browne's<br />
oeuvre.<br />
In 1977, I identified four architectural<br />
drawings in Queen's <strong>University</strong> Archives<br />
as designs for the Kingston branch of<br />
the Bank of Montreal at King and William<br />
Streets (now the Frontenac Club Inn;<br />
fig . 5). 15 1 attributed the drawings and the<br />
building to George Browne.'• The building<br />
had been given to "MR. CRANE, Architect,<br />
Prin cess Street," who advertised<br />
for tenders for "the erection and Joiner's<br />
Work of a BUILDING, 52 x 42 feet; in King<br />
Street[ ... ]," in the Kingston Chronicle and<br />
Gazette of February 19, 1845.<br />
"Mr. Crane" was probably Edward Crane,<br />
the architect and builder of the 1831-1836<br />
Upper Canadian Academy (later Victoria<br />
College), Cobourg (fig. 6) . That structure<br />
has been aptly described by Katherine<br />
Ashenburg as "a movingly pure building<br />
with a three-storey Doric portico and two<br />
flanking pediments, an elongated cupola<br />
and a solitary line of dentils as decoration."'7<br />
Such characteristics are quite unlike<br />
the robust masculinity of the Kingston<br />
Bank of Montreal designs, or the finished<br />
building, with its blockiness and powerful<br />
modelling. Rather, this is the style of<br />
George Browne. Presumably, Crane advertised<br />
for tenders in February 1845 as<br />
supervising architect for Browne, who,<br />
by that time, had left for Montreal with<br />
the capital. Supervision was usual for outof-town<br />
designers: Browne himself had<br />
acted as supervising architect for John<br />
Howard's Christ Church, Tyendinaga ' 8<br />
The attribution of the Kingston Bank of<br />
Montreal branch to George Browne was<br />
accepted by Dana Johnson, who also discovered<br />
that the commission had been<br />
awarded after a competition announced<br />
in the May 28, 1843 Kingston Chronicle<br />
and Gazette." However, all four drawings<br />
appear to be by the same hand, as does<br />
the lettering, which appears on two of<br />
them (note the very long crossing on the<br />
letter "t"). The designs include favourite<br />
Browne motifs and there is a clear development<br />
in the fa~ade designs, from<br />
complex, even decorative forms, towards<br />
simple, almost abstract forms. A similar<br />
evolution is seen in Browne's designs for<br />
the Kingston City Hall, and also those for<br />
Rockwood (fig. 12; fig. 4). 20<br />
What appears to be the first design for<br />
the Kingston Bank of Montreal (fig. 7)<br />
has the same chimneystack as Browne's<br />
St. Andrew's Manse (fig . 3), but the fa<br />
~ade is a shortened, flattened version of<br />
John Carr of York's 1773 Newark Town<br />
Hall (fig. 8). 21 In what appears to be the<br />
second design (fig. 9), textural contrasts<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006 45
J . DOUGLAS S TEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 5. FRONTENAC CLUB INN (FORMERLY BANK OF MONTREAL), KING AND WI LLIAM STREETS,<br />
KINGSTON, BY GEORGE BROWNE, 1845.1 GEORGE LILLEY, QUE EN"S UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES<br />
FIG. 6. VI CTORIA COLLEGE, COBOURG, BY EDWARD CRANE, 1831 -1836. 1 VENETIA STEWART<br />
are abandoned and, above the main entrance,<br />
two Wyatt windows appear. In<br />
the building itself (fig. 5), even greater<br />
simplicity and severe monumentality are<br />
achieved by the uniform use of rectilinear<br />
windows, and by employing a Tuscan<br />
giant order plus an attic, a motif which<br />
echoes the end pavilions of the Kingston<br />
City Ha ll, including the (now destroyed)<br />
King Street pavilion then only a few<br />
hundred yards away.n<br />
A very subtle feature of the order in the<br />
Bank of Montreal as built, is that the corner<br />
pilasters are set back (unlike those at<br />
the city hall, or in the early designs for<br />
the Bank); only the uppermost cornice<br />
links the King and William Street far;:ades .<br />
That arrangement produces "extruded"<br />
corners, which create movement and re <br />
inforce the distinction between the King<br />
Street far;:ade, with its public entrance<br />
(whose entablature is topped by a triangular<br />
pediment), and the Wi lliam Street<br />
front, which included the entrance to the<br />
private quarters of the bank manager on<br />
the upper floors. The entablature of the<br />
latter entrance is surmounted only by a<br />
simple rectangular die, like those above<br />
the King Street windows.<br />
Such dies are also found above the side<br />
doors on the main far;:ade of St. George's<br />
Cathedral, which I have attributed to<br />
Browne. My attribution rests partly on<br />
the similarities between the far;:ades<br />
and the interior first western bays of<br />
St. George's, Belfast, and St . George's,<br />
Kingston. The latter far;:ade is also indebted<br />
to a great exemplar of French<br />
neoclassicism, S. Philippe du Roule, Paris,<br />
a debt of which francophile James Gan <br />
don would doubtless have approved."<br />
The "extruded" corners at the Bank of<br />
Montreal are yet another example of<br />
Browne's distinctive handling . At the<br />
St. Andrew's Manse {1841) (fig. 3), Browne<br />
also cut back the wall at the corners; the<br />
same feature is also found at Ashton . At<br />
the round corner of Wilson's Buildings<br />
(now Bank of Nova Scotia) {1841-1842;<br />
figure 10). 24 the side far;:ades " extrude"<br />
beyond the giant pilasters just as they<br />
do at the Bank of Montreal.<br />
Of George Browne's 1864-1866 Molson's<br />
Bank, Montreal, Susan Wagg wrote<br />
"[...] Browne's edifice follows the mansion-club<br />
pattern that had now become<br />
standard for Canadian banks and which<br />
he had earlier used in a more restrained<br />
fashion for the Bank of Montreal branch<br />
in Kingston." 25 While Browne's Molson's<br />
Bank certainly follows the "mansion-club"<br />
pattern, his earlier Kingston Bank of Montreal<br />
seems to have different sources.<br />
The tall block-like character of the Kingston<br />
Bank of Montreal is another Irish ism,<br />
following the Irish "tall house" tradition,<br />
which may begin with Mount levers,<br />
County Clare, of the 1730's. While<br />
there are also plenty of horizontal Irish<br />
houses (and George Browne also follows<br />
the horizontal tradition with e.g .<br />
his Kingston St . Andrew's Manse and<br />
the Montreal Belleview Hall), the "tall<br />
house" continued to be popular through<br />
the eighteenth century and beyond, as<br />
is seen, for example, at Coolmore, Carrigaline,<br />
County Cork of 1788 (fig. 11). Yet,<br />
the roots of the tall, blocky Irish country<br />
house lie in the actual tower houses of<br />
the late Middle Ages, which had persisted<br />
through the seventeenth century.<br />
The Irish tall house thus had its origins in<br />
fortifications. Hence, the Irish tall house<br />
would have seemed a very appropriate<br />
model for a bank. 26<br />
46<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
J. D OUGLAS S TEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
George Browne's Rockwood (fig. 4), al- tunnels to connect the house and service building feature to be seen at the city hall<br />
though not three full storeys, also has quarters. Good examples are Sir Edward is the basement. It is, as Maurice Craig<br />
the character of an Irish tall house. That Lovett Pearce's Bel lamont Forest of c1730 notes "[...] a commonplace of English<br />
results from the house being raised over (fig. 14) and James Wyatt's Castle Coole classical architecture[ ...] but in Ireland it<br />
a basement, the use of emphatic verti- of 1789-1795. The latter's Tuscan end pacals,<br />
is much more nearly universal." Craig at<br />
including the residual pilasters at the vilions display sunken panels above niches, tributes that practice to the necessity for<br />
corners, and the giant order of Tuscan the motif which Browne employs, albeit a damp course (because of the climate),<br />
columns, whose lines are continued by fielding the panel, so prominently on the the classical aesthetic of the plinth, and<br />
the chimneystacks. The Rev. John Payne west side of Rockwood. 28<br />
finally the persistence of the influence<br />
had advised against building high in the<br />
country("[ .. .] it is easy to imagine what<br />
a ridiculous and aukward [sic] Figure a<br />
House of three or four Stories High would<br />
make in an open Field"). But Irish builders<br />
ignored the injunction, just as they<br />
ignored his forbiddance of gathered<br />
chimneys. Maurice Craig dismissed economic<br />
reasons for the former, i.e. that "a<br />
cubical house uses the least materials."<br />
Instead, concluded Craig, the practice<br />
reflects"[ ... ] more likely, perhaps, some<br />
At Rockwood there is no tunnel, but<br />
rather, a deep cutting on the eastern side<br />
(fig. 15), which concealed the service entrance<br />
to the basement kitchens and also<br />
isolated the house from the stable block.<br />
Originally, as the Farrell view shows, the<br />
cutting allowed one to see beyond to the<br />
lake. My photograph of the cutting was<br />
taken in the autumn of 1982. Recently,<br />
the illusionary effect of the cutting has<br />
been completely destroyed by the erecof<br />
the round tower house, which had its<br />
entrance on the first floor. 29 The crosssection<br />
of Browne's early plans for the<br />
market shows shops on two storeys, on<br />
either side of the tunnel. 30 That is reminiscent<br />
of the galleria developed in late<br />
eighteenth century in France and Italy.<br />
However, there is also a very early Irish<br />
example, which Browne could easily have<br />
known, Home's Royal Arcade, Dublin, of<br />
1819. 31<br />
persistence of the tower-house habit[ ... ] tion of an iron fence on the parapet of Some of Browne's internal planning for<br />
at work." 27 the cutting, and the creation of a car park domestic architecture derives from Irish<br />
in front.<br />
sources. For example, Sir Richard Morri-<br />
Rockwood's verticalism is emphasized<br />
by its isolation from other buildings. In<br />
particular, the stables (now demolished<br />
but seen in Sidney Farrell 's 1854 view;<br />
fig. 13) are set at a distance. The isolation<br />
derives from the Irish practice of using<br />
son's design for a villa, from his Useful<br />
While Rockwood has only a cutting, the and Ornamental Designs in Architecture<br />
Kingston City Hall had a large, full-scale of 1793, breaks with the traditional Irish<br />
tunnel, which originally extended right single rectangular entrance hall by substithrough<br />
the whole building from Ontario tuting the sequence of a vestibule and an<br />
Street to King Street. Another very Irish octagonal tribune. 32 Browne adopts that<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
47
J. D OUGLAS S TEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 9. SECOND DESI GNS FOR BANK OF MONTREAL, KINGSTON BRANCH, BY GEORGE<br />
BROWNE, 1844, DETAIL. I DRAWING: KAD 17 (1): 15 3/4 X 19 314": QUEEN'S UNIVERSilY ARCHIVES<br />
FIG. 10. WILSON'S BUILDINGS (NOW BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA), KINGSTON, BY GEORGE<br />
BROWNE, 1841-1842.1 JOH N BREBNER<br />
arrangement at Rockwood (fig. 12) but<br />
works out the spaces more picturesquely<br />
and sculptura lly, as Morrison was to do<br />
in his later villas. 33 The dished, concave<br />
entrance of Rockwood (fig. 4) appears in<br />
Morrison's early villas, Bellair and Cangort<br />
Park (fig. 20). The concave entrance porch<br />
was both functional and very Irish. The<br />
Rev. John Payne in 1757 claims that"[ ... ]<br />
The Porch taken off the length of the<br />
Hall is not one of the least conveniences<br />
in a Country house." In that case, Irish<br />
builders seem to have taken Payne's advice,<br />
albeit at a later date. Maurice Craig,<br />
citing that passage, adds that<br />
hollow ing a porch out of the front and<br />
robbing it from the inner hall is found in<br />
numerous houses in the [I rish] Midlands,<br />
especially in Lei x and Offaly, though most<br />
seem later than Payne's time, an d this<br />
ex pedi ent, w hich is ve ry well adapted to<br />
the Irish climate, was much favoured by Sir<br />
Ri chard Morrison half a century later. 34<br />
Browne's earliest known villa, Benmore,<br />
is very ingeniously planned. 35 It was built<br />
in 1834 to the west of Quebec City at a<br />
beautiful site on the St. Lawrence River as<br />
"a Cottage in the Gothic style" for (later<br />
Sir) Dominick Daly (1798-1868), then Provincial<br />
Secretary for Lower Canada . 36 It is<br />
very plain outside, with pointed Gothic<br />
windows on the ground floor and rectangular<br />
windows with hood mouldings on<br />
the floor above. Inside there is a vestibule<br />
and shallow vaulted hall. The basic plan<br />
is a "butterfly" of four octagonal-shaped<br />
rooms and hall, with glazed cupboards<br />
filling the angles. But the most unusual<br />
aspect of the interior is the "state bed<br />
chamber" (to quote the "Specification")<br />
in a mezzanine floor, in a small projecting<br />
wing at the back. 37 Below that bedchamber<br />
is a very high kitchen. A very similar<br />
rear (though not projecting) mezzanine<br />
appears in a series of small houses around<br />
Dublin in the early nineteenth century,<br />
including Beechlawn, Rathgar, Dublin of<br />
c1816, probably designed by Francis Johnston<br />
.38 Because of the similar shape and<br />
position of the Benmore mezzanine, it<br />
seems likely that those Dublin houses are<br />
Browne's source. Yet, in its planning, Benmore<br />
is an altogether grander and more<br />
complex structure. The "state bed chamber"<br />
recalls the grandest English country<br />
house planning, which generally includes<br />
a set of staterooms intended for visits of<br />
royalty. In Ireland, aside from the vicerega l<br />
staterooms of Dublin Castle, such rooms<br />
are rare. But there is a State bedroom at<br />
Castle Coole (reputedly designed for a<br />
projected visit by George IV, which never<br />
took place), 39 a house which, as we saw,<br />
Browne probably knew. Benmore's "state<br />
bedchamber" is analogous in function,<br />
even if multum in parvo, since its owner,<br />
as a senior administrator, had to entertain<br />
the Governor (the monarch's representative)<br />
and other distinguished guests.<br />
Browne's grandest early mezzanine is<br />
known only from his 1835 specifications<br />
for a villa for the Quebec brewer Colin<br />
McCallum. Its central block, forty-five<br />
feet square "contained a drawing room,<br />
dining room and saloon. A picture gallery<br />
on the mezzanine level was lit from above<br />
by a lantern." 40 The latter feature is developed<br />
from what McParland calls "that<br />
characteristic Irish villa feature, the toplighted<br />
centrally placed bedroom lobby<br />
which enlivens the spatial interest of so<br />
48<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
J . DOUGLAS STEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
and excitement of Ben more or Rockwood.<br />
Worse still, the upper stairway is poorly lit<br />
because its one narrow oblong window<br />
seems to be an afterthought: two feet<br />
beyond the window is a bank of chimneys!<br />
That is a most unlikely design for an<br />
architect who was careful to harmonize<br />
his exteriors and interiors, and whose upper<br />
floors, following Irish tradition, are<br />
well lit.<br />
FIG. 11' COOLMORE, CARRIGALINE, COUNTY CORK, 1788.1 HUGH DORAN COLLECTIO N, IRISH ARCH ITECTURAL AR CH IVE<br />
many Irish houses." 41 That Irish ism, which<br />
seems to have first appeared at Sir Edward<br />
Lovett Pearce's Bellamont,'' is seen<br />
at Browne's Rockwood (figs. 16-18). 43<br />
Institute Library and allowed visitors a<br />
panoramic view of the surrounding area<br />
(including the beginning of The Thousand<br />
Islands), remain some of the most brilliant<br />
surviving pieces of planning of Browne's<br />
The McCallum mezzanine design has career.<br />
important progeny. In his first plans for<br />
the Kingston City Hall, 1842, Browne used Bellevue is Kingston's best-known villa,<br />
some very ingenious mezzanine planning because it was rented in 1848-1849 by Sir<br />
which enabled him to fit extra floors at John A . Macdonald, the architect of Confederation<br />
the sides in the attics above the Ontario<br />
and Canada's first Prime Min<br />
Street wings. (He maintained his exterior<br />
ister. It was attributed to George Browne<br />
elevations by running a floor-line by Marion MacRae; Margaret Angus chalister.<br />
between the semi-circular tops and the lenged this on the grounds that the villa<br />
lower rectangular parts of his second must have been built in 1838, three years<br />
storey windows. 44 ) In the final building, before Browne came to Kingston. In 1992,<br />
Browne builds above the tunnel what is Jennifer McKendry cast doubt on Angus's<br />
in effect a mezzanine floor between the early documentation and re -attributed<br />
second floor and the cupola. There he creates<br />
Bellevue to Browne; she is supported by<br />
a large windowless, " hidden" room, Pierre du Prey. 46<br />
lit only by glazing at the bottom of the<br />
circular staircase in the cupola. The original<br />
McKendry argued for her attribution part<br />
purpose of that room was similar to ly on the grounds of the canopied balcony<br />
the McCallum picture gallery: it housed at Bellevue, a feature Browne had used<br />
the Mechanics Institute Museum. Later on the back of Rockwood. Such balconies<br />
it became the Alderman's Library. 45 It, were, of course, common in Regency architecture.47<br />
together with the staircase and cupola<br />
But the interior planning<br />
above, which housed the Mechanics of Bellevue lacks completely the variety<br />
As McKendry noted, Bellevue's first<br />
owner, Charles Hales, was an important<br />
patron of Browne, having commissioned<br />
from him Hales cottages (fig. 2) in 1841<br />
and additions to the Commercial Mart<br />
(now S. & R. Department Store) in 1842.<br />
But there is also "patronage" evidence<br />
against Browne as the architect of Bellevue,<br />
viz its description, in letters to his<br />
sister, Margaret Greene, by its most famous<br />
tenant, John A . Macdonald, as "the<br />
most fantastic [concern) imaginable" and<br />
"Pekoe Pagoda." 48 It is difficult to believe<br />
that Macdonald would have mocked the<br />
work of the architect of the city hall (Macdonald<br />
had served as Alderman during<br />
its construction) and Macdonald's own<br />
houses on Brock Street. 49 The likeliest<br />
conclusion, given the present evidence, is<br />
that Bellevue was designed, after Browne<br />
left Kingston in 1844, by an unknown<br />
builder.<br />
The Irish sources for the Kingston City Hall<br />
far;ades are extremely interesting. The giant<br />
pilastered corner pavilions with attics<br />
of the Ontario Street far;ade and the<br />
latter's rooflines recall the front of Theodore<br />
Jacobsen's 1752-1759 Trinity College,<br />
Dublin (with the updating of Palladian<br />
to Wyatt windows). 50 Many years ago,<br />
James Gandon's Dublin Customs House<br />
was identified as a source for Browne's<br />
far;ade. 5 ' Both have porticos and corner<br />
pavilions; and statues were erected (or at<br />
