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George Street United Church is a defunct church that was built in 1873 and was the oldest extant
George Street United Church is a defunct church that was built in 1873 and was the oldest extant Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
church building in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Designed by Elijah Hoole
Elijah Hoole (1798–1872) was an English orientalist and Wesleyan Methodist missionary.
Life
The son of Holland Hoole, a Manchester shoemaker, he was born there; he entered Manchester grammar school 6 April 1809, leaving in 1813 to help in h ...
, it was an example of a modified Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
church. In August 2023, church leadership announced that the congregation had disbanded in June due to financial difficulties. Plans are currently underway for a final service to mark the official closure of the church in October 2023.
On February 11, 1862, the Reverend Edmund Botterell, the Hon. J.J. Rogerson and the Hon. Captain Edward White were appointed to a committee by the St. John's District of the Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
to select a site for a new church and Sunday school in what was then the west end of St. John’s. The laying of the cornerstone of the George Street Methodist Church occurred ten years later. George Street was the second Methodist congregation in St. John's, the first being Gower Street. The church building survived the Great Fire of 1892
The Great Fire of 8 July 1892 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador is remembered as the worst disaster ever to befall that city. Previous "Great Fires" had occurred in St. John's, during 1819 and 1846.
Timeline
At approximately 4:45 in th ...
, and is therefore the oldest Methodist Church in the city. In 1925, the George Street Wesleyan Church joined the newly-formed United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...
.
Constructed of local stone quarried from the Southside Hills in St. John's, the entire building is sheathed in concrete. Despite this, many typical Gothic elements remain intact including the pointed arch, lancet window
A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...
s, and the large stained glass windows. Furthermore, the interior of this church is architecturally valuable for its well-preserved woodwork. The exposed timber hammerbeam
A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams pr ...
roof of the nave is a typical Gothic element.
The church was designated as a Heritage Structure in 2000 due to its architectural and historical value.
The city's oldest Methodist church congregation and the first Methodist church building (1815) was Gower Street Methodist (now United) church, later destroyed by fire; its current structure was also designed by Elijah Hoole.David G. Pitt, Windows of Agates, Jesperson Press, 1990
References