Formal Recognition Type

City of St. John's Heritage Building, Structure, Land or Area

Heritage Value

The Deanery has been designated a municipal heritage building by the City of St. John’s due to its aesthetic, historic and environmental values.

The Deanery is aesthetically valuable as it is a fine example of brick construction in St. John’s following the Great Fire of 1892. It has further aesthetic value as a restrained example of Queen Anne Revival design in St. John’s. Typical features of this style utilized in the construction of The Deanery include the use of red brick, quoining, asymmetrical facade, multi-gabled steep pitched roof, chimney stacks, ornamental horizontal banding to visually divide storeys, three-sided multi-story bays and the use of an assortment of window styles. Similar in design to the Anglican Cathedral Clergy House and one of few such buildings in the downtown area of the city, The Deanery is reminiscent of a type of vicarage common in England during the Victorian era.

The Deanery has historical value because of its association with the Anglican Church (previously the Church of England) in Newfoundland and Labrador from the late 1800s into the late 1900s. Cathedral Parish was part of the greater bishopric of Newfoundland and Bermuda, established in 1839. Through missionary efforts during the later half of the 1800s, the church spread throughout the colony from traditional bases in Harbour Grace, Bonavista, Trinity and St. John’s. Despite these expansions, Cathedral Parish remained as a spiritual centre for Anglicans in the region.

The Deanery has environmental value as it is a component of a greater ecclesiastical area in downtown St. John’s. This area is comprised of church properties owned by several denominations and is a recognized feature of the built landscape in the downtown core. In close proximity to the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, The Deanery shares a plot of land with the similarly designed Anglican Cathedral Clergy House. They are situated on a high hill and are surrounded by four city streets in the centre of this ecclesiastical area.

Source: City Archives unnumbered property file – The Deanery (Anglican Cathedral Parish Rectory), 022 Church Hill.

Character Defining Elements

All those architectural features indicative of its Queen Anne Revival style, including;

-number of storeys;

-placement of chimneys and style (corbelled tops, ribbed pattern and chimney pots);

-red brick and stone construction;

-quoining on corners and window surrounds;

-sandstone detailing including moulded banding, lintels and sills;

-stone foundation;

-multi-gabled roof;

-Scotch gables;

-copper eaves trough;

-window size, style, trim and placement;

-two storey bay window with three sided roof and dentils on front facade ;

-one storey bay window with mansard copper roof on right facade;

-peaked pedimented dormer windows on left and rear facades;

-peaked pedimented dormer window with Scotch gable on right facade;

-arched window trimmed with keystone pattern on left facade;

-size, style, trim and placement of exterior doors;

-size, style and placement of enclosed porch with pedimented roof on left facade;

-decorative sandstone plaque with floral design and date of construction 1894;

-dimension, location and orientation of building.

Community

St. John's

Municipality

City of St. John's

Civic Address

022 Church Hill

Construction (circa)

1894 - 1895

Builder

Reid and Bockner (Bocheur), Unknown

Style

Square