Kingston, Lord Sydenham's was planned<br />
to be placed) above their central domes.<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
49
J . D OUGLAS S TEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
/<br />
FI G. 12. ELEVATION AND PLANS OF ROCKWOOD, KINGSTON,<br />
BY GE ORGE BROWNE, 1841.1 SOURCE: NATIONAL MAPCOLLECllON, PAC<br />
FIG. 13. ROCKWOOD, BY SIDNEY FARRELL, 1854;WATERCOLOU R, 8 X 11114"; SIGNED<br />
AND DATED LOWER LEFT: SIDNEY FARRELL I ROYAL ENGINEERS I 22 MARCH 1854.1<br />
SOURCE: AGNES ETHERINGTON ART CENTRE, QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY<br />
FIG. 14. BELLAMONT FOREST, COOTE HILL, COUNTY CAVAN, BY SIR EDWARD LOVEn PEARCE, C1730.<br />
VI EW OF REAR WITH TUNN EL ENTRANCE. I J.O. STEWART<br />
FIG. 15. ROCKWOOD VILLA, KINGSTON, BY GEORGE BROWNE, 1841. VIEW OF CUTIING<br />
FROM BELOW. I J.O. STEWART. 1982<br />
Another link with Gandon can be seen<br />
in the Dublin Four Courts, which include<br />
one of his favourite motifs, the triumphal<br />
arch. 52 The Four Courts Liffey front has<br />
two of them, the type with a high arch<br />
in the middle and two small ones, one to<br />
each side. George Browne's city hall also<br />
had two triumphal arches with similar<br />
openings: one under the Ontario Street<br />
portico and the other on the King Street [mausoleums] are relatively, and perhaps<br />
pavilion, which was destroyed by fire in even absolutely, more numerous than<br />
1865. 53 in England." 54 The Molson vaults have<br />
ribbed vaulted ceilings, reminiscent of<br />
The 1863 Molson Mausoleum, at Mount the vestibule of St. George's and the city<br />
Royal Cemetery, Montreal, is Browne's hall's Coun ci l Chamber and Memorial Hall.<br />
signed masterpiece of a very Irish genre: Like the upper fl oors of Irish houses, the<br />
as Maurice Craig observed, "in propor- Molson vaults are top-lit, the light comtion<br />
to Ireland's much smaller population ing f rom beneath the hollow ca st-iron<br />
50<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 200 6
J . D OUGLAS STEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 16. ROCKWOOD VILLA, KINGSTON, BY GEORGE BROWN E,<br />
1841. FIRST FLOOR, VIEW ACROSS TRIBUNE TO MASTER<br />
BEDROOM. I JOHN BREBNER<br />
FIG. 17. ROCKWOOD VILLA, KINGSTON, BY GEORGE BROWNE,<br />
1841 . TRIBUNE VAULTING. I JOHN BREBNER<br />
FIG. 18. ROCKWOOD VILLA, KINGSTON, BY GEORGE BROWNE,<br />
1841 . TRIBUNE SKYLIG HT. I JOHN BREBNER<br />
sarcophagi above. The vaults have elaborate<br />
cast-iron doors set in "dished,"<br />
concave entrances (fig. 19), miniature versions<br />
of the entrance to Morrison's Can <br />
gort Park (fig. 20). In 1991, I suggested<br />
that the two winged females holding a<br />
seven-stringed harp in the roundels at the<br />
top of each door might be "grotesques."<br />
Those figures can be now identified as<br />
the sirens apostrophized by Milton in his<br />
1645 At a Solemn Musick:<br />
Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav'ns joy,<br />
Sphear-born harmonious Sisters,<br />
Voice, and Vers[e],<br />
Wed your divine sounds and mixt<br />
power employ<br />
[...] present<br />
That undisturbed Song of pure content,<br />
Ay sung before the saphire-colour'd throne. 55<br />
In the Odyssey, sirens were beautiful<br />
but evil singers; later, they also became<br />
beneficent figures. Christian allegorists<br />
pictured sirens singing "celestial music<br />
drawing souls upwards to heaven." 56<br />
Milton follows the allegorical tradition.<br />
Since George Browne possessed a library<br />
of over 5000 volumes, he almost certainly<br />
knew his Milton. 57 The Molsons were also<br />
keenly interested in English literature:<br />
they endowed McGill <strong>University</strong> with a<br />
chair in that subject in 1856. 58 However,<br />
it must have been Browne the artist<br />
who designed and drew the "Blest pair<br />
of sirens," giving them a seven-stringed<br />
harp (a reference to the known number<br />
of planets 59 ) and placing them in a circle,<br />
alluding to them as "sphear born."<br />
A shamrock pins the swags below the<br />
in the ground plan of the Molson Mausoleum.<br />
George Browne's use of the<br />
shamrock demonstrates his command of<br />
symbolism and his continuing feeling for<br />
the land of his birth.<br />
Uncovering Browne's Irish sources establishes<br />
his architectural heritage. Hence I<br />
must now qualify my 1976 statement that<br />
the "neo-baroque" elements in Browne's<br />
style were "in tune with the most up-todate<br />
ideas of London and Liverpool [ ... )<br />
closely related to architects [ ... ) such as<br />
Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, Sir Charles Barry,<br />
and C.R. Cockerell." 6 ' We can now be sure<br />
that, because of his Irish background,<br />
Browne was pre-disposed to adopt the<br />
1840's Neo-Baroque ideas of London and<br />
Molson name. Hope is part of their fam- Liverpool. Like James Gandon, Browne<br />
ily motto (Industria et Spe). and Cesare could "open his mind to Wren." 62<br />
Ripa gave Hope (Speranza) the shamrock<br />
(trifolgie). The plant is an ancient emblem<br />
But the discovery of Browne's Irish heriof<br />
Salvation, because of Pliny's claim that<br />
it was an anecdote for snakebite. To dem-<br />
onstrate the doctrine of the Holy Trinity,<br />
St. Patrick used the three-leaf clover, or<br />
shamrock, thus it became Ireland's emblem60;<br />
and there is Trinitarian symbolism<br />
tage has even deeper significance. Seeing<br />
how Browne adapted his Irish heritage to<br />
his new Canadian environment helps us<br />
to assess what is original about his architecture.<br />
Why did Browne so frequently<br />
employ the Wyatt window in Canada? Its<br />
JSSAC I JSE AC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
51
J. DOUGLAS STEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
FIG. 19. MOLSON MAUSOLEUM, MOUNT ROYAL CEMETERY,<br />
MONTREA~ BY GEORGE AND JAMES BROWNE, 1863.<br />
VAULT ENTRANCE. I w STEWART<br />
FIG. 20. CANGORT PARK, COUNTY OFFAL'{, BY SIR RICHARD MORRISON, 1807. FA\ADE I JD STEWART<br />
form was both grand and functional. It had the Molson Mausoleum, the top lighting of the British Empire" 63 -Lord Sydenham's<br />
a noble ancestry in the Serliana-Palladian and ventilation of the vaults through Union of the Canadas-, which, within<br />
window; yet the Wyatt window's rectilinear hollow cast-iron sarcophagi is extremely little more than a generation, would<br />
shape made it easier to construct. Above all, ingenious. widen into Sir John A . Macdonald's 1867<br />
its triple openings of different sizes gave<br />
Dominion of Canada. That year also<br />
it flexibility for ventilation, an important In other cases Browne's lrishisms are es- saw the publication of Alexander Muir's<br />
consideration for Canadian climate, which sentially stylistic. The gathering together unofficial Canadian anthem: The Maple<br />
varies greatly. of chimneystacks at the Kingston Presby- Leaf Forever.<br />
terian Manse (and elsewhere) increases<br />
Climate was doubtless also a factor in<br />
Browne's use of the concave porch and<br />
the building's mass and compactness of<br />
silhouette. Browne's Rockwood and the<br />
NOTES<br />
vestibule at Rockwood. Anything that 1845 Bank of Montreal Kingston branch 1. This is the first part of " In Memoriam George<br />
Browne, Architect, Obiit November 19, 1885:<br />
can be done to mitigate the wintry blast were based on the Irish "Tower House;"<br />
His Irish Roots and Canadian Influence >>, a<br />
at the front door is welcome in a country<br />
the latter adaptation seems to be a unique lecture sponsored by the Frontenac Historic<br />
where winter la sts four months and<br />
more. Furthermore, at Rockwood, the<br />
Irish-Canadian solution to the problem<br />
of nineteenth-century bank design. The<br />
Foundation, at Memorial Hall, Kingston City<br />
Hall, on November 19, 1985. (The second part<br />
of that lecture will be published by the <strong>University</strong><br />
of Toronto Press in 2007 in a festschriftfor<br />
development of the Irish top-lit bedroom<br />
lobby into a two-storey "tribune" ity of Browne's Kingston buildings also Professor Douglas Richardson edited by Ste<br />
simplicity, massiveness, and monumental<br />
must have provided cooling ventilation<br />
for the house during hot summers. Presumably<br />
derive in part from his Irish predecessors,<br />
from Sir Edward Lovett Pearce to James<br />
phen Otto and Malcolm Thurlby.) A more developed<br />
version of the 19851ecture w as given<br />
to avoid direct lighting, Browne Gandon and beyond. Those stylistic fea<br />
as a paper, " An Original Provincial Architect:<br />
George Browne of Belfast and the Canadas >>,<br />
also adapted the traditional Irish top-lit tures underlie Browne's greatest Kingston In Regionalism: Challenging the Canon, Association<br />
bedroom lobby for a picture gallery in<br />
the McCallum Villa designs. Later, at the<br />
achievement: his heroic, primitive style,<br />
which reached its apogee in the Kingston of Art Historians 16'h Annual Confer<br />
ence, Trinity College, Dublin, March 25, 1990<br />
(>, p. 30). For recent Browne bibliography,<br />
see Stew art, J. Douglas, 1998, 2006
J . DoUGLAS STEWART> ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
of Architecture in Canada, vol. 23, no. 3, p. 81.<br />
I wish to thank Mary Stew art and Venetia<br />
Stewart for reading the present manuscript<br />
and for their helpful suggestions.<br />
2. Stew art, J. Douglas, 1991, « Great Princes Atfected<br />
Great Monuments: George Browne's<br />
Molson Mausoleum and Its Antecedents »,Society<br />
for the Study of Architecture in Canada 9.<br />
Bulletin, vol. 16 no. 4, p. 99, 109, note 6.<br />
3. Craig, Maurice, 1982 [3 'd ed. L The Architecture<br />
of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1880,<br />
London, Batsford; McParland, Edward, 1985,<br />
James Gandon: Vitruvius Hibernicus, London,<br />
Zwemmer. For Pearce and for the quotation<br />
on Gandon, see Colvin, Sir Howard, 1995, A<br />
Biographical Dictionary of British Architects<br />
1600-1840, New Haven, Yale <strong>University</strong> Press,<br />
p. 745-746, 386. Accounts of Pearce and Gandon<br />
are also found in Summerson, Sir John,<br />
1993 [9" ed]., A rchitecture in Britain, 1530-<br />
1830, New Haven, Yale <strong>University</strong> Press, p. 350-<br />
353, 412-415 (the quotation is from p. 414).<br />
4. Stewart, 1998: 81 , note 46; Stewart, J. Douglas,<br />
1976, « Architecture for a Boom-Tow n:<br />
The Primitive and the Neo-Baroque in George<br />
Brow ne's Kingston Buildings », In G. Tulchinsky<br />
(ed.), To Preserve and Defend: Essays on<br />
Kingston in the Nineteenth Century, Montreal, 11.<br />
MeGill-Queen's <strong>University</strong> Press, p. 37-61, 346-<br />
351 .<br />
5. Bence-Jones, Mark, 1978, Burke's Guide to 12.<br />
Country Houses, volume 1: Ireland, London,<br />
Burke's Peerage, p. xvi; Robinson, John Martin,<br />
1979, The Wyatts: An Architectural Dynasty,<br />
Oxford <strong>University</strong> Press, p. 31.<br />
6. The Architectural Archive, 1989, The Architecture<br />
of Richard Morrison (1757-1849) and<br />
William Vitruvius Morrison (1 794-1838), Dublin,<br />
p. 60-64. The cement pediments over the<br />
Wyatt windows were added 1896-1898.<br />
7. The two-storey bridge over the entrance tunnel<br />
in its original form (for the bridge in plan,<br />
see Stewart, 1998: fig. 4) was set well back<br />
inside the fa~ade . The 1973 restoration of the<br />
City Hall saw the abolition of the two side<br />
entrances under the main portico and their<br />
replacement by a single entrance where the<br />
tunnel and bridge had been. For the W yatt<br />
w indows now inside the present entrance as<br />
w ell as those on the back of the City Hall, see<br />
Wilson, Jan, (ed.). 1974, Kingston City Hall [official<br />
guide book]. Kingston, Corporation of<br />
the City of Kingston, p. 16, 18, 23 and back 16.<br />
cover.<br />
8. I am indebted to the late Dr. Shirley Spragge<br />
for information about the early photographs<br />
of the Hales cottages in the John Nolen papers<br />
at Cornell <strong>University</strong>. I am also grateful<br />
to Gillian Sadinsky for showing me over her<br />
own Hales cottage, and for identifying the<br />
photographs as no. 313 King Street West. For<br />
documentation on the Hales cottages see<br />
Stewart, 1996: 348, note 14.<br />
City of Kingston, 1985, Buildings of Architectural<br />
and Historic Significance, Kingston,<br />
vol. 6, p. 204. I attributed Ashton (then<br />
Bowes & Cocks Ltd .) to Browne in Stewart,<br />
J. Douglas, and Jan W ilson, 1973, Heritage<br />
Kingston, Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art<br />
Centre, no. 175. It was built for Major John<br />
Metcalfe, Royal Engineers (born England<br />
1801; died Kingston 1867). Metcalfe named<br />
his new house after his former home in England.<br />
There are no records of when the new<br />
Ashton was built, or about its architect. However,<br />
stylistically it can confidently be attributed<br />
to Browne. I am indebted to Mrs. Mary C.<br />
Fraser for that information about her great<br />
grandfather and her former home (letter to<br />
the author, June 28, 1976).<br />
10. W right, Janet, 1984, Architecture of the Picturesque<br />
in Canada, Ottaw a, Parks Canada,<br />
p. 68, 72-73.<br />
Craig, Maurice, 1976, Classic Irish Houses of<br />
the Middle Size, London, Architectural Press,<br />
p. 18.<br />
Craig, 1976 : 163; The Architectural Archive :<br />
29-30.<br />
13 . de Ia Ruffiniere du Prey, Pierre, 1983, , In Donald Swainson (ed.).<br />
St. George's Cathedral: Two Hundred Years of<br />
Community, Kingston, Quarry Press, p. 45-48.<br />
24. Stewart, 1976: 41 (fig. 5).<br />
25. Wagg, Su san, 1990, Money Matters: a Critical<br />
Look at Bank Architecture, New York, Mc<br />
Graw-Hill, p. 60.<br />
26. For the tall Irish house and its origins in the<br />
tower house, see Girouard, M., 1962, >, Country Life,<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
53
J. DOUGLAS STEWART > ESSAI I ESSAY<br />
vel. 132. p. 1152-1155; and Bence-lones: xx-xxi,<br />
91, 214. Coolmore was built for W.W. Newenham<br />
(Bence-Jones: 91) and was the seat<br />
of Sir John Summeron's mother's family. In<br />
the 1930's Summerson sometimes used the<br />
pseudonym "Coolmore" for his articles (Obituary,<br />
London Daily Telegraph, November 13,<br />
1992). I am indebted to Elizabeth Gibson of<br />
Queen's <strong>University</strong> Library for corroborating<br />
that reference.<br />
27. Craig, 1976: 21 (including the Payne quotation).<br />
28. Craig, 1976: 21; and Edward McParland, 1981,<br />
Castle Coole [guidebook]. The National Trust,<br />
opposite 6. Browne probably knew Castle<br />
Coole, which is less than 100 miles from Belfast,<br />
his birth-place. The house is illustrated<br />
in Richardson, G., 1808, The New Vitruvius<br />
Britannicus, London, vel. 2, plates 65-70.<br />
29. Craig, 1976 : 19.<br />
30. Stewart and Wilson : no. 166.<br />
31 . Craig, 1982: 306-307.<br />
32. McParland, Edward, 1973, «Sir Richard Morrison's<br />
Country Houses: The Smaller Villas I>>,<br />
Country Life, vel. 153, p. 1462-1463, fig. 2.<br />
33. For Morrison's early and later villas, see The<br />
Architectural Archive, op. cit.<br />
34. Craig, 1976: 41. One of the ultimate English<br />
sources for that motif may have been the<br />
porte cochere of Montagu House, Bloomsbury,<br />
London, built in the 1670's by an unknown<br />
architect and destroyed in the nineteenth century.<br />
It is illustrated in Godwin, George, 1850,<br />
Buildings and Monuments, Modern and Mediaeval,<br />
London, The Builder, p. 51, a volume<br />
which Browne owned, and which is now in<br />
Queen's <strong>University</strong> Library.<br />
35. Gagnon-Pratte, France, 1980, L'architecture et<br />
Ia nature a Quebec au dix-neuvieme siecle:<br />
Les villas, Quebec, Musee du Quebec, p. 97-<br />
100, 199-201 (with earlier references). I am<br />
very grateful to Janet Wright for providing<br />
me in July 1980 with a copy of the contract<br />
for "Carpenters and Joiners work" (Quebec,<br />
Archives nationales du Quebec; Greffe E.G.<br />
Cannon; Marche de construction, October 8,<br />
1834, no. 16).<br />
36. See his biography by Elizabeth Gibbs in the<br />
Dictionary of Canadian Biography, 1976, Toronto,<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Toronto Press, vel. IX:<br />
1861-1870, p . 189-193. Daly was Irish (and a<br />
Roman Catholic) and that may have been<br />
one reason why he employed George Browne,<br />
who, although Presbyterian, was clearly no<br />
bigot. Daly was apparently born at his mother's<br />
family house, Ardfry, Orenmore, County<br />
Galway (for the house see Bence-lones: 9).<br />
Daly also employed Browne to build two town<br />
houses in Quebec City, and was in touch with<br />
him socially when the capital moved to Kingston.<br />
There Daly rented a house belonging to<br />
J.S. Cartwright (see Stewart, 1991 : 99 and<br />
note 12).<br />
37. For a ground plan and an illustration of the<br />
(modernized) staircase and landing leading to<br />
the "state bed chamber," see Gagnon-Pratte :<br />
99, 201. I am most grateful to Madame Gagnon-Pratte<br />
for arranging for my visit to Benmore<br />
in April 1984, and to Mother Superior<br />
Bellanger of the Soeurs d 'Afrique for her kindness<br />
during my visit.<br />
38. See Craig, 1976: 13, 114-117, 164.<br />
39. Bence-lones : 65. For a colour illustration of<br />
the Regency bed, see Guiness, Desmond, and<br />
William Ryan , 1971, Irish Houses & Castles,<br />
London, Thames & Hudson, p. 174.<br />
40. Wright: 118 and note 43.<br />
41. See McParland, 1985 : 134-135.<br />
42. Guiness and Ryan: 41; Craig, 1982: 86.<br />
43. Stewart, 1976 : 46.<br />
44. Stewart and Wilson : nos. 160, 165.<br />
45. Maclennan, Neil, 1974, « Kingston City Hall<br />
Today >>, In Wilson, op. cit. : 26 (with illustration).<br />
The room is described by "leo" in 1843:<br />
"The attic floor is intended for the Mechanics<br />
Institute, having a large room 50 feet by 25<br />
for a Museum: this is lighted by a splendid<br />
lantern of ground glass[ ... ]" (See Stewart and<br />
Wilson: 143)<br />
46. McKendry, Jennifer, 1992, « 'A Residence fit<br />
for any Gentleman in the Country': Three<br />
Kingston Villas by George Browne >>, RACAR I<br />
Revue d'art canadienne I Canadian Art Review,<br />
vel. 19, p. 74. (I see Roselawn as by Coverdale<br />
rather than Browne; Stewart, 1991 : 45, 47);<br />
de Ia Ruffiniere du Prey, Pierre, 1994, The Villas<br />
of Pliny from Antiquity to Posterity, Chicago,<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Chicago Press, p. 18-19.<br />
47. Pilcher, Donald, 1947, The Regency Style, London,<br />
Batsford, p. 43-44.<br />
48. The Papers of the Prime Ministers: Volume 1:<br />
The Letters of Sir John A. Macdonald 1836-<br />
1857; J. K. Johnson, ed., 1968, Ottawa, Public<br />
Archives of Canada, 148-149.<br />
49. Angus, Margaret, 1984, John A. Lived Here,<br />
Kingston, Frontenac Historic Foundation,<br />
p. 12-13.<br />
50. Craig, Maurice, 1984, Georgian Dublin: Twenty-Five<br />
Colour Acquatints by James Malton,<br />
Mountrath, Portlaoise, Dolmen Press, no. 3.<br />
51. Angus, Margaret, 1966, The Old Stones of<br />
