Cannington Manor Provincial Park is an historic park in the
RM of Moose Mountain in the south-east corner of the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
. An aristocratic English colony was established at the site in 1882 by Captain Edward Michell Pierce. It became a
provincial park
Ischigualasto Provincial Park
A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...
in 1986.
Cannington Manor is located west and north of
Highway 603.
The Colony is 16 kilometres south-east of
Moose Mountain Provincial Park
Moose Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park, located in south-eastern Saskatchewan 24 km north of the town of Carlyle on the Moose Mountain Upland. It is one of Saskatchewan's few parks with a community inside the park as there ...
, and south of
Moosomin.
Captain Pierce established an agricultural college and attracted ''remittance men'' as students for £100 a year. The intention of the college was to instruct these bachelor sons of wealthy families to farm and homestead in the last best west. The brothers Ernest, Billy, and Bertie Beckton constructed "Didsbury", ranch house within Cannington Manor colony.
The cultural and recreational life emulated English upper class society. Thoroughbred racing, polo matches, theatrical plays,
fox hunting
Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
, billiards, soccer, and tennis were all enjoyed by the colony students and settlers. This was a contrast to the neighbouring homesteaders who were barely eking out a living proving their land and making improvements to earn land title grants from the Dominion Government.
Soon a dairy, a school/town hall, blacksmith, Moose Mountain trading company store, Harold Fripp flour mill, C.E. Phipps Land Titles Office, carpenter shop, and Mitre hotel were built to support a burgeoning community which soon reached 200 residents.
Demise of colony
Captain Pierce, the founder of the community died on 20 June 1888. C.E. Phipps established the land titles office here in 1889 and moved to
Oxbow in 1891. Spencer Page was the colony's first teacher in 1889 before turning to politics in 1894. Louis Kent the second teacher in Cannington Manor started his duties in 1894 and passed on in 1896. Robert Bird the Moose Mountain trading company store keeper moved to
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
in 1898. Ernest Maltby postmaster and his wife Mary arrived in 1892 and then also moved in 1901 to British Columbia.
Between 1901 and 1902, the
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...
regional branch line was constructed south of the village rather than through the village. During a time of travel by horseback this distance was detrimental to the growth of the community. The passing of the founder, a few years earlier, a drought and low grain prices soon made it unfeasible for settlers to continue the lifestyle at Cannington Manor.
Historic sites
The park is composed of two separate parcels of land. Firstly, a 15-hectare parcel contains archaeological remains of the village and several replica buildings. A 1920s one-storey, wood-frame schoolhouse serves as the park's visitor reception centre near the entrance. ''All Saints Anglican Church'', built in 1884 and still in use, is near the centre of the village site, but it is not on park property. The church is on the
Canadian Register of Historic Places
The Canadian Register of Historic Places (CRHP; french: Le Répertoire canadien des lieux patrimoniaux), also known as Canada's Historic Places, is an online directory of historic sites in Canada which have been formally recognized for their her ...
.
A second, 32-hectare parcel, which is located three kilometres west of the village site, consists of a farmyard and 2 ½-storey wood-frame house and remnant walls of two stone outbuildings. The house, built in 1888, is known as the Humphrys/Hewlett House and it too is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The buildings were formally recognised on 26 May 1986 and were put on the Register on 1 November 2006.
Gallery
File:Humphrys Hewlett House.jpg, The Humphrys/Hewlett House built in 1888 (2015)
File:Humphrys Hewlett House plaque.jpg, The Humphrys/Hewlett House and plaque (2015)
File:Cannington Manor archaeological site.jpg, Archaeological site at Cannington Manor (2015)
See also
*
List of protected areas of Saskatchewan
*
*
The French Counts of St Hubert, Saskatchewan
The French Counts settled in St. Hubert, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It was located on Pipestone Creek, about south-west of Whitewood. The French Counts of St Hubert stayed in the area between 1884 and the early 1900s, before ...
*
Tourism in Saskatchewan
References
External links
Cannington Manor Provincial Park- official site
Letters from Cannington Manor, Assiniboia, North West Territories ...*
{{Authority control
Provincial parks of Saskatchewan
Museums in Saskatchewan
Living museums in Canada
Moose Mountain No. 63, Saskatchewan
Division No. 1, Saskatchewan