St. Paul's Anglican Church in Miramichi celebrates 200-year anniversary

St. Paul's Anglican Church in Miramichi offered its first service 200 years ago today.

It will commemorate its longevity with another Christmas Day service.

Richard Walsh, 73, is the rector of St. Paul's Anglican Church and he's attended the church his whole life.

"We're very excited that our church has survived for 200 years … that certainly isn't something that most churches are able to boast about," said Walsh.

St. Paul's Anglican Church is a gothic revival style, and one of the province's first.

Walsh said the church also predates the Great Miramichi Fire of 1825, which is another significant layer to this church's history.

The rectangular church is covered in white wood shingles and features eight lancet windows around its body. A three-storey bell tower marks the front of the church with gothic features, including four pinnacles that sit atop it.

The church is home to several memorial pieces, including a stained glass window behind the alter.

St. Paul's Anglican Church was built by Samuel Bacon in 1822. Its first service was held on Christmas Day of 1823. (Bonnie Coughlan)

There were only two rectors who served the church for its first one hundred years of operation — Rev. Samuel Bacon and Ven. Archdeacon Forsyth.

Bacon, born in Oxford, England, was the first rector to serve the church. His father was John Bacon, who was a famous sculptor. His works are still on display at various locations in London, England, including Westminster Abbey.

Samuel Bacon was hired by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, which was responsible for sending missionaries to parts of Canada after graduating from Cambridge University.

He was appointed the role of Miramichi's first Anglican minister and travelled to the East Coast in 1821 to begin the development of the city's first church.

Construction of the church began in 1822 and it opened on Christmas Day in 1823.

Walsh said the church has changed since it was first built 200 years ago, with the addition of a basement and proper heating system, but its defining features remain the same.

John Leroux, curator of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and former architect, said that while people usually associated the gothic revival style with many churches in New Brunswick today, the style was almost non-existent in the 1820s.

He said that style didn't really make an appearance until the 1840s or '50s.

"To have a gothic revival church like that from the early 1820s is really special," said Leroux.

Leroux said the only other church in the province with a similar significance is the Stone Church in Saint John. He said both were made in a time when architects had to learn this gothic style that had been used centuries prior.

"They weren't quite sure how to use the gothic decoration … [this style] was hundreds and hundreds of years old, but it had been out of use for 500 years," said Leroux.

He said St. Paul's Anglican Church is "quite precious," with its subtle gothic elements that promote elegance throughout it.