Kingston, Toronto, <strong>University</strong> of Toronto Press,<br />
p. 22. See also Maitland : 7 and 23 (illustrating<br />
the two monuments).<br />
52 . McParland, 1985: 162.<br />
53. However, Browne's arches have an attic storey<br />
and derive from the Arch of Constantine;<br />
see Stewart, 1998: 74. On November 8, 1996<br />
at the UAAC I Universities Art Association of<br />
Canada Conference, McGill <strong>University</strong> I gave a<br />
paper entitled « Constantine's Arch at Kingston<br />
City Hall: 'Neo-classical gesture' or British<br />
Imperial Panegyric? >> (« Abstracts >>: 57) .<br />
54. Craig, Maurice, 1975, « Mausoleums in Ireland<br />
>>, Studies, winter, p . 410 (quoted in<br />
Stewart, 1991 : 99).<br />
55. Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur (ed.), 1948, The Oxford<br />
Book of English Verse 1250-1918 [new<br />
ed.]. Oxford <strong>University</strong> Press, p. 317. I am very<br />
grateful to Mary Stewart for identifying the<br />
Milton quotation.<br />
56. Hornblower, Simon, and Anthony Spaworth<br />
(eds.), 2003, The Oxford Classical Dictionary<br />
[3'" ed. rev.]. Oxford <strong>University</strong> Press, p . 1413.<br />
The mysterious objects at the bottom of the<br />
Molson Mausoleum doors may be "Pompeian"<br />
hourglass shaped mill-stones (Hornblower<br />
and Spaworth : 981).<br />
57. Stewart, 1998 : note 46.<br />
58. Stewart, 1991 : 106.<br />
59. Winternitz, Emanuel, 1967, Musical instruments<br />
and ther Symbolism in Western Art,<br />
london, Faber, ·'· 97.<br />
60. For shamrock symbolism at the Molson Mausoleum,<br />
see Stewart, 1991 : 104.<br />
61 . Stewart, 1976 :39.<br />
62. Browne owned James Elmes's Memoirs of Sir<br />
Christopher Wren (London, 1823). The volume<br />
(signed on the title-page G Browne I Architect)<br />
belongs to the Fraser-Hickson Institute<br />
Library, Montreal, part of the gift of George<br />
C. Browne, 1921. The bulk of that donation is<br />
now at Queen's <strong>University</strong> Library, Kingston,<br />
Ontario.<br />
63. Governor-General Sir Charles Metcalfe, Bart,<br />
quoted in Stewart, 1998: 78.<br />
54<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
FRENCH PATTERNS IN<br />
WESTERN CANADIAN LANDSCAPES<br />
RON WILLIAMS is a professor' at the Ecole<br />
d'ar·chitectur·e de paysage of the <strong>University</strong> of<br />
>RoN WILLIAMS<br />
Montr·eal, of which he was the dir' ector' for two<br />
mandates. Through his office Williams, Asselin,<br />
Ackaoui et associes [WAA), he has realized many<br />
well-known landscape ar'chitecture and urban<br />
design pmjects. A Fellow of CSI_A and RAIC,<br />
he is currently writing a book on the history of<br />
landscape architecture in Canada.<br />
Many scholars have explored the<br />
rich variety of settlement patterns<br />
brought to the Canadian Prairies by European<br />
immigrants in the late nineteenth<br />
and early twentieth centuries, including<br />
such unique features as the Mennonite<br />
"street village" and Ukrainian church and<br />
cemetery compositions. But the first wave<br />
of physical impressions on the land in the<br />
Canadian West, following those implanted<br />
everywhere by the First Nations, was<br />
essentially French, transplanted from<br />
New France. Just as Virginia provided the<br />
pattern for Texas, according to American<br />
landscape scholar J. B. Jackson, or New<br />
England for the American Middle West,<br />
Quebec traditions established a first template<br />
for the towns and rural areas of the<br />
western provinces of Canada.<br />
THE QUEBEC TRADITION<br />
To trace that influence, let us first recall<br />
some of the familiar agricultural and community<br />
patterns of Quebec, after which<br />
we will explore some of the ways in which<br />
those patterns influenced the early landscape<br />
development of the West.<br />
FIG. 1. OTTAWA RIVER AND LO NG- LOT FARM S. AIR VIEW I RON WILLI AMS<br />
Most obvious is the relation between<br />
navigable rivers and agricultural patterns<br />
in New France. During the first two centuries<br />
after its establishment, travel in New<br />
France relied on its excellent network of<br />
major waterways, principally the St. Lawrence<br />
and its great tributaries, including<br />
the Richelieu, the Chaudiere, the Saint<br />
Maurice, and the Ottawa, and their many<br />
branches. Farms and villages were laid out<br />
along that ready-made transportation<br />
system. The French authorities distributed<br />
large blocks of land along the rivers to<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N•· 1 > 2006 > 55-64<br />
55
RoN WILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
a third approach is used: the church- like<br />
every building in town- faces straight out<br />
onto the Saint-Maurice River, the essential<br />
ligne de force of the whole region .<br />
FIG. 3. GRANDE-PILES, TOWN AND CHURCH, ST. MAURICE RIVER,<br />
QUEBEC. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
seigneurs, who recruited colonists or censitaires,<br />
and assigned to each of them a<br />
long, linear farm laid out perpendicular to<br />
the waterway, the sole means of access .<br />
As the system became successful, the first<br />
row of farms along the rivers filled up; a<br />
second and subsequent rows were established<br />
behind it along roads called rangs.<br />
There could be many of these roughly<br />
parallel rangs, connected at intervals by<br />
perpendicular roads called montees. Seen<br />
from a distance, the rang is a long thin<br />
line of farmhouses, barns, and outbuildings-almost<br />
a continuous settlement. An<br />
advantage of this system is the proximity<br />
of farmsteads, which permits people to<br />
live fairly close to their neighbours and<br />
to share community and mutual support.<br />
Another advantage, particularly<br />
evident in sites of irregular topography<br />
like those of the ile d'Orleans or Beauce,<br />
is that each farm enjoys a variety of soil<br />
types and growing conditions-fertile<br />
bottomland for row crops, higher and<br />
FIG. 4. GRANDE-PILES, CEMETERY. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 5. JARDIN DES SULPICIENS, MONTREAL. I PETER JACOBS<br />
drier flat land for grains, rough pasture<br />
and woodlot in less fertile, stony soils at<br />
higher elevations.<br />
This line of settlement becomes a village<br />
almost imperceptibly, through a densification<br />
of the rang, usually at its intersection<br />
with a mantee. The parish church,<br />
the most striking building in each village<br />
in terms of both size and location, is often<br />
located near this intersection and, at the<br />
same time, remarkably sited with respect<br />
to the larger natural landscape. A classic<br />
approach is the hilltop site, as at St<br />
Jean-de-Matha in the Lanaudiere region,<br />
where the church is located at the highest<br />
point in the village. Another archetype<br />
sites the church directly on the axis<br />
of a major road, as at Charlesbourg just<br />
north of Quebec City, where the church<br />
of Saint-Charles-Borromee terminates<br />
the Trait Carre, or square-pattern main<br />
road, at the centre of that historic town.<br />
In the Mauricie region at Grandes-Piles,<br />
In addition to its relationship to the larger<br />
landscape, the church is usually carefully<br />
related to smaller man-made landscapes<br />
as well. Those include the churchyard<br />
and especially the cemetery, which, in<br />
Quebec's vernacular tradition, is formal<br />
and symmetrical, enclosed by symbolic<br />
evergreen trees. Gravestones are organized<br />
in rows perpendicular to a central<br />
axis dominated by the cross, which rises<br />
physically and metaphorically above all.. _<br />
even death. The church and cemetery are<br />
usually components of a larger composition:<br />
an intricate complex of buildings and<br />
enclosed spaces, which is either the noyau<br />
villageois of a town or a self-contained<br />
institution such as a hospital, college,<br />
or convent. The private gardens of such<br />
institutions are often beautiful and welcoming<br />
places- and surprisingly practical.<br />
Some, like those of the monastere<br />
des Ursulines in Quebec City, may be<br />
among the oldest gardens of their tradition<br />
in the world. All include spaces that<br />
are sacred in character, like the intimate<br />
corner reserved for the Virgin Mary in<br />
convent gardE .s, and the more imposing<br />
ca/vaire statue of Jesus. But extensive<br />
areas have always been reserved for<br />
gardening of vegetables and fruit trees<br />
to put food on the table (many such<br />
institutions were semi-autonomous) and<br />
of flowers for the altar or for pure enjoyment.<br />
A third role played by those spaces<br />
is to provide recreation and escape for<br />
the religieux or religieuses, and their students<br />
or patients. Thus the gardens could<br />
easily include a volleyball court, a garden<br />
swing, or a little " English cottage" used<br />
as a temporary retreat, as at the H6tei<br />
Dieu in Quebec City. What these gardens<br />
are not are museums-they have changed<br />
constantly over the centuries to respond<br />
56<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" I > 2006
R ON W ILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
to new conditions, yet have always main-<br />
tained an inherent aesthetic coherence.<br />
The limits of the village were often clearly<br />
defined, in the eighteenth century, by<br />
chapel/es de procession, tiny chapels at<br />
the edge of town that were the object<br />
of a kind of pilgrimage on Corpus Christi<br />
day-the Fete-Dieu celebrated each<br />
June-when the entire congregation<br />
would parade from the parish church<br />
out to the little chapel where a special<br />
service was held. Parish boundaries were<br />
also defined, by wayside crosses or croix<br />
and the West. Just across a narrow waterde<br />
chemin. Some of these crosses can still<br />
be seen all over Quebec, not necessarily<br />
"official," but often put up by individuals<br />
or groups. A great many remain in par-<br />
ticular regions, such as the Mauricie, and<br />
some survive in dense urban landscapes,<br />
quiet reminders of a vanished rural past.<br />
The human presence with its symbols is<br />
also extended out into the broader natural<br />
landscape through chemins de Ia croix as<br />
at Saint-Eiie-de-Caxton or at the famous<br />
The view back to the water focuses on<br />
a silhouetted statue of Jesus (a common<br />
sequence, seen at Pointe-Claire and many<br />
other waterside locations). A little further<br />
along are the intimate gardens of college<br />
Sainte-Anne; and throughout, dozens of<br />
examples of excellent craftsmanship in<br />
stone, glass, and wrought iron.<br />
THE FUR TRADE<br />
By a strange coincidence, that building<br />
complex is the hinge between New France<br />
way from the college of the Sisters of<br />
Sainte-Anne stands the main warehouse<br />
of the Northwest Fur Trading Company,<br />
from which annual waves of giant canoes<br />
took goods up Lake Saint-Louis, through<br />
the Great Lakes and to the West, and<br />
came back with furs.<br />
It was the fur trade that opened Western<br />
Canada-what was then Rupert's Land,<br />
later the Northwest Territories-to influ-<br />
FIG. 6. CROIX DE CHEMIN, THE MAURICIE REGION,<br />
QUEBEC. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, where ence and settlement from Eastern Canada. FIG. 7. SAINT-ELIE-DE·CAXTON, QUEBEC.<br />
a crooked and tortuous path leads gradu- Trading for furs with native peoples was VIEW FROM CALVA/RE.I•oNwlluAMs<br />
ally up the mountain, passing the stations<br />
of the cross, finally arriving at the summit,<br />
where a powerful ca/vaire dominates the<br />
scene. The reverse view, from mountaintop<br />
to surrounding countryside, is the final<br />
majestic experience of what has been a<br />
demanding pilgrimage.<br />
One of the remarkable ensembles of reli-<br />
gious and civic buildings and spaces typi-<br />
cal of those described above is found at<br />
Lachine, Quebec, where the Saints-Anges-<br />
Gardiens church and college Sainte-Anne<br />
create a powerful composition near the<br />
western entrance to the Lachine Canal.<br />
It is an impressive complex whether<br />
seen from up close or from a distance<br />
across the water. The church is set well<br />
back from the river road and, along with<br />
the presbytery right beside it, frames a<br />
great open space lined by mature trees.<br />
as old as the first European incursions into<br />
the St. Lawrence valley. In the sixteenth<br />
century, before the foundation of Port<br />
Royal or Quebec City, French and Basque<br />
sailors maintained seasonal trading posts<br />
on the lower river, bartering for furs with<br />
the lnnu or Montagnais. As New France<br />
was settled and furs were exhausted in<br />
nearby areas, the frontier of the fur trade<br />
moved west to Three Rivers and Montreal,<br />
then via the Great Lakes to Detroit, the<br />
strategic hinge that provided access to the<br />
whole inland empire of the Mississippi, and<br />
to Huronia, the "land between the lakes."<br />
Here, rivalries between Indian nations for<br />
the control of trade with the French led<br />
to warfare and hostility. Consequently,<br />
trade routes moved north and west up the<br />
Ottawa River and across Georgian Bay to<br />
the fur-rich forests of the Northwest.<br />
FIG. 8. SAINTS-ANGES-GARDIENS CHURCH AND<br />
SAINTE-ANNE, LACHINE, QUEBEC. VIEW ACROSS<br />
THE WATER. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 9. SAINTS-ANGES-GARDIENS CHURCH AND PRESBYTERY.<br />
MAIN OPEN SPACE. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
57
RoN W iLLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
FIG. 10. STATUE OF JESUS. VIEW FROM CHURCH TO<br />
WATERWAY I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 11 . NORTH WEST CO. WAREHOUSE, LACHINE,<br />
QUEBEC. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 12. MAP, RIVERS OF WESTERN <strong>CANADA</strong><br />
(SHOWING LOCATI ONS MENTIONED). I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 13. LOWER FORT GARRY, HBCTRADING POST. I RON WIL LI AMS<br />
The next fur frontier was even further<br />
north, on the shores of Hudson Bay,<br />
explored by French Canadian voyageurs<br />
Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Medard Chouart<br />
des Groseilliers. Rejected by the French<br />
authorities, the partners sought support<br />
in London, leading to the establishment of<br />
the British-based Hudson's Bay Company in<br />
1670. The first "HBC" posts on the sea, situated<br />
at the mouths of rivers flowing from<br />
the west, were easily bypassed by French<br />
traders from Montreal who canoed across<br />
the Great Lakes to the Lake of the Woods,<br />
and thence into the Prairies, where they<br />
intercepted Cree and Assiniboine expeditions<br />
headed for Hudson Bay, thus being<br />
first to buy the furs. Central to that French<br />
mission was the de Ia Verendrye family of<br />
Three Rivers, who established, from 1730<br />
to 1760, a chain of western forts strategically<br />
located on those great rivers, which,<br />
like their counterparts in Eastern Canada,<br />
were the first highways of the West. Once<br />
French voyageurs from the East went<br />
beyond the Great Lakes and crossed the<br />
watershed into Lake Winnipeg, they were<br />
at the nexus of a thousand-mile communication<br />
system receiving water from the<br />
south via the Red River and its tributaries,<br />
and from the west through the two<br />
branches ofthe Saskatchewan River, which<br />
drain a vast area reaching to the Rocky<br />
Mountains. Through an amazing accident<br />
of geological history, that water then finds<br />
its way across the Canadian Shield to Hudson<br />
Bay, where the ocean-going vessels of<br />
their British rivals were waiting for furs.<br />
This rivalry was little changed when the<br />
French regime was replaced by a British<br />
administration in Canada in 1763. The<br />
North West Company, a loose coalition of<br />
Montreal-based traders, often of Scottish<br />
origin, maintained the previous Fren ch<br />
strategy and continued to outflank the<br />
Hudson's Bay Company, which finally<br />
began to establish posts in the interior<br />
in 1774.<br />
The trading posts or "forts" established<br />
by the trading companies along the rivers<br />
usually consisted of one or two large<br />
open spaces enclosed by lodgings for artisans<br />
and clerks, storehouses, and a "big<br />
house" for the traders, all surrounded by<br />
a wood palisade or stone fortification.<br />
Vegetables were cultivated in gardens<br />
inside the walls, and small farms nearby<br />
produced grains and provided pasture<br />
for livestock. Each fort was a small and<br />
isolated village, entirely surrounded by a<br />
world that belonged to the First Nations,<br />
"an isolated dot in an Aboriginal sea ."<br />
Fort Langley, founded by the Hudson's<br />
Bay Company in 1827 near the limit of<br />
navigation of the Fraser River in British<br />
Columbia, is a typical example. About<br />
200 by 75 metres in area, it housed a<br />
remarkably cosmopolitan community of<br />
some 106 residents, consisting mainly of<br />
French Canadians, Hawaiians, and Scots,<br />
along with a number of Iroquois and<br />
Englishmen. North of Winnipeg on the<br />
Red River, Lower Fort Garry follows the<br />
classic fort configuration, but it is also<br />
distinguished by the elegance of its structures,<br />
the stone construction of its walls<br />
and of some buildings, and the unusual<br />
aesthetic concern shown in the layout of<br />
its garden. Created in 1831 as the home<br />
base of the governor of the Hudson's<br />
Bay Company and the "nerve centre" of<br />
all its operations in the North and West,<br />
the fort could not long fulfil that role,<br />
since the real commercial centre of the<br />
region remained at Upper Fort Garry, a<br />
few kilometres to the south in what is<br />
now downtown Winnipeg.<br />
Many of the traders and voyageurs stayed<br />
for years at those remote posts, in con <br />
stant contact with members of the First<br />
Nations, who established villages nearby<br />
and provided all the furs. The traders<br />
often established temporary or permanent<br />
marriages with native women<br />
from the tribes of their Cree, Ojibwa, or<br />
58<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
RoN W ILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
Assiniboine trading partners. When they<br />
retired, they and their descendants, the<br />
Metis, often established farms-on the<br />
linear river-lot pattern, for exactly the<br />
same reasons as in Quebec-near the<br />
t rading posts.<br />
,------------------------------·-------,<br />
INFLUENCE OF THE RIVER-LOT<br />
PATTERN ON THE LAYOUT OF<br />
WESTERN CITIES<br />
high ground above the North Saskatche-<br />
There was fierce competition between<br />
the two major rivals, the Hudson's Bay<br />
and North West Companies, particularly<br />
in the period from 1800 to 1820. The two<br />
companies came to blows near the forks<br />
of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in 1816<br />
after the Hudson's Bay Company authori<br />
zed Lord Selkirk, an influential member<br />
of their governing board, to establish a<br />
settlement of displaced Scottish farmers<br />
at that strategic location. Though the settlers<br />
were not French, their farms were<br />
laid out in the familiar Quebec pattern<br />
of long lots, perpendicular to the Red<br />
River. Each settler received a 100-acre<br />
farm (40.5 ha), about 2 miles (3 km) deep,<br />
on the w est bank of the river, another<br />
2 miles for haying, and a w oodlot on the<br />
forested east side of the river.<br />
The little settlement received a new wave<br />
of residents when the great commercial<br />
rivalry between the two companies finally<br />
concluded with their fusion under the<br />
HBC name in 1821 . As happens today, the<br />
merger w as followed by ruthless downsizing<br />
and "rationalisation." Many former<br />
fur-trade employees, out of a job, set up<br />
farms on the traditional long-lot pattern<br />
along the Red River and the Assiniboine.<br />
Their farms were grouped by language<br />
and religion: French Catholics to the<br />
south, Scots Protestants to the north .<br />
The original riverside farm layout and<br />
the "rang" west of the Red, along with<br />
the main cart tracks to the w est, have<br />
defined the urban pattern of the rapidly<br />
~EP !':.IV£:;~ 2006<br />
59
RON W ILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
FI G. 17. COUVENT DES SCEURS GRISES, BUILDI NG AN D STATUE<br />
OF LOUIS-RIEL. I RON WilliAMS<br />
FIG. 19. CENTRAL AXIS AND CATHEDRAL FA\ADE,<br />
ST. BON IFACE, MANITOBA. I RON WIL LIAMS<br />
FIG. 21. ENTRANCE ROAD TO BISHOP'S PALACE,<br />
ST. BONIFACE. I RON WILLI AMS<br />
FIG. 18. ENTRANCE TO CEMETERY WITH MON UMENT DES<br />
BRAVES, ST. BON IFACE, MANITOBA. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 20. VIEW AC ROSS RED RIVER ON AXIS OF THE CATHEDRAL,<br />
ST-BONIFACE, MANITOBA. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FI G. 22. CIRCULAR GARDEN AN D VIEW TO RIVER,<br />
BISHOP'S PALACE, ST. BONIFACE. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
SAINT-BONIFACE, CENTRE OF<br />
FRENCH CIVILIZATION IN THE<br />
WEST<br />
In order to establish institutions for the<br />
rapidly growing population, Lord Selkirk,<br />
the leader of the colony, invited the<br />
bishop of Quebec to send missionaries to<br />
establish schools and hospitals. In 1818<br />
two men arrived, one of whom was the<br />
future Bishop Provencher. The missionaries<br />
received land for their mission on the<br />
east side of the Red River at a place they<br />
called Saint-Boniface, where they quickly<br />
built a little log-cabin church. From that<br />
simple beginning was to grow the great<br />
religious and cultural centre of the Canadian<br />
West. Along the river-lifeline of the<br />
region-a whole series of structures and<br />
spaces would be built, all oriented to the<br />
old river road. That thoroughfare, so reminiscent<br />
of many in Quebec, was named for<br />
Archbishop Alexandre Tache (1823-1894),<br />
and a second boulevard, perpendicular to<br />
the first-<br />
New France-<br />
equivalent to a montee back in<br />
bears the name of his predecessor,<br />
Joseph-Norbert Provencher. Those<br />
two bishops made great contributions to<br />
the many diverse communities that established<br />
themselves along the Red River in<br />
the nineteenth century.<br />
At the southern limit of that old civic centre<br />
stands what is considered to be the<br />
oldest building in Manitoba, erected in<br />
1847 and now a museum : the couvent<br />
des Sceurs Grises or Sceurs de Ia Charite.<br />
Its quiet garden celebrates the inspiration<br />
of the church, a typically appealing<br />
statue of Mary, who is never placed in<br />
an imposing setting like the ca/vaire, but<br />
is almost at ground level, and a powerful<br />
sculpture of Louis Riel, martyr to<br />
the cause of French, Metis, and Catholic<br />
peoples of the West and, increasingly, the<br />
symbol of resistance and affirmation for<br />
all residents of the Prairies. Riel's tomb<br />
is nearby in the cimetiere de Saint-Boniface,<br />
a great formal open space located<br />
some distance to the north of the convent.<br />
The cemetery is laid out in classical<br />
New France symmetrical style, with rows<br />
of headstones perpendicular to a central<br />
axis. Lilacs and honeysuckles contribute a<br />
more picturesque aspect, softening somewhat<br />
that austere composition. The traditional<br />
emblems of the church are given<br />
places of honour-the ca/vaire on a major<br />
cross-axis-as are memorials to those who<br />
built or defended the French culture on<br />
the Prairies: the tombs of Provencher and<br />
Tache, and the monument des Braves,<br />
dedicated to the "Franr;ais de /' Ouest,<br />
morts pour leur patrie 1914-1918" and in<br />
subsequent wars.<br />
The axis of the cemetery continues east<br />
and passes through the fa c; ade of the<br />
cathedrale de Saint-Boniface, the fourth<br />
church built on that site. Designed by<br />
the eminent Manitoba architect Etienne<br />
Gaboury, it is a modern church, deliberately<br />
understated and self-effacing,<br />
framed by the ruins of the baroque fa c;ade<br />
of the third cathedral, begun in 1906 and<br />
destroyed by fire in 1968. Looking back<br />
towards the river, the open fa c;ade of the<br />
old cathedral frames an axial view that<br />
continues right down to the water, where<br />
there is a new boat landing. Further along<br />
that axis, one has a view of the nearly<br />
60<br />
JSSAC i JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006
RoN WILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
church played a major role in the coloni-<br />
completed Forks project in downtown<br />
Winnipeg across the river, and then of<br />
the dome of the Via Rail Station (formerly<br />
Union Station), almost right on the axis.<br />
A striking example of urban design ...<br />
or perhaps just a happy coincidence,<br />
juxtaposing two powerful forces in the<br />
settlement of the West!<br />
Finally, at the northern extremity of that<br />
remarkable linear sequence is the Bishop's<br />
Palace, set back from the road by a formal<br />
and axial ceremonial driveway enframed by<br />
a double row of elms and spruces. From the<br />
gallery of that elegant building, constructed<br />
in1864-1865,thevisitorlooksoutonabeautiful<br />
circular garden in which junipers, peonies,<br />
irises, and other perennials surround<br />
the inevitable statue of the Virgin Mary;<br />
that modest space is a treasure. Beyond the<br />
garden, looking back down the driveway,<br />
a shaft of space opens up to the Red River.<br />
Here, as at the cathedral, the fine workmanship<br />
and finesse of wrought-iron gates add<br />
to the impact of the overall composition.<br />
Several other institutions situated to the<br />
east and south of that central node complete<br />
the portrait: the College universitaire<br />
de Saint-Boniface, a former orphanage,<br />
and the general hospital. As a civic design<br />
ensemble, this grouping of buildings and<br />
spaces recalls strongly, in its character and<br />
organization, many similar arrangements<br />
in Quebec. The linear assembly of buildings<br />
and spaces along a body of water, the<br />
crest of a hill, or an important road is one<br />
of the classic urban compositions of Quebec,<br />
as seen in the complex of institutions<br />
of the Sreurs de Sainte-Anne and their<br />
neighbours at Lachine, or the cathedral<br />
of Rimouski and its companions, or the<br />
college de Saint-Laurent in the northern<br />
suburbs of Montreal.<br />
The longevity of the relationship<br />
between the civic centre and the river at<br />
Saint-Boniface is also fascinating-now<br />
uninterrupted for almost two hundred<br />
years, the oldest such place in the West.<br />
In contrast, on the Winnipeg side or "left<br />
bank" of the Red, huge areas of prime<br />
real estate were occupied by railroad<br />
yards for a century, as in Montreal and<br />
Toronto. Only in the last 20 years has that<br />
land been reclaimed to create the magnificent<br />
river walks and public spaces of<br />
the Forks project.<br />
THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH<br />
ELSEWHERE IN THE WEST<br />
The impact of the Roman Catholic Church<br />
and its energetic leaders was felt far<br />
beyond Saint-Boniface. Everywhere, the<br />
zation of the West and left its mark on<br />
the landscape. The Mission District of<br />
modern Calgary owes its name to the mis-<br />
sion Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, which had<br />
already been in place for some years when<br />
the Royal Northwest Mounted Police<br />
founded Fort Calgary in 1875. The mis<br />
sion served as a base of operations for the<br />
colourful oblate missionary Father Albert<br />
Lacombe (1827-1916), who provided inspiration<br />
and support to the Francophone<br />
settlers of Northern Alberta.<br />
Other oblate missionaries "carried the<br />
gospel" to native peoples living around<br />
Fort Langley, B.C., in 1840; and, in 1859,<br />
Father Charles Pandosy founded the mission<br />
de l'lmmaculee Conception in the<br />
Okanagan Valley, near the Hudson's Bay<br />
Company fort. Several of the original<br />
piece sur piece log buildings of the mission<br />
still exist today. The mission served<br />
as the original nucleus of the village that<br />
has today become the prosperous city<br />
of Kelowna. Father Pandosy, noticing<br />
the agricultural potential of that fertile<br />
valley blessed with an ideal climate,<br />
planted the first apple trees and grape<br />
vines of the Okanagan, now famous for<br />
its fruit and wines. In 1858, the sisters<br />
FIG. 23. MI SSION OF FATHER PANDOSY. KE LOWNA,<br />
BRITISH CO LUMBIA. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 22. VINEYARD ON WEST SHORE OF LAKE OKANAGAN,<br />
BRITISH COLU MBIA. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 25. CHEMIN DE LA CROIX, LEBRET,<br />
SASKATCHEWAN. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 26. VIEW FROM HILLTOP, LEBRET,<br />
SASKATCHEWAN. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006<br />
61
RoN WILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
to the original Way of the Cross in the<br />
Holy Land, an arid place like much of Sas-<br />
katchewan, where agriculture is always<br />
a struggle. The view from the hilltop,<br />
after completing one's short pilgrimage,<br />
discloses a parish church built foursquare<br />
to the river, just as one may see in innumerable<br />
locations along the St. Lawrence<br />
or its tributaries.<br />
BATOCHE, SASKATCHEWAN-LAST<br />
REFUGE OF THE 80/S-BRULES<br />
of Sainte-Anne, whose college we have<br />
seen at Lachine, Quebec, accepted a call<br />
to the West Coast. In their new home<br />
near HBC's Fort Victoria, they created<br />
a masterpiece of architecture and landscape<br />
at the academie Sainte-Anne,<br />
which became the administrative centre<br />
for missions that carried those intrepid<br />
sisters throughout the islands and rivers<br />
of British Columbia, Alaska, and Yukon,<br />
where they established a great number<br />
of schools and infirmaries.<br />
FIG. 27. SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER, BATOCHE,<br />
SASKATCHEWAN. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
LEBRET, SASKATCHEWAN<br />
The planning concepts and principles of<br />
New France are not just found in the big<br />
centres of population; the Metis people<br />
established villages and river-lot farms<br />
along many of the less populated valleys<br />
of the Prairies, including those of the Bow<br />
River west of Calgary, the Qu'Appelle<br />
River in Saskatchewan, and the North Saskatchewan<br />
in Alberta. According to historian<br />
Graham MacDonald of Parks Canada,<br />
"The hand of the early French explorers<br />
and settlers is visible everywhere in the<br />
country, from the Atlantic to the Rocky<br />
Mountains, in the long-lot system that<br />
follows every river."<br />
Lebret, a small village situated on the<br />
Qu'Appelle River northeast of Regina, is a<br />
typical example. Founded by Bishop Tache<br />
in 1865 as the first mission in Saskatch-<br />
ewan, its first chapel was built the following<br />
year and its first school, directed<br />
by the oblate fathers, in 1884. That was,<br />
unfortunately, one of the industrial and<br />
residential schools for Indian children,<br />
established by several churches at the<br />
request of the federal government, the<br />
many wounds from which may finally be<br />
starting t o heal today. A convent followed<br />
at the turn of the century, and a seminary<br />
in 1926. Finally, in 1929, a striking<br />
chemin de Ia croix was built, very simple<br />
and austere but perhaps closer in feeling<br />
By a strange sequence of coincidences,<br />
errors, and miscommunications, the river-<br />
lot agricultural system in the West-so<br />
sensible and effective-became the<br />
focus of controversy and eventually a contributory<br />
factor in two armed struggles.<br />
Although the physical expressions of that<br />
system in the West were almost identical<br />
with those in Quebec, the legal system<br />
of tenure supporting them was entirely<br />
different. There were no seigneurs or<br />
seigneuries in the West and, while many<br />
land claims were filed, the "ownership"<br />
(though vague) of all the land by the<br />
Hudson's Bay Company meant that most<br />
farmers were regarded as tenants or mere<br />
squatters, without clear title to the land<br />
they farmed. Those land rights could be<br />
unrecognized or ignored, allowing established<br />
farms to be taken over by others.<br />
Such a conflict over property rights<br />
touched off the 1870 resistance in the<br />
Red River and, despite the successful<br />
conclusion of that struggle, a considerable<br />
number of Metis-the Bois-Brulespulled<br />
up stakes and moved northwest.<br />
Many moved to a place called Batoche,<br />
where the cart track from the Red River<br />
settlement to Fort Edmonton forded the<br />
South Saskatchewan River. At Batoche,<br />
along with other Metis from Edmonton,<br />
the new arrivals set up the agricultural<br />
colony of Saint-Laurent. Following models<br />
familiar since the time of New France,<br />
FIG. 28. CHURCH AND PRESBYTERY, BATOCHE,<br />
SASKATCHEWAN. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
the colonists built their church and its<br />
presbytery on top of the plateau that<br />
encloses the river valley, carefully siting<br />
it with respect to topography, and<br />
they laid out their long, narrow farms in<br />
the lowlands, perpendicular to the river<br />
and separated from each other by dense<br />
hedgerows. The hedgerows are still there,<br />
but the farmhouses and barns have long<br />
disappeared. That abandoned valley<br />
reminds us that Batoche was the site of<br />
the last battle fought on Canadian soil,<br />
in 1885.<br />
As at the Red River, within the Northwest<br />
conflict was a confrontation between two<br />
philosophies of land division and two<br />
ways of understanding property rights;<br />
a confrontation that, in retrospect, seems<br />
to have been completely avoidable. The<br />
landscape of Batoche, now a National<br />
Historic Site, is powerfully evocative. The<br />
openness and simplicity of its abandoned<br />
site, unembellished by gardens or monuments,<br />
communicates strongly the story<br />
of the tragic events that occurred there.<br />
Ironically, on the site of a far larger and<br />
62<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
RoN WILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTUR E<br />
FIG. 29. HEDGEROWS AN D ABAN DONED FIELDS, BATOCHE,<br />
SASKATCHEWAN. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
FIG. 30. PLAINS OF ABRAHAM (BATILEFIELD PARK},<br />
QUEBEC. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
more well-known battle that had been<br />
fought over a century before on the Plains<br />
of Abraham, in Quebec City-now a great<br />
urban park that accommodates thousands<br />
of people enjoying a remarkable variety<br />
of activities-, it is easy to forget that you<br />
are on a battlefield, despite the presence<br />
of forts and cannons. But at Batoche, the<br />
battlefield is always there.<br />
The church and presbytery remain at the<br />
top of the hill. The graveyard is located a<br />
little distance away on the plateau, situated<br />
slightly lower than the church, and<br />
laid out in traditional formal arrangement<br />
with a fenced boundary.<br />
FIG. 31. CEMETERY, BATOCHE, SASKATCHEWAN. I RON WILLIAMS<br />
and the saw-mill town of Maillardville<br />
near Vancouver, laid out around its neat<br />
church square in 1909) continued to be<br />
repeated well into the twentieth century.<br />
That decline of influence was not due to a<br />
dearth of francophone settlers; although<br />
Ontario and Europe became dominant<br />
sources for new immigrants to the Prairies<br />
after 1870, substantial French migration<br />
to the Prairies was maintained during that<br />
period, primarily from Quebec, but also<br />
from France and New England. There is<br />
today a considerable Francophone population<br />
in each of the Western Provinces,<br />
often concentrated in areas of original<br />
French settlement.<br />
landscape a square grid one mile (1 .6 km)<br />
on a side, which permitted the immediate<br />
creation of "quarter-section" farms of<br />
160 acres (64 ha) throughout the lands of<br />
Western Canada which were thought to<br />
be suitable for agriculture. That included<br />
the vast grasslands in the southern area<br />
of the present provinces of Manitoba,<br />
Saskatchewan, and Alberta, as well as a<br />
band of land through British Columbia<br />
along the rail line and large sectors of<br />
the inland plateau and lower mainland of<br />
the Pacific Province. In contrast with the<br />
proven system of surveying and allocation<br />
of farmlands of New France, which was<br />
founded on concrete facts of the landscape<br />
such as the hydrographic network,<br />
topography, and agricultural potential,<br />
the Dominion Land Survey Act ignored<br />
all natural elements. It envisioned an<br />
implacable and universal geometric<br />
continuity throughout the West, which<br />
was to become an immense patchwork<br />
quilt defined by baselines and meridians,<br />
ranges and townships.<br />
That system was inspired by the Public<br />
Land Survey System established by the<br />
United States through its Land Ordinance<br />
of 1784 and subsequent Northwest Ordinance<br />
of 1787. It was markedly inferior<br />
in many ways to the traditional river-lot<br />
or rang-et-montee system, particularly in<br />
the isolation it imposed on farm families<br />
and through its neglect of water, a key<br />
ingredient for agriculture in every landscape,<br />
and particularly so in the droughtprone<br />
lands of the Southern Prairies.<br />
LINES AND SQUARES: What really ended the influence of French But it achieved its goal of opening the<br />
REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES TO physical patterns in the West was rather West to rapid colonization and inspired<br />
THE LANDSCAPE PATTERNS OF the institution in the 1870s of a new sys- an egalitarian spirit, which characterizes<br />
THE WEST tem of land division, established by the the culture of Prairie Canada up to the<br />
federal government as a means of divid-<br />
present.<br />
The two conflicts of 1870 and 1885 ing up land efficiently in order to accommarked<br />
the end of French influence on modate the tremendous number of new CONCLUSION<br />
the large-scale landscape patterns of<br />
immigrants who would be arriving on the<br />
the West, although small-scale patterns newly-constructed Canadian Pacific Rail- Although the main period of French land-<br />
(such as the chemin de Ia croix at Lebret way. That new system imposed onto the scape influence in the West ended long<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006 63
RoN WILLIAMS > CONFERENCE I LECTURE<br />
ago, the heritage of that first wave of<br />
European settlement on the Prairies and<br />
in British Columbia remains very much<br />
alive. The patterns of long-lot farms are<br />
still plainly visible in the layouts of major<br />
cities and of small towns, and they can<br />
still be seen along many rivers throughout<br />
the West. One shudders to imagine<br />
what people in the Okanagan would be<br />
drinking today had it not been for Father<br />
Pandosy; and we may all enjoy a number<br />
of well-preserved architectural and landscape<br />
jewels, from Victoria to Winnipeg<br />
and points north, which are the permanent<br />
legacy of New France to Western<br />
Canada.<br />
MacEwan, Grant, 1986, Les Franco-Canadiens<br />
dans /'Ouest I French in the West, Editions des<br />
plaines, Saint-Boniface, Manitoba.<br />
McKelvie, B.A ., 1991, Fort Langley: Birthplace of<br />
British Columbia, Porcepic Books, Victoria,<br />
B.C.<br />
Societe historique de Saint-Boniface (SHSB), and<br />
Musee de Saint-Boniface, 1991, Bienvenue<br />
a Saint-Boniface, Manitoba : Exposition sur<br />
l'histoire de Ia ville de Saint-Boniface de ses<br />
origines a 1914 I Exhibit on the History of the<br />
City of St. Boniface from its Origins to 1914,<br />
SHSB, Saint-Boniface, Manitoba.<br />
BIBLIOGRAPHY<br />
Braches, Fred, ed., 1999, British Columbia Historical<br />
News, vol. 32, no. 4, fall, special Edition on<br />
Fort Langley, Journal of the British Columbia<br />
Historical Foundation, Victoria, B.C.<br />
Creighton, D.G., 1937, The Commercial Empire of<br />
the St. Lawrence, 1760-7850, Ryerson Press,<br />
Toronto.<br />
Easterbrook, W.T., and Hugh G.J . Aitken, 1961,<br />
Canadian Economic History, MacMillan,<br />
Toronto, Ontario.<br />
Flynn, Catherine, and Barbara Huck, 2003, N' 1 > 2006
RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
THE STUDIO BUILDING,<br />
25 SEVERN STREET, TORONTO, ONTARIO<br />
ANDREW WALDRON is an architectural historian<br />
in the Historical Services Branch of the National<br />
>ANDREW WALDRON<br />
Historic Sites Directorate at Parks Canada<br />
(Gatineau). He has written on a variety of topics<br />
[industrial sites, cultural landscapes, historic<br />
districts, modern architecture) for the Federal<br />
Heritage Buildings Review Office and the Histor ic<br />
Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. He has<br />
been a member of the Society for the Study<br />
of Architecture in Canada [SSAC] since 1995<br />
and is currently a vice-president on the SSAC's<br />
Executive Board.<br />
The Studio Building was designated<br />
a national historic site of Canada in<br />
2004. The reasons for designation are: it<br />
is the earliest purpose-built artist studio in<br />
Canada representing the visions of a young<br />
generation of Canadian artists who would<br />
have a professional venue and gathering<br />
place to develop a distinctly Canadian art;<br />
it is directly associated with the Group of<br />
Seven and painter Tom Thomson; it is an<br />
example of early twentieth-century modern<br />
architecture in Canada that rejected<br />
ornamentation and drew on industrial<br />
design; and it is an important studio<br />
for many notable Canadian artists since<br />
1913.<br />
INTRODUCTION<br />
FIG. 1. STUDIO BUILDING, TORONTO, ONTARIO. CONSTRUCTED 1913-1914. EDEN SMITH, ARCHITECT.I ANDREWWALDRON, PA RKS <strong>CANADA</strong>,2004<br />
Toronto architect Eden Smith designed<br />
the Studio Building in 1913 for worldrenowned<br />
painter Lawren Harris and<br />
Canadian art patron Dr. James MacCallum,<br />
as a purpose-built artist studio. It drew on<br />
modern ideas in its originality-it was one<br />
of the first purpose-built studio spaces in<br />
North America-and its functionality as a<br />
"warehouse" design. It was a building that<br />
emphasized function over stylistic appearance.<br />
Eden Smith's modern approach to<br />
the building's design was parallel to the<br />
direction Canadian art was taking in the<br />
1910s. A new modern style was emerging<br />
from the traditional European approach to<br />
painting the Canadian landscape, eventually<br />
coalescing as a movement in the 1920s<br />
with the formation of the Group of Seven.<br />
It was within the Studio Building that this<br />
new art would be painted. Canada's early<br />
iconic modern artists-including Lawren<br />
Harris, Tom Thomson, A .Y. Jackson, and<br />
J.E .H. MacDonald-now had studios<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006 > 65-80 65
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 3. THE LOCATION OF THE STUDIO BUILDING PROPERTY WITHIN THE<br />
ROSEDALE RAVINE. I CITY OF TORONTO, MUNICIPAL MAP SERIES, 51J·11, MARCH 2003<br />
where they were able to remake the image<br />
of the Canadian landscape. Each year the<br />
artists returned from their trips through<br />
northern Canada to the Studio Building<br />
and settled in to complete their bold<br />
paintings that now hang in art collections<br />
throughout the world. Those artists were<br />
the first of a long line of notable Canadian<br />
artists who rented out studio space in the<br />
famous building. Completely intact today,<br />
the building continues to convey its early<br />
modern aesthetic, its inextricable bond<br />
with members of the Group of Seven and<br />
artists who followed these pioneers, and<br />
its ongoing use as artist studios.<br />
The Studio Building is a three-storey brickclad<br />
concrete structure that was described<br />
at the time of construction in 1914 as "a<br />
factory-looking building" (figs. 1-11a). 1 Taking<br />
advantage of the indirect natural light<br />
on the north side of the building, three<br />
storeys of large windows constructed of<br />
single-pane glass front the building's principal<br />
fa
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
According to art historian Frederick<br />
Housser, Harris initially wanted to build<br />
the studios and "attached to it he planned<br />
a little theatre, a combination of a picture<br />
gallery and a playhouse where young<br />
Canadian playwriters [sic] and painters<br />
were to be invited to send their work." 9<br />
Harris headed forward with a more modest<br />
vision. His hope for a national cultural<br />
centre would not materialize until the<br />
early 1960s.<br />
FIG. 4. PROPOSED DESIGNATED PLACE FOR THE STUDIO BUILDING HIGHLIGHTED IN GRAY. I CITY OF TORONTO. MUNICIPAL MAP SERIES.<br />
51J-11, MARCH 2003<br />
and worked. 4 Severn Street is now blocked<br />
off from Bloor Street by the TTC (Toronto<br />
Transit Commission) subway line (fig. 25).<br />
THE STUDIO BUILDING: THE<br />
VISION AND THE DESIGN<br />
The first impressions when looking at the<br />
Studio Building are its simplicity of design<br />
and lack of historical style. Indeed, the<br />
Studio Building is an early modern building<br />
in Canada . The innovation of emphasizing<br />
function over style and shedding<br />
ornament was, for the time, a reflection<br />
of architectural modernism's emergence<br />
in the country. 5 Its modern design especially<br />
mirrors the spirit of the painters who<br />
resided in the building and the inspiring<br />
vision of the determined young Canadian<br />
painter, Lawren Harris.<br />
Lawren Harris's vision was to build a place<br />
where artists would have a proper space<br />
for painting a new Canadian art. As he<br />
stated, "One of the main ideas of the<br />
promoters of this model it was explained<br />
was the desire to assist in the creation,<br />
not of what we called merely a national<br />
art, but rather of the development of art<br />
in Canada as differentiated from that of<br />
Europe." 6<br />
However, his drive to foster Canadian art was<br />
partly inspired by his and J.E.H. MacDonald's<br />
visit to the exhibit of Scandinavian art held<br />
at the Albright Gallery in Buffalo in January<br />
1913. As Harris recalled ofthe exhibit, "Here<br />
was an art bold, vigorous and uncompromising,<br />
embodying direct first-hand experience<br />
of the great North." 7 Harris firmly believed<br />
that a centre for young Canadian artists<br />
would produce a more active and cohesive<br />
artistic group to develop a new Canadian<br />
landscape painting drawing on a similar<br />
approach, as had the symbolist Scandinavian<br />
painters. Harris's plan to construct the Studio<br />
Building actually began before his visit to<br />
the pivotal show in Buffalo. As early as 1912,<br />
when Harris was only 27 years old, he took<br />
out a building permit for the site.•<br />
Construction of the Studio Building began<br />
in late 1913. Harris footed almost all of the<br />
building's cost while Dr. MacCallum paid<br />
the balance. 10 They chose Eden Smith, a fellow<br />
member of the Arts and Letters Club<br />
in Toronto, to design the building. 11 Smith<br />
was likely chosen as the architect because<br />
of his close connection through the men's<br />
club, but he was also likely given the contract<br />
because he was an architect who<br />
had similar ideas to Harris and MacCallum<br />
of where Canadian art and architecture<br />
should head.<br />
Eden Smith (1859-1949) was born in Birmingham,<br />
England, and trained in his<br />
youth as a watercolourist and draftsman.<br />
His family immigrated to Canada in 1885,<br />
first homesteading in Southern Manitoba<br />
before moving to Toronto two years later.<br />
He was hired by the architectural firm of<br />
Strickland & Symons and later opened his<br />
own practice in 1892.' 2 By the late 1890s,<br />
Sm ith was a highly respected Toronto<br />
architect who had made a name for himself<br />
designing homes for Toronto's wealthy<br />
neighbourhoods of Rosedale, Deer Park,<br />
the Annex, and Wychwood Park. His<br />
domestic architecture was rooted in the<br />
English house, drawing on the vocabularies<br />
of Voysey, Shaw, Webb, and other<br />
British architects of the Arts and Crafts<br />
movement.<br />
Marketing himself in the early years of<br />
his practice as an "English" architect was<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
67
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 5. FRONT FA~ADE OF THE STUDIO BUILDING. IANDREWWAL·<br />
DRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>. 2004<br />
FIG. 6. EAST BAY OF THE STUDIO BUILDING'S FRONT FA ~ADE . I<br />
ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
evident in the homes he designed for the<br />
picturesque Wychwood Park. However,<br />
by the early twentieth century, Smith had<br />
shed his "English cottage style" and had<br />
begun to promote himself as a Canadian<br />
architect. Architectural historian Annmarie<br />
Adams considers Smith as an architect<br />
whose designs "leaned on English<br />
precedents-on the surface-and were<br />
Thus, a modern aesthetic was reflected<br />
in the building: ornamentation was eliminated<br />
and the functional requirements<br />
determined the design. For example, the<br />
building's windows and orientation were<br />
determined by the requirements of the<br />
artists. Indeed, there was "great difficulty<br />
in finding within the city accommodation<br />
where the much-prized northern light<br />
with all its clearness can be obtained, for<br />
without such, it is found impossible to<br />
place upon the canvas that truth of colour<br />
which is so highly praised." 15<br />
Eager to finally paint in a suitable space,<br />
six artists moved into the building before<br />
its completion in March 1914.'"These were:<br />
Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, J. (William)<br />
Beatty, Arthur Heming, Albert Curtis Wil-<br />
liamson, and J.E.H. MacDonald. Of these<br />
artists, Harris, Jackson, and MacDonald<br />
would later found the Group of Seven. The<br />
others were a generation older, though<br />
they were sympathetic to the younger<br />
generation's emerging style. At its completion,<br />
the Studio Building reflected Harris's<br />
vision of architecture and art. As one occupant<br />
told a reporter from the Toronto<br />
Daily Star, "This is a workshop primarily.<br />
It is not a place for pink teas or tango,<br />
or anything of that kind. We are here to<br />
work, and we have the accommodation<br />
that we were longing for years.""<br />
Those spirited words echoed Harris's intent<br />
to erect a workshop "for artists doing<br />
distinctly Canadian work." The building's<br />
functional appearance reflected the<br />
attitude of the artists to live and work<br />
together in a building specifically built for<br />
their requirements. Indeed, Harris's con-<br />
fidence of creating a new image of the<br />
Canadian landscape was strong enough<br />
for him to risk the capital to construct the<br />
building. Even if the young artists were<br />
struggling financially and were derided<br />
in the papers as the "Hot Mush School,"<br />
Harris was determined to see through<br />
then rearranged inside to suit a less formal<br />
lifestyle." 13<br />
Yet, Smith's design for the Studio Building<br />
was much more radical. As Adams further<br />
states, the Studio Building "cited examples<br />
of European modernism and industrial vernacular<br />
architecture rather than the Arts<br />
and Crafts movement." 14 Smith was of the<br />
earliest generation of architects searching<br />
for a distinctly Canadian architectural identity<br />
by adapting English architecture to a<br />
Canadian setting. His adoption of an industrial<br />
aesthetic for a live-work space was<br />
pioneering for work of early twentiethcentury<br />
Canadian architecture.<br />
The Studio Building eliminated exterior<br />
ornamentation and historical meaning<br />
in favour of an unadorned architecture.<br />
Eliminating ornament from what was<br />
essentially a very unique apartment block<br />
design using open lofts (apartment blocks<br />
started to be built in Toronto in the 1910s),<br />
the Studio Building was at the leading<br />
edge of architecture in early twentiethcentury<br />
Canada. Admittedly, the building<br />
used traditional materials for its exterior,<br />
including red brick, stone, and plaster,<br />
but they were applied in an unadorned<br />
manner. By comparison with a contemporary<br />
domestic building, such designing<br />
is undeniably plain. Its unembellished<br />
design, so different from Smith's previous<br />
work, reflects its intention as a home for<br />
modern artists.<br />
Harris wanted a "workshop for artists<br />
doing distinctly Canadian work," and<br />
Smith's modernism was appropriate for<br />
Harris's intention to develop a new national<br />
style. Smith's earlier Arts and Crafts homes<br />
vanished in his design for the Studio Buildin<br />
g. That building was to be a modern-day<br />
workshop for artists to work and live in<br />
one space, not a comfortable domestic<br />
space for an artist who could walk away<br />
from the smell of the oil on his canvas.<br />
68<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
his vision. Harris even capped the rent<br />
at around $25 a month to make it<br />
affordable.'"<br />
THE STUDIO BUILDING:<br />
SYNONYMOUS WITH THE<br />
MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF<br />
SEVEN<br />
Much of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century<br />
Canadian landscape art was<br />
traditional, academic, and European. That<br />
is, it was an art steeped in a European<br />
Romantic view of the Canadian landscape.<br />
Few Canadian artists broke from conventional<br />
painting t echniques at the time, and<br />
even fewer were prepared to define their<br />
art as modern. The few Canadian artists<br />
who were radically different painters, such<br />
as J.W. Morrice or David Milne, left the<br />
country to develop and exhibit their work.<br />
Many ambitious Canadian artists received<br />
an education in the Parisian academies or<br />
Dutch schools, with the rare artist returning<br />
home influenced by the avant-garde<br />
painting being produced outside the<br />
academies.<br />
By the first decade of the twentieth century,<br />
a few artists were bothered by the<br />
tired old-fashioned look of Canadian art;<br />
faint impressionist brushstrokes began to<br />
appear in Canadian paintings. Curtis W illiamson,<br />
one of the first artists to move into<br />
the Studio Building, helped to found the<br />
Canadian Art Club in 1907 as a response<br />
to the staidness of Canadian art. By 1910,<br />
a group of Toronto artists associated w ith<br />
the Canadian Art Club and the Arts and<br />
Letters Club were beginning to search for<br />
the "essence" of Canada in their work. 19<br />
his work with the Canadian Art Club. 2 D In<br />
1911, he met J.E.H. MacDonald who in turn<br />
introduced him to a group of artists who<br />
were interested in Canadian subjects. Harris's<br />
contact with C.W. Jefferys, J. William<br />
Beatty, and MacDonald, all of whom were<br />
interested in Canadian themes, energized<br />
his drive towards an "authentic" Canadian<br />
art. As C.W. Jefferys stated in his review of<br />
MacDonald's pivotal exhibition of sketches<br />
at the Arts and Letters Club, which had<br />
impressed Harris, " in themselves [.. .] Canadian<br />
themes do not make art, Canadian<br />
or other, but neither do Canadian themes<br />
expressed through European formulas or<br />
through European temperaments." 21 Har-<br />
ris was also influenced by William Beatty's<br />
work. 22 He would be one of the first artists<br />
to move into the Studio Building and<br />
was already travelling to Algonquin Park<br />
in search of Canadian landscapes. Beatty's<br />
Evening Cloud of the Northland, painted<br />
in 1910, foreshadows the bolder treatment<br />
of the paint and choice of colours of Tom<br />
Thomson's and Harris's works.<br />
FIG. 8. VIEW OF THE STUDIO BUILDING'S REAR FA~ADE. THE<br />
SMALL STRUCTURE ATTHE GROUND STOREY IS A<br />
SMALL PATIO, ACCESSIBLE FROM STUDIO #1.1 ANDREW<br />
WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
The confluence of those artists began<br />
with meetings at the Arts and Letters Club<br />
and resulted with the construction of the<br />
Studio Building. Lawren Harris had been<br />
painting Toronto street scenes after returning<br />
from studies in Berlin, and exhibiting<br />
MacDonald and Harris found inspiration<br />
for a new Canadian landscape art in the<br />
treatment of the North in the art exhibited<br />
at the Albright show in Buffalo. By<br />
the spring of 1913, the two artists were<br />
attracting other like-minded painters to<br />
FIG. 9. DETAIL OF A WINDOW ON THE GROUND STO REY. I<br />
ANDREW WALDRON. PARKS CANADI\ 2004<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
69
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 10. STUDIO #1 WINDOW.<br />
I ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
FIG. 11. ORIGINAL WINDOW HANDLE OF<br />
ONE OFTHE CASEMENT WINDOWS. I<br />
ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
their interest in the North. Tom Thomson,<br />
Fred Varley, and Arthur Lismer were Mac<br />
Donald's colleagues at the commercial art<br />
firm, Grip Limited; A.Y. Jackson, who was<br />
disillusioned with the Montreal art community,<br />
had been writing to MacDonald and<br />
had exhibited his work with the Ontario<br />
Society of Arts. Jackson had had a disappointing<br />
year exhibiting in Montreal when<br />
MacDonald invited him to Toronto in May<br />
1913. Jackson was introduced to Harris and<br />
was informed of Harris's and MacCallum's<br />
idea concerning the Studio Building. After<br />
a summer painting on Georgian Bay, Jackson<br />
was offered a year rent-free in the<br />
Studio Building by Dr. MacCallum. 23 Mac<br />
Callum also persuaded Tom Thomson to<br />
give up his commercial artwork and pursue<br />
fine art; he offered Thomson the same<br />
conditions as he had offered to Jackson. By<br />
January of 1914, the Studio Building was<br />
ready to move into. Jackson and Thomson<br />
were friends by then and shared a<br />
to go out and sketch, often together, and<br />
return to realize their sketches on canvas<br />
in their own studio.<br />
The artistic dynamic of that first year may<br />
best be reflected in the work of Thomson<br />
and Jackson. It was during the first year of<br />
residence that Tom Thomson and Jackson<br />
fed off each other as they shared a studio.<br />
Between sketching trips to Algonquin,<br />
Ontario, Jackson appreciated the raw talent<br />
of Thomson, and helped refine Thomson's<br />
style. A new unity of composition was evident<br />
in Thomson's Moonlight, Early Evening-a<br />
painting that was "painted directly<br />
under Jackson's tutelage that first winter<br />
in the new studio"." Thomson's Algonquin<br />
sketches equally influenced Jackson's style.<br />
His Frozen Lake, Early Spring, Algonquin<br />
Park followed Thomson's basic composition<br />
and vibrancy of colour in A Northern<br />
Lake-Thomson's first large canvas, painted<br />
in 1913.<br />
in June 1915 and became an official war<br />
artist in August 1917. 27 Harris, MacDonald,<br />
and the other "Studio Building artists"<br />
(as they were now known) continued to<br />
paint and saw Thomson regularly (Thomson<br />
moved into a shack behind the building<br />
in 1915). 28 After Harris was discharged<br />
from the army in 1918, he and MacDonald<br />
travelled with Dr. MacCallum from the<br />
Studio Building to the Algoma District of<br />
Northern Ontario. That trip was the first<br />
of the famous "box car" trips. 29 In September<br />
1919, the group returned to Algoma,<br />
that time with 'ackson replacing Mac<br />
Callum. In May ,920, the newly formed<br />
Group of Seven exhibited for the first<br />
time; five of the seven members had at<br />
one time painted in the Studio Building.<br />
It was the place where those artists could<br />
meet as professional artists, each seeking<br />
out a new meaning for Canadian art. As<br />
Harris recalled in the late 1940s, "It was<br />
built as a working place for those artists<br />
ground-floor studio. Harris took the stu-<br />
dio beside them, and MacDonald a studio By late 1914, Canada was at war and the<br />
primarily interested in painting Canada in<br />
its own terms-a new creative venture. If<br />
on the top floor. Beatty, Williamson and younger artists Harris and MacCallum it had not been for A .Y. [Jackson], J.E.H.<br />
Arthur Heming took the other studios. 24 brought together had to wait over five MacD[onald], [Tom] Thomson, etc., it<br />
Fully occupied, the Studio Building housed years before they would return to the would never have been built." 30<br />
a group of painters who would radically public eye. Thomson continued to paint<br />
change the way the Canadian landscape his stunning works until his death at Canoe However, according to A.Y. Jackson, Harris's<br />
was imagined. The artists were now able Lake in July 1917. 26 Jackson joined the army intentions were only partly realized, since<br />
70<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 13. INTERIOR OF STUDIO #2 IN 1963. I ONTARIO HOME AND LIVING. FEBRUARY. 1963. P. 7 FIG. 14. INTERIOR OF STUDIO #1. I ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
he could not control the artists' output.<br />
Indeed, once the Group of Seven was dissolved<br />
and reformed as the larger Canadian<br />
Group of Painters, Harris's vision for the<br />
building may not have had the outcome he<br />
was hoping for. As Jackson later recalled,<br />
"It was Harris [sic] belief that if conditions<br />
favourable to the artist were created, good<br />
results would surely follow in his painting.<br />
But the human element is very complex;<br />
some of Harris hopefuls did not share his<br />
ideas or enthusiasm. They got big studios<br />
for low rents and went their own way.<br />
Some of them did not even remember to<br />
pay the rent." 31<br />
Despite setbacks, according to Harris, the<br />
Studio Building's construction enabled<br />
the members of Canada's most known<br />
group of painters to come together at<br />
times when they were not out sketching.<br />
Harris went to great lengths to bring<br />
those artists together under one roof<br />
in downtown Toronto. And unlike the<br />
social role of the Arts and Letters Club,<br />
the Studio Building was the workshop<br />
where the new Canadian art emerged in<br />
the 1920s.<br />
The place had direct associations with<br />
members of the Group who have been<br />
designated persons of national significance,<br />
although not all of the members of<br />
the Group of Seven resided at the Studio<br />
Building. Jackson, Thomson, MacDonald,<br />
and Harris all developed their famous style<br />
while at the Studio Building. By the late<br />
1920s, the building was synonymous with<br />
the Group of Seven . Harris, MacDonald,<br />
and Jackson's major works of the decade<br />
were completed in the Studio Building. The<br />
intense and aggressive colours, decorative<br />
surfaces, lack of depth and lack of atmospheric<br />
qualities of their paintings were<br />
all stylistic elements in their works that<br />
emerged while living and working at the<br />
Studio Building. Indeed, when Emily Carr<br />
visited Lawren Harris at his studio in 1927,<br />
she returned home to write in her journal:<br />
"I guess that long talk in Lawren Harris<br />
studio was the pivot on which turned my<br />
life." 32 The Studio Building was a place that<br />
had achieved its purpose in Harris's view<br />
for the future of Canadian art of the first<br />
half of the twentieth century.<br />
THE STUDIO BUILDING: A HOME<br />
TO CANADIAN MODERN ART<br />
The Studio Building quickly developed a<br />
reputation as a meeting place for some<br />
of the most prominent Canadian modern<br />
artists after the Group of Seven became<br />
famous. It was one of few places in the<br />
country where an artistic community was<br />
coming together to paint and develop<br />
their talent. Its status in the 1910s was<br />
evidently linked to the artwork being produced<br />
by the future members of the Group<br />
of Seven. In the 1920s and 1930s, that distinction<br />
drew a new generation of artists,<br />
including prominent Canadian women artists<br />
and some of the most important artists<br />
who would become official war artists during<br />
the Second World War. The building<br />
speaks to the prominence of those tenants<br />
and its unique role as the only purposebuilt<br />
shared studio building in the country<br />
at that time. As the prominent Arctic<br />
photographer Richard Harrington (who<br />
rented out part of the basement as his<br />
first darkroom in the late 1940s) recalled,<br />
"It was an open place where everyone<br />
came and went. We had great parties,<br />
especially with the Comforts, [Thoreau]<br />
Macdonald and the Peppers." 33 Indeed,<br />
most of the artists living in the building<br />
in the 1930s and 1940s were later known<br />
as pioneers of modern art in Canada, following<br />
in the Group of Seven's footsteps.<br />
By the 1950s, the legacy of the building's<br />
notoriety in Canadian art continued; however,<br />
it was now seen in its historic context<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006<br />
71
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 15. 1NTERIOR OF STUDIO # 4 . [ AN DREWWALDRON,<br />
PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
FIG. 16. INTERIOR OF STUDIO # 4.[ ANDREW WALDRON,<br />
PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
FIG. 17. INTERIOR OF STUDIO # 4 SHOWING THE STAIRS UP<br />
TO THE LOFT SPACE ABOVE THE ENTRANCE.[<br />
ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
with few of the next generation respecting<br />
the Canadian nationalist art produced to Canada with her sister, an architect who<br />
Biriukova was a Russian emigre, who came<br />
in the studio. Despite the building's reputation,<br />
the studios were so well designed Forest Hill, and she instantly developed a<br />
would design Lawren Harris's mansion in<br />
for the artist that infamous abstract artist, reputation as a portraitist.<br />
Harold Town, and his Painters Eleven colleague,<br />
Walter Yarwood, rented studios MacDonald and Biriukova, who were<br />
in the building.<br />
lifelong companions, reflected the 1930s<br />
generation of Canadian artists broaden-<br />
If art in 1920s Canada focused on land- ing what constituted as Canadian art. Macscape,<br />
in the 1930s it turned to f igurative Donald worked on the design of over 150<br />
painting, urban scenes, and a hesitant publications by notable Canadian poets<br />
abstraction. The change was gradual as and non-fiction writers of the first half<br />
the Group of Seven became a public success<br />
and was identified with the direction attention to include scenes of nature. Biri<br />
of the twentieth century, with particular<br />
modern painting was heading in Canada. ukova was one of several women artists<br />
No more was the Group made up of seven now accepted in the Canadian arts community,<br />
once dominated by the Group<br />
members and solely exhibiting landscapes<br />
by the 1930s; they invited others to show and their male friends. Indeed, the Studio<br />
alongside of them. 34 In 1931, the last Building has had several notable women<br />
year the Group of Seven exhibited, many artists reside in the building, besides<br />
young artists were following the Group's Biriukova. Lilias Torrance Newton, a fellow<br />
member of the CGP and prominent<br />
style. Yet, there was a growing concern<br />
amongst the younger modern artists, and portraitist, was a tenant of the building<br />
even the members of the Group, that modern<br />
painting was too narrowly connected<br />
during the 1940s.<br />
with the Canadian landscape. Modern art However, the first woman artist to rent out<br />
in Canada became more national in scope a space in the Studio Building predated<br />
in the early 1930s after the Group of Seven the above artists. Marion Long, a Torontoborn<br />
artist who had studied under George<br />
had dissolved and reformed as the Canadian<br />
Group of Painters (CGP). Established Reid and American artist William Chase,<br />
by 28 painters, and led by Fred Varley and rented out Th omson and Jackson's studio<br />
A.Y. Jackson, that group was made up of in 1915. For ten years Long painted side by<br />
artists from across the country; it had side with her contemporaries, principally<br />
no identifiable style, instead it brought on still lites, street scenes, and portraits.<br />
wider thematic interests, influenced by In later years, she was the first woman artist<br />
the Group of Seven's aesthetic.<br />
to become a full member of the Royal<br />
Canadian Academy.<br />
Activity surrounding the CGP was centred<br />
in Toronto, more specifically at the Studio Other women artists, a generation younger<br />
Building. Thoreau MacDonald and Yulia than Marion Long, also lived in the Studio<br />
Biriukova, both notable Canadian artists Building, although often with their partners.<br />
In the 1930s and 1940s, Charles and<br />
and members of the CGP, resided in the<br />
building until 1949. Thoreau MacDonald Louise Comfort and George and Kathleen<br />
was the son of J.E.H . MacDonald, and fol-<br />
(Daly) Pepper were two of the couples,<br />
lowed in his father's footsteps as a graphic along with Biriukova and MacDonald, who<br />
artist; he spent years sharing his father's shared quarters. While Louise Comfort was<br />
studio before the latter died in 1932. 35 not an artist, Kathleen Daly was an avid<br />
72 JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
each of the groups as part of an evolution<br />
of Canadian art in English Canada from<br />
the 1910s through to the 1940s.<br />
The last phase of that era began in the<br />
early 1940s when some of the artists in<br />
the Studio Building were called up for<br />
duty during the Second World War as<br />
official war artists. Comfort, Pepper and<br />
Lawren Harris, Jr. (who had a studio in<br />
the building in the late 1930s) were sent<br />
out from the Studio Building to document<br />
the Canadian military experience. Comfort<br />
and Harris, Jr. were sent on the Italian campaign;<br />
Pepper was sent to Northwestern<br />
Europe. Each treated the difficult subject<br />
matter in his unique way. Will Ogilvie and<br />
Jack Nichols are two war artists who, after<br />
being discharged, returned from Europe<br />
to live in the Studio Building. 38 Ogilvie had<br />
painted in Italy and Europe, while Nichols,<br />
the youngest war artist and the one who<br />
could best capture the tragedy of war<br />
in his figures, had been in the Navy and<br />
involved in the Normandy landings.<br />
At the time that the Studio Building was<br />
sold by Harris in 1948, Yulia Biriukova, Will<br />
Ogilvie, Kathleen Daly, George Pepper,<br />
A.Y. Jackson, and Charles Comfort were liv-<br />
ing in the building. Other artists naturally<br />
came and went through the building, but<br />
those artists, all members of the Canadian<br />
Group of Painters, were together under<br />
one roof painting, all the while knowing<br />
that the place was begun as a place for<br />
new Canadian art by Lawren Harris.<br />
By the late 1940s, painting in Toronto had<br />
lost its edge. New art was originating in<br />
Montreal, first with John Lyman and the<br />
Contemporary Arts Society of the late<br />
1930s and 1940s, then with the young<br />
group of abstract painters known as Les<br />
Automatistes, who signed the Refus Global<br />
manifesto in 1948. Toronto art, and even<br />
English-Canadian art, were left behind. As<br />
Dennis Reid wrote, "the painting scene in<br />
painter with political interests, as was her<br />
husband, George Pepper. Both adopted<br />
the 1930s painting style known as social<br />
realism, as did Charles Comfort.<br />
All of those Canadian Group of Painters artists<br />
shared space in the building with their<br />
mentor, A.Y. Jackson. 36 Yet, his type of landscape<br />
was only part of their painterly interest.<br />
Pepper, Daly, and Comfort were each<br />
reaching out beyond the Group of Seven's<br />
style to integrate European and American<br />
abstraction and social realism in their<br />
paintings. All three responded to the social<br />
and economic problems of the Depression,<br />
finding inspiration for their art in the disenfranchised<br />
and in some works, existentialism.<br />
When Charles Comfort lived in the Studio<br />
Building, he produced particularly refined<br />
though sombre paintings. While Comfort<br />
went on to be appointed as the director<br />
of the National Gallery, Daly remained<br />
interested in painting the Inuit and the<br />
French-Canadian "Habitant," and Pepper<br />
attempted to capture the challenges of the<br />
Depression besides continuing to paint landscapes<br />
a Ia Group of Seven. Indeed, artists in<br />
the Canadian Group of Painters were hesitant<br />
to break completely from the Group of<br />
Seven's style. Some, such as Carl Schaefer,<br />
who often visited and sometimes worked<br />
in the building, were exceptions.<br />
The Studio Building was clearly a place<br />
for like-minded artists to come together.<br />
In May 1942, the first annual general<br />
meeting of the newly formed Federation<br />
of Canadian Artists (it was established in<br />
1941 as a national association of artists at<br />
the Kingston Conference, attended by 150<br />
artists at Queen's <strong>University</strong>) was held in<br />
Comfort's studio; all of the regional representatives<br />
and the president, Andre Bielier,<br />
attended the meetingY<br />
From the Studio Building artists, to the<br />
Group of Seven, and then to the Canadian<br />
Group of Painters, the building reflected<br />
FIG. 18. STUDIO #4'S BATHROOM UNDER THE LOFT. I<br />
ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
FIG. 19. INTERIOR OF STUDIO #6, THE FORMER STUDIO OF<br />
J.E.H. MACDONALD, A.Y. JACKSON, AND HAROLD<br />
TOWN. I ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
FIG. 20. STUDIO #6.1 ANDREW WALDRON. PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>, 2004<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
73
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 21. VIEW OF THE STUDIO BUILDING FROM SEVERN STREET. I ANDREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>. 2004<br />
Toronto was moribund [ ... ] after the departure<br />
of Lawren Harris, the only sophisticated<br />
stimulation came from the Picture<br />
Loan Society, and even there the lines ran<br />
as much to the past as to the future." 39<br />
In 1948, Lawren Harris decided to sell the<br />
building to artist Gordon MacNamara and<br />
his partner Charles K. Redfern, after having<br />
offered the building to Jackson. 40 MacNamara,<br />
who was a lawyer in the 1930s and<br />
had helped art dealer Douglas Duncan<br />
start the Picture Loan Society, decided to<br />
become a full-time artist after serving in<br />
the Canadian Army during the war. 41 The<br />
building was in a sorry state according to<br />
MacNamara and was under threat of being<br />
bought by the architectural firm of Parkin<br />
Associates. 42 Redfern and MacNamara<br />
invested in improving the building and consequently<br />
raised the rents. Redfern moved<br />
in immediately after an unfortunate turn of<br />
events led to the eviction of Yulia Biriukova<br />
and Thoreau MacDonald in 1949. Their<br />
departure was followed by Jackson's own<br />
departure in 1955. 43 MacNamara moved<br />
into the building in 1951, after Kathleen<br />
Daly and George Pepper moved out of their<br />
studio. Only Will Ogilvie and the Comforts<br />
remained in the building from the 1930s<br />
generation. All had left by the late 1950s.<br />
The historic Studio Building became home<br />
to a younger generation of artists who<br />
were not as closely connected with the<br />
prewar artists. Jackson was, in his own<br />
words, "an old horse to be left out to pasture."44<br />
The Studio Building was seen as a<br />
historic building, steeped in connections<br />
with numerous prewar Canad ian artists.<br />
Indeed, the worker's shack, beside the<br />
building, was dismantled and moved to the<br />
McMichael Collection of Art in Kleinburg,<br />
Ontario, where it was rebuilt as a replica<br />
of Tom Thomson's shack before his death.<br />
Yet, rather than becoming a museum or<br />
shrine, the Studio Building continued to<br />
function as studio spaces. 45<br />
The last internationally prominent artist to<br />
reside in the Studio Building epitomized the<br />
postwar artistic direction towards a fierce<br />
individualism and non-objective form; his<br />
name was Harold Town. If Montreal had<br />
Les Automatistes, led by Paul-Emile Borduas,<br />
Toronto's equivalent was the abstract<br />
expressionists of the early 1950s under the<br />
name "Painters Eleven." Postwar abstraction<br />
in Canada was in part a colonial condition<br />
emulating New York City's painters,<br />
but, more importantly, it was a disjuncture<br />
with what was then seen as the oppressiveness<br />
of Canadian landscape painting of the<br />
previous decades. The younger abstract<br />
artists turned inward to examine their<br />
own emotional landscape, while divesting<br />
themselves of any nationalism. Town was<br />
at the centre of the new movement. He<br />
had his first solo exhibition with Douglas<br />
Duncan's Picture Loan Society in 1954, the<br />
same year that he and ten other Toronto<br />
abstract artists formed Painters Eleven. 46<br />
Town stayed in Canada, while some of<br />
his contemporaries in the group opted to<br />
leave for the United States. 47 He moved<br />
into the Studio Building in the late 1950s<br />
and began a long residency in two of the<br />
studios until the 1980s. 48 Town was unlike<br />
previous artists who lived and worked in<br />
the building. He did not care for the legacy<br />
they had developed over the decades. As<br />
David Burnett wrote in the catalogue for<br />
Town's retrospective at the Art Gallery of<br />
Ontario,<br />
The radical position of the Group of Seven<br />
lay precisely in their belief in founding a<br />
"touchstone for the development of art in<br />
t he country as a whole," a belief that they<br />
collectively, and by their influ ence, pursued<br />
with exemplary success. The malaise in<br />
Toronto art in t he early 1950s was not<br />
due to a lack of direction but because t he<br />
74<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
A NDREW WALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 23. VIEW OF ROSEDALE RAVINE PARK. I AN DREW WALDRON, PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>. 2004<br />
dir' ection t hat did exist had gaine d the stat us them being the most prominent Canadian goal of developing government support<br />
of an institut io n. Town's contribution t hen artists of the day, and the decades to fol- for a wider cultural community across the<br />
and later is t hat he has refused the status low. A younger generation, inspired by the country would not occur until the 1960s,<br />
of an institution. ' 9 Group's radical art, was able to develop it in many ways he had already succeeded in<br />
into a new art during the Depression and<br />
the private realm by creating the " work-<br />
Thus, it was within the walls of the Stu- the war years, while still being connected shop" in Toronto's Rosedale Ravine.<br />
dio Building that almost a whole century<br />
with the unavoidable meaning of the landof<br />
Canadian art was made. It began as a<br />
building for the creation of a new Canadian<br />
art, and continues to hold that aura<br />
today. According to A.Y. Jackson,<br />
Apart from t he notabl e c ont ribution made<br />
to Ca nadian art by Harris himself, t he work<br />
done t here by M acDonald and Thomson<br />
alon e w as we ll worth a ll t he expen se<br />
involved in putting up t he Studio Bu ildin g.<br />
The buil ding w as a li ve ly centre for new<br />
ideas, experiments, discussions, pl ans for<br />
t he future and visions of an art inspired by<br />
t he Canadian countrysid e. It was, of course,<br />
to be a northern movement. 50<br />
scape on all Canadians. As a response to<br />
that meaning, the modern painters of the<br />
postwar period emphasized the antithesis<br />
of their previous generation by turning to<br />
non-objective painting. That period lasted<br />
until cultural nationalism re-emerged from<br />
the Canadian psyche in the mid-to-late<br />
1960s.<br />
Lawren Harris was a visionary for construct-<br />
ing the Studio Building. He was able to<br />
find the funds, support a group of young<br />
artists, and provide a place to cultivate<br />
an art that has had a lasting impact on<br />
the country. Indeed, his idea for the Stu-<br />
dio Building as a centre of excellence for<br />
Today, the Studio Building continues to<br />
be a place where artists work. As Gordon<br />
MacNamara, the artist who owns the<br />
building, said, "it's an appropriate building<br />
for an artist like me; the sunlight is<br />
just right, coming through those w indows<br />
throughout the day. I remember many of<br />
the artists in the building thought that<br />
the building had very special qualities<br />
that they weren't able to find in other<br />
buildings." 52 In addition to the history<br />
associated with the Studio Building, what<br />
Lawren Harris intended to create-namely<br />
a place for artists doing distinctly Canadian<br />
works of art-continues to resonate<br />
in the building today.<br />
Of course, Harris's idea to create a studio Canadian art may have eventually assisted<br />
building for Canadian art was ultimately in cultivating a national arts community. INTEGRITY<br />
a success. Previous to the formation of the When Harris was elected as the president ------- ----------<br />
Group of Seven, many of the future members<br />
of the Group found their distinctive<br />
style while working at the Studio Building.<br />
In the following decades, members of<br />
the Group refined their work, which led to<br />
of the Federation of Canadian Artists in<br />
1944, he returned to the Studio Building's<br />
ideal for creating similar arts centres across<br />
the country when he briefed a House of<br />
Commons committee. 51<br />
Although his<br />
There is a high degree of integrity to the<br />
Studio Building today since it has had<br />
only two owners, both of whom were<br />
interested in renting out its studio spaces<br />
to artists and did not alter the building's<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N" 1 > 2006<br />
75
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
FIG. 21. VIEW OF THE STUDIO BUILDING FROM SEVERN STREET. I ANDR EW WALDRON. PARKS <strong>CANADA</strong>. 2004<br />
original design. The building possesses COMPARATIVE CONTEXT<br />
special properties clearly appreciated by<br />
past and present artists, especially the Sites that possess similar historic values<br />
large windows and high ceilings of each as the Studio Building are rare in Canada.<br />
of the studios. The original design of the No private purpose-built studio buildings<br />
building is intact and continues to convey have been identified in the country with<br />
the modern architectural features in its similar ideals in mind from before the<br />
simple design and ongoing function as Second World War as are reflected in the<br />
studio spaces.<br />
Studio Building. There are, however, sites<br />
associated with significant Canadian artists.<br />
They may include places where artists<br />
The exterior of the build ing remains<br />
intact and appears as it did when completed.<br />
Minor changes to the building or single studio spaces where an individual<br />
congregated and developed their oeuvres,<br />
have included the replacement in kind of worked. To give an adequate comparative<br />
one of the second-storey single-pane windows,<br />
and the restoration of the stucco associative values will be examined. Most<br />
context, sites reflecting architectural and<br />
fac;ade on the north side's left bay (see of the following comparisons are places<br />
fig. 6). Similarly, the interior is intact in of memory, lacking the vitality and living<br />
reading the layers of association through quality that continues to exist at the Studio<br />
the physical form and fabric. All of the studios<br />
continue to be used as artist spaces,<br />
Building.<br />
but have been altered over time as each STUDIO SPACES<br />
artist decorated his or her studio to suit<br />
his or her own taste. Layers and imprints There are no similar studio spaces existing<br />
of individual artists are discernible in the in Canada from the early twentieth century.<br />
Ateliers and studio spaces in present state of the studios.<br />
schools<br />
can be found, but those spaces were not<br />
solely designed to accommodate artists.<br />
It was a challenge for artists to find suit <br />
able studio space, and they would often<br />
modify marginal spaces- garages, basements,<br />
attics etc.-to meet their needs.<br />
A predecessor to the Studio Building<br />
was the Tenth Street Studio Building in<br />
New York. Built in 1858, it was the first<br />
purpose-built studio building in North<br />
America. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt,<br />
the 100-foot high, three-storey red brick<br />
structure "was functional and eclectic, differentiating<br />
structure from decoration." 53<br />
It contained 25 studios surrounding a communal<br />
exhibition space. The building was<br />
at the epicentre of the American art scene<br />
in the mid-to-late nineteenth centu ry,<br />
and housed artists from the Hudson River<br />
School (Albert Bierstadt eta/.) and major<br />
American impressionists. At the height of<br />
its prominence in the late nineteenth century,<br />
the Tenth Street Studio Building was<br />
at the heart of Greenwich Village art scene.<br />
lfthe building had not been demolished in<br />
1956, it would be the American equivalent<br />
to the Studio Building in Toronto.<br />
Perhaps the most innovative example of<br />
a purpose-built studio space in Canada<br />
is the Cormier Studio in Montreal. Architect<br />
Ernest Cormier designed the unusual<br />
structure as both a studio and living space<br />
in 1921 on rue Saint-Urbain in downtown<br />
Montreal. The 67 square metre area ofthe<br />
studio space is two storeys in height. The<br />
second storey area contains a living room,<br />
kitchen, dining room, and library. Cormier<br />
leased the building to the Ecole des beaux<br />
Arts for sculpture courses in 1935. The<br />
Province of Quebec bought the building<br />
from Cormier in 1941, and restored it to<br />
its original state in 1986. The Cormier Studio<br />
was a highly innovative and impressive<br />
building with beaux-arts and modern elements<br />
interplaying throughout the design.<br />
It is a much more architecturally refined<br />
building by comparison with the Studio<br />
7 6<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
Building, but lacks the industrial aesthetic<br />
of the latter. Both are similar in that their<br />
large windows face north to capture the<br />
indirect natural light.<br />
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH THE<br />
MEMBERS OF THE GROUP OF<br />
SEVEN<br />
There are several places in Canada that are<br />
connected with members of the Group of<br />
Seven, some which are directly associated<br />
with the lives and events of the Group,<br />
others of which have developed an association<br />
over time. Aside from the Studio<br />
Building, the obvious place connected<br />
with the Group is the Arts and Letters<br />
Club in downtown Toronto. Founded in<br />
1908 by the leading artists and patrons of<br />
Toronto, the club became the centre for<br />
Canadian culture in the 1910s and 1920s.<br />
The club presently is located in the former<br />
Saint George's Society Building (1891) on<br />
Elm Street. Here, there is a palpable sense<br />
of the history of the artistic club and its<br />
former illustrious members. All of the artists<br />
of the Group of Seven were part of<br />
the club, with MacDonald serving a term<br />
as president. Artworks by club members<br />
cover the walls of the three-storey building;<br />
the Neo-gothic hall continues to stage<br />
shows and performances, and the top floor<br />
studio continues to offer art classes. Unlike<br />
the Studio Building, the Arts and Letters<br />
Club is a building that possesses wider<br />
cultural associations than specifically with<br />
the members of the Group of Seven, and<br />
is more relevant to understanding more<br />
broadly the artistic culture of the country<br />
in the early twentieth century.<br />
The Group of Seven and some of its members<br />
have been designated as nationally<br />
significant and marked by a plaque<br />
at various locations across the country.<br />
Two Historic Sites and Monuments Board<br />
of Canada (HSMBC) plaques, one for<br />
A .Y. Jackson and the other for the Group,<br />
have been erected on the grounds of the<br />
McMichael Canadian Art Collection in<br />
Kleinburg, Ontario. Robert McMichael and<br />
is wife, Signe, began collecting Group of<br />
Seven art in the mid-1950s and opened<br />
a gallery to the public in 1961. Robert<br />
McMichael donated their collection to the<br />
provincial government in 1965. Six of the<br />
ten members who were part of the Group<br />
are buried on the McMichael grounds in a<br />
small cemetery: Arthur Lismer, Fred Varley,<br />
Lawren Harris, Frank Johnston, A.J . Casson,<br />
and A.Y. Jackson. Also on the grounds<br />
is the reconstructed shack that stood<br />
behind the Studio Building (fig. 35). The<br />
shack was moved to the site in 1962 and<br />
has lost all of its integrity, despite being<br />
restored in 1989. The Kleinburg site is an<br />
art gallery and resting place for members<br />
of the Group of Seven. It is a well-visited<br />
site for appreciating the Group of Seven in<br />
Canadian art history that has developed as<br />
a memorial site since the 1960s. Nonetheless,<br />
it does not possess the history where<br />
many of the artists actually came together<br />
to produce their work. 54<br />
Lawren Harris was declared as nationally<br />
significant the year he died in 1970, several<br />
years before the Group and the individual<br />
members were commemorated. A plaque<br />
to Harris was erected in the basement<br />
of the Vancouver Art Gallery beside the<br />
men's lavatory in 1986.<br />
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH<br />
OTHER ARTISTS OF NATIONAL<br />
SIGNIFICANCE<br />
Homer Watson was designated a person<br />
of national significance in 1939 and reaffirmed<br />
in 1955. 55 Homer Watson House I<br />
Doon School of Fine Arts, now known as<br />
the Homer Watson House and Gallery, was<br />
designated in 1980 for the building's association<br />
with Homer Watson the artist. The<br />
building consists of a typical nineteenthcentury<br />
brick house erected in the 1830s<br />
with an extension for a studio built by<br />
Watson onto the back of the house in<br />
1893. A second addition was built in 1906<br />
as a gallery space with large clerestory<br />
windows mounted on the roof to allow for<br />
indirect lighting to penetrate the gallery<br />
all day. 56 This building was clearly associated<br />
with Watson's productive period and<br />
was a place that artists came to visit. The<br />
fact that it eventually became a school of<br />
art in the 1950s reflects the importance<br />
of this building's history and ongoing use.<br />
The Watson house may also possess emotive<br />
associations for artists and art lovers<br />
of his work, particularly evoked in the<br />
experience of visiting his studio, where<br />
he painted a frieze around the room with<br />
the names of his most inspirational artists,<br />
and in the experience of the intact 1906<br />
gallery. A similar symbolic and emotive<br />
association is felt when visiting the Studio<br />
Building, although it is not a public<br />
museum.<br />
A better-known site associated with a<br />
prominent Canadian artist is the Emily<br />
Carr House in Victoria, British Columbia<br />
(built 1864). Carr was born in the Victorian<br />
house in 1871 and grew up there until<br />
her parents died in 1880s. She left to study<br />
art in San Francisco after her sister took<br />
over the household. Carr's prominence as<br />
a Canadian artist stems from her stunning<br />
paintings of the natural environment of<br />
the northwest coast of British Columbia<br />
and depiction of aboriginal communities<br />
in the region. She was designated as person<br />
of national significance in 1950 and<br />
a plaque was erected at the house. Here,<br />
the associative significance is as a place<br />
where Carr was born, not for her work as<br />
a painter and author. Unlike that building,<br />
which has become a public museum<br />
and a memorial, the Studio Building<br />
remains a living studio building with deep<br />
associations that have existed since it was<br />
erected, and where productive artists have<br />
lived and worked.<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
77
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
PLACES ASSOCIATED WITH<br />
ARTISTIC MOVEMENTS IN<br />
<strong>CANADA</strong><br />
There are few places in Canada where a<br />
conscious and cohesive artistic movement<br />
can be identified with specific sites. In most<br />
regions of the country, a social circle within<br />
a city identified the artistic group. Thus,<br />
an artistic milieu was called the "Toronto<br />
scene" or the "Vancouver scene," etc.<br />
Only in some places with a more formal<br />
setting do connections with a group of<br />
artists exist. For example, the Emma Lake<br />
Summer School, north of Regina, became<br />
connected with the "Regina 5" artistsY<br />
Other places have become known for specific<br />
artistic events or gathering places, but<br />
were much less formal places. For example,<br />
the sculptors Frances Loring and Florence<br />
Wyle, who were lifelong partners and<br />
founding members of the Sculptors' Society<br />
of Canada, bought an old abandoned<br />
church together on Lawton Boulevard in<br />
Toronto in 1920 and converted it into living<br />
and studio spaces. For a time during<br />
the 1920s and 1930s, it was a gathering<br />
place for Toronto artists, including for<br />
the artists living at the Studio Building.<br />
In Montreal, perhaps a location such as<br />
the former Librairie Henri Tranquille on<br />
Ste-Catherine Street (now demolished),<br />
where Montreal's modern artists launched<br />
the manifesto Refus global in 1948, was a<br />
significant place relating to a specific artistic<br />
movement. The Studio Building, unlike<br />
the library, has survived intact and conveys<br />
the association with the emergence of the<br />
Group of Seven and the artistic developments<br />
that followed.<br />
THREATS<br />
The Studio Building is not directly under<br />
threat in relation to its exceptional design<br />
or association with the Group of Seven.<br />
However, friends of the owner recently<br />
led a campaign to prevent a condominium<br />
development on adjacent land across the<br />
subway line from being built. According<br />
to the owner, the proposed condominium<br />
towers would impede natural light reaching<br />
the Studio Building, thus ruining the<br />
quality of light entering the building. That<br />
potential development is only in the planning<br />
stages and the outcome of the proposal<br />
has yet to be finalized.<br />
OTHER DESIGNATIONS<br />
There is a municipal designation on the<br />
building and the Toronto Historical Board<br />
(Heritage Toronto) erected a plaque in<br />
1996. It reads:<br />
The Studio Building<br />
The construction of the Studio Building<br />
for Canadian Art was commissioned by<br />
renowned Canadian artist Lawren Harris<br />
[1885-1970], an heir to the Massey-Harris<br />
farm machinery fortune, and arts patron<br />
Or. James MacCallum. Designed by Toronto<br />
ar chitect Eden Smith (1859-1949) in 1914,<br />
it soon became an important centre for<br />
new developments in Canadian painting.<br />
Group of Seven members, Harris, J .E.H.<br />
MacDonald and A.Y. Jackson were among<br />
the original occupants. Tom Thomson and<br />
Frederick Varley worked at various times in<br />
the rear shack, which was moved in 1962,<br />
to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection<br />
in Kleinburg. The Studio Building was sold<br />
by Harris to artist Gordon MacNamara<br />
in 1948.<br />
There is no provincial designation, however,<br />
and the building is part of a register<br />
of buildings within a proposed heritage<br />
conservation district developed by the<br />
South Rosedale Ratepayers' Association.<br />
That group commissioned a study of the<br />
district by ERA Architects of Toronto in<br />
2000 to protect and interpret the architectural<br />
heritage of the Rosedale Ravine. The<br />
Studio Building received the highest mark<br />
in the heritage evaluation ofthe district's<br />
buildings. 5 8<br />
When the Board recommended commemoration<br />
of the Group of Seven at its May<br />
1974 meeting, it advised the Department<br />
of Environment to "investigate the possibility<br />
of acquiring an appropriate studio<br />
or studios in the Studio Building in Toronto<br />
where the Group actually worked, refurnishing<br />
it and interpreting it to commemorate<br />
the Group of Seven." 59 Parks Canada<br />
did not pursue the Board's suggestion.<br />
COMMUNITY VALUE<br />
The Studio Building is known in Canada<br />
for its association with the Group of Seven<br />
and their fellow artists. In most historical<br />
accounts and exhibitions on the Group of<br />
Seven in the past seventy years, the Studio<br />
Building figures prominently in the story.<br />
In 2003, the owner of the Studio Building,<br />
Gordon MacNamara who, incidentally<br />
died just a few weeks ago at the age of 97,<br />
decided to participate in Toronto's annual<br />
Doors Open weekend event. He allowed<br />
the building to be open for three hours<br />
and over 400 people went through the<br />
studios. 60<br />
NOTES<br />
1. Gadsby, Peter, "Where the Artists Work by<br />
Northern light: A Building that Houses Model<br />
Studios," Toronto Daily Star, February 28,<br />
1914.<br />
2. The author was able to enter only four of the<br />
studios.<br />
3. In some of the studios there were originally<br />
built-in seats with high backs. Toronto Daily<br />
Star, February 28, 1914.<br />
4. Remains of the shack were moved to the Mc<br />
Michael Art Collection in Klein burg in 1962.<br />
5. Noted British architectural historian Sir Nikolas<br />
Pevsner considered it a fine example of modern<br />
architecture for its time. The latter visited the<br />
building in 1977, while he was lecturing at the<br />
78<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
ANDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
<strong>University</strong> of Toronto. (Brown, Doug, architect<br />
and specialist on the w ork of Eden Smith, email<br />
correspondence, February 25, 2004.)<br />
6. Harris, Lawren, c1978, Lawren S. Harris: Urban<br />
Scenes and Wilderness Landscapes 1906-1930,<br />
Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario, p. 14.<br />
7. Harris: 44.<br />
8. Harris took out a building permit in November<br />
of that year for what was likely a smaller<br />
building on the property. The following year,<br />
he took out a new building permit for the<br />
substantially larger building that stands on<br />
the property today. The original permit was<br />
for a building at an estimated cost of $9000;<br />
the second for a building estimated at a cost<br />
of $14,000. (Brown, op. cit.)<br />
9. Hausser, Frederick B., 1926, A Canadian Art<br />
Movement: The Story of the Group of Seven,<br />
Toronto, Macmillan, p. 66.<br />
10. Ibid.<br />
11. The Arts and Letters Club was a men's social<br />
club established in 1908 by Toronto's artists<br />
and patrons; Harris and Smith were founding<br />
members. The club was the most important<br />
forum for formulating a Canadian cultural<br />
identity in the early twentieth century. All of<br />
the Group of Seven artists were members of<br />
the Club.<br />
12. Neal, Carolyn, 1976, Eden Smith Architect, Toronto,<br />
The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario<br />
Toronto Region Branch.<br />
13. Adams, Annmarie, 1993, « Eden Smith and the·<br />
Canadian Domestic Revival », Urban History Review<br />
I Revue d'histoire urbaine, vol. 21, no. 2,<br />
March, p. 111 .<br />
14. Idem: 112.<br />
15. Toronto Daily Star, February 28, 1914.<br />
16. The final cost of the building was $21,165.45.<br />
(National Archives of Canada I Archives nationales<br />
du Canada, A. Y. Jackson Fonds, MG30<br />
D351 , Box 102, « Studio Building>>.)<br />
17. Toronto Daily Star, February 28, 1914.<br />
18. According to the ledgers for the building from<br />
1914 to 1916, it appears that Harris lost money<br />
on the building. He paid the balance owing<br />
out of his ow n account. (National Archives of<br />
Canada, op. cit. See also Jackson, A.Y., 1958,<br />
A Painter's Country: Autobiography, Toronto,<br />
Clarke, Irwin, p. 132.)<br />
19. Reid, Dennis, 1988, A Concise History of Canadian<br />
Painting, Toronto, Oxford <strong>University</strong> Press,<br />
p. 138.<br />
20. Lawren Harris's studio was on the top floor<br />
of the Bank of Commerce at Bloor and Yonge<br />
Street.<br />
21. Quoted in Reid, 1988: 140.<br />
22. In 1909, after painting in Europe, Beatty and<br />
Harris went north to sketch, thus introducing<br />
Harris to a new dimension of Canadian scenery.<br />
J.E.H. MacDonald likewise attributed his early<br />
interest in sketching farther north to Beatty's<br />
comparable attraction to northern scenery.<br />
(Dorothy Farr, c1981, J.W. Beatty 1869-1941,<br />
Kingston, Agnes Etherington Art Centre,<br />
p. 24.)<br />
23. As Jackson recalled : "If all you young fellows<br />
go off to the States," he [MacCallum] growled,<br />
'art in Canada is never going to get anywhere.'<br />
Then he made me a surprising proposition. If I<br />
would take a studio in the building he and Harris<br />
were having erected, he would guarantee<br />
my expenses for a year. Of course I accepted."<br />
(Jackson : 26-27.)<br />
24. Arthur Heming (1870-1940) was an artist known<br />
for his expressive, if conservative, paintings of<br />
the Canadian North. Known as the " chronicler<br />
of the North," his illustrations of northern<br />
wildlife, trappers, and aboriginal people were<br />
widely published throughout North America<br />
and Europe, and his three published novels,<br />
Spirit Lake, The Drama of the Forests, and The<br />
Living Forest, drew heavily from his experiences<br />
in Northern Canada. Although Heming's bestknown<br />
works are his later brightly coloured<br />
oil paintings, the artist worked exclusively in<br />
black, white, and yellow until he was 60 years<br />
old, having been informed at an early age that<br />
he was colour blind. (Arthur Heming Collection,<br />
National Gallery of Canada.)<br />
25. Reid, 1988: 144; Reid, Dennis, 2002, « Tom<br />
Thomson and the Arts and Crafts Movement<br />
in Toronto>>, In Dennis Reid (ed.), Thomson,<br />
Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, p. 74.<br />
26. J.E.H. Macdonald suffered a breakdown after<br />
hearing of Thomson's death. (Reid, 1988 :<br />
148.)<br />
27. Several of the other future members of the<br />
Group of Seven were also commissioned as<br />
war artists.<br />
28. The artists would share their materials. Harris,<br />
for example, purchased a large roll of jute canvas<br />
while in New Jersey in 1915, and returned<br />
to share it with the other artists. (Reid, 2002 :<br />
147.)<br />
29. The "box car" trips were important in developing<br />
the art movement in Canada and in how<br />
that movement was understood internation-<br />
ally. They were noted in catalogues at the time<br />
and major exhibitions on the Group of Seven<br />
always noted those plein-air painting trips.<br />
30. Biographical questionnaire sent by Martin<br />
Baldwin, Director of the Art Gallery of Toronto,<br />
to Lawren S. Harris, September 19, 1947, Art<br />
Gallery of Ontario Archives.<br />
31 . Jackson : 26.<br />
32 . Quoted in Duval, Paul, 1991 , « The Group of<br />
Seven's Toronto Studio Building >>, City and<br />
Country Home, November, p. 113-114.<br />
33. Harrington, Richard, telephone conversation<br />
w ith author, February 5, 2004.<br />
34. J.E .H. MacDonald died in 1932; Harris left for<br />
the United States in 1934; A.J. Casson, Edwin<br />
Holgate, and Lionel Lemoyne Fitzgerald were<br />
showing with the Group by the late 1920s.<br />
35. A v isual imprint of the period remains intact<br />
in a third-floor studio. A script that has been<br />
attributed to both J.E.H. MacDonald and Thoreau<br />
survives along the base of the balcony. It<br />
is a Ch inese text that reads as follows: "With<br />
the breath of the four seasons in one's breast<br />
one can create on paper. The five colours well<br />
applied enlighten the world." (See fig. 19.)<br />
36. For a general history of the period, consult Duval,<br />
Paul, 1972, Four Decades: The Canadian<br />
Group of Painters and their Contemporaries<br />
- 1930-1970, Toronto, Clarke, Irwin & Company<br />
Ltd.<br />
37. The Federation of Canadian Artists regional<br />
representatives were: Lawren Harris, Gordon<br />
Sinclair, Ernest Lindner, Byllee Lang, A .Y. Jackson,<br />
and Walter Abell, [http://ww w.artists.<br />
calindex. html], consulted February 15, 2004.<br />
38. Nichols lived in the Studio Building from 1952<br />
to 1955, while painting a mural for the headquarters<br />
of the Salvation Army in downtown<br />
Toronto. Nichols left for Europe in 1956.<br />
39. Reid, 1988: 247.<br />
40. Charles K. Redfern was an artist who organized<br />
the nationwide amateur war art competitions<br />
held in 1944 and 1945. He was a still life artist<br />
in his later years.<br />
41 . MacNamara, Gordon, conversation with author,<br />
January 20, 2004.<br />
42. Letter from Gordon MacNamara to A .Y. Jackson,<br />
November 13, 1954, National Archives of<br />
Canada I Archives nationales du Canada, A.Y.<br />
Jackson Fonds, MG30 D351, Box 102, File 19.<br />
43. An acrimonious relationship between Jackson<br />
and MacNamara led to Jackson moving out of<br />
his studio in 1955. (Ibid.)<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006<br />
79
A NDREW W ALDRON > RAPPORT I REPORT<br />
44. He moved to Manotic, Ontario, where he continued<br />
to paint until his death in 1974. (Ibid.)<br />
45. MacNamara and Redfern both lived and painted<br />
in the building. In the late 1950s, Paul Duval<br />
moved in. Other artists came and went.<br />
46. Town's early abstract work was clearly influenced<br />
by the work of fellow group member<br />
Oscar Cahen. Town was an enigmatic artist,<br />
deeply individualistic and concerned with<br />
breaking open the artistic behaviour in To <br />
ronto. In a positive light, Robert Fulford wrote:<br />
"Town has tended to feel the character of his<br />
period intensely and reflects it in h is work. He<br />
isn't an artist who can be see n exclusively in<br />
terms of art history[ ... ] in the 1950s he was a<br />
leader in Canada [ .. . ] of art's heroic effort t o<br />
save us al l from boring ourselves to death."<br />
(Quoted in Burnett, David, 1986, To wn, Toronto,<br />
Art Gallery of Ontario/McCielland & Stewart<br />
Ltd., p. 38.)<br />
47. Town and Walter Yarwood refuse d to receive<br />
New York art critic Clement Greenberg to see<br />
their work while he visited Toronto in June<br />
1957 by invitation from William Ronald, another<br />
member of the Painters Eleven.<br />
48. "In his studio the first thing I noticed was a<br />
punching bag hanging on a chain by the door.<br />
There were high ceilings, windows that invented<br />
the word grimy, a railed-in mezzanine at the far<br />
end, mahogany cupboards against one wall, and<br />
not a tube of paint in sight. But the clutter, the<br />
stuff! Dozens of rolls of canvas propped against<br />
the wall, tables piled high with papers, tools,<br />
stacks of balsa stretchers, gallon cans and pails<br />
under one table. Bare canvases and some with<br />
painted grounds of white gesso in various sized<br />
rectangles and squares were stacked under t he<br />
mezzanine." (Nowell, Iris, 1992, Hot Breakfast<br />
for Sparrows, Toronto, Stoddart, p. 6-7.)<br />
53 . Horsley, Carter B. , 2004, « The Tenth Street<br />
Studio Building: Artist-entrepreneurs from<br />
the Hudson River School to the American Impressionists<br />
», [http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/4aa/<br />
4aa62.htm]. consulted February 5, 2004.<br />
54. Similarly, commemoration of Tom Thomson,<br />
though not a member of the Group of Seven,<br />
has been marked by a plaque at Canoe Lake in<br />
Algonquin Park, where he died in 1917.<br />
55. HSMBC Minutes, May 1939.<br />
56 . Johnson, Dana, and Leslie Maitland, HSMBC<br />
Agenda Paper 1980-31, p. 495.<br />
57. The "Regina 5" was a group of young abstract<br />
artists brought together at the summer school<br />
by teachings of visiting American artist Barnett<br />
Newman and some of the artists experimenting<br />
with mescaline.<br />
58. The Studio Building was categorized as an "A"<br />
building, meaning that it is individually outstanding<br />
and has actual or potential national<br />
or provincial significance. ([http://www.southrosedale.org/].<br />
consulted February 23, 2004.)<br />
59. HSMBC Minute 1974-05, p. 18-19.<br />
60. Nasmith, Catherine, architect, phone and email<br />
correspondence, February 23, 2004.<br />
49. Burnett : 200.<br />
50. Jackson : 27.<br />
51 . Twenty-five " major cultural community centres"<br />
were to be built in Canadian cities, in addition<br />
to another 50 minor centres in smaller<br />
towns and regions. Those cu ltural complexes<br />
were intended to have capacity for a theatre,<br />
art gallery, studio spaces, and a library. (Larisey,<br />
Peter, 1993, Light for a Cold Land: La wren<br />
Harris's Work and Life - An Interpretation,<br />
Toronto, Dundurn Press, p. 155-156.)<br />
52. MacNamara, Gordon, conversatio n with<br />
author, January 20, 2004.<br />
80<br />
JSSAC I JSEAC 31 > N' 1 > 2006
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7000 words and fifteen to twenty illustrations, shorter or longer articles may be considered<br />
for the other sections: "Essays" can comprise 2500 to 3500 words and five to<br />
ten illustrations. Reports may vary in length as they are preferably published integrally.<br />
The necessary permission to publish must have been secured from the organization for<br />
which reports were intended.<br />
Authors must submit their article on an electronic medium or by email. Illustrations<br />
should accompany the manuscript. These consist of photographic prints, slides or,<br />
preferably, digital files (360 dpi, 4" x 6" minimum, TIFF or EPS format), on CD-ROM.<br />
hotocopies or facsimiles are acceptable only for line drawings. It is the responsibility<br />
of the author to obtain the required reproduction authorizations for the illustrations<br />
J nd to pay copyright fees when necessary. SSAC and the editor of the Journal decline<br />
responsibility in that matter. All illustrations should have captions, including, where<br />
applicable, subject, date, and name of architect, author or source. Illustrations will be<br />
-returned to authors.<br />
All manuscripts are submitted for review to the SSAC's Editorial Review Panel who<br />
/eports to the editor. The editor informs authors of the decision, no later than sixty days<br />
~fter initial submission; the editor also ensures that the requested modifications have<br />
~een made before the final acceptance and proposition of the publication date. Authors<br />
;,ill receive three copies of the issue in which their article is published.<br />
Les auteurs doivent faire parvenir au redacteur un manuscrit presente selon les regles<br />
de Ia revue. Habituellement, un article de Ia section « Analyses >> compte environ 7000<br />
mots et de quinze a vingt illustrations; pour Ia section « Essais >> on pourra cependant<br />
considerer des textes de longueur differente : 2500 a 3500 mots et de cinq a dix illustrations.<br />
Par ailleurs, Ia longueur des « Rapports >> peut varier puisque Ia revue les publie,<br />
de preference, integralement. Les rapports doivent etre soumis avec l'autorisation de<br />
l'organisme a qui ils ont ete destines.<br />
Les textes sont soumis en format electronique (sur support informatique ou transmis par<br />
courriel). Les illustrations doivent etre soumises en meme temps que le manuscrit. Ce<br />
sont des photographies ou des diapositives ou, de preference, des fichiers numeriques<br />
(resolution 360 ppp au format minimal de 10 x 15 em, format TIFF ou EPS), sur CD-ROM.<br />
Les photocopies et les fac-similes ne sont acceptes que pour les dessins au trait. Les<br />
auteurs doivent fournir des illustrations lib res de droits; le cas echeant, il leur appartient<br />
d'obtenir les autorisations necessaires et de detrayer les droits de publication. La<br />
SEAC et le redacteur de Ia revue declinent toute responsabilite en cette matiere. Toutes<br />
les illustrations doivent etre accompagnees d'une legende comprenant, normalement,<br />
!'identification du sujet, Ia date, le nom de l'architecte, !'auteur ou Ia provenance de<br />
!'image. Les illustrations seront retournees aux auteurs.<br />
Tous les manuscrits sont evalues par le comite de lecture qui fait rapport au redacteur.<br />
Le redacteur transmet l'avis du comite aux auteurs, au plus tard soixante jours apres<br />
Ia soumission initiale ; il s'assure que les modifications requises sont apportees avant<br />
d'accepter le texte et de proposer une date de publication. Les auteurs recevront trois<br />
exemplaires du numero de Ia revue dans lequel leur texte est publie.<br />
Text editing guidelines for submitted papers are available in PDF format on the SSAC<br />
website at [http://canada-architecture.org/submissions.php] .<br />
Les directives de mise en forme des textes soumis sont disponibles en format PDF sur<br />
le site de Ia SEAC au [http://canada-architecture.org/soumission.php] .
www.patrimoine.uqam.cajfcrpp/<br />
fcrpp<br />
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Forum Canadien de recherche<br />
publique sur le patrimoine<br />
Canadian Forum for Public<br />
Research on Heritage