Borealis
Santana Quintero, Mario;
Ekim, Zeynep;
Goerzen, Lucas;
Hadad, Ilana;
Kouhi, Kristen
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2022-12-18
The Church of St. Bartholomew is located at 125 MacKay Street in New Edinburgh neighborhood of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is a part of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa and serves the New Edinburgh, Rockcliffe Park and Lindenlea communities of Ottawa.
The congregation was founded in 1866, but did not have the money or the land to construct a church until later in 1867, the year of Confederation. On August 24, 1867 (St. Bartholomew’s Day), only six weeks after the Dominion of Canada was created, the Parish was formally organized, naming itself St. Bartholomew’s. Shortly afterward Montreal Architect Thomas Seaton Scott was engaged to design a church building for the new parish, which, on Christmas Day of 1868, held its first service in a bare and unfinished interior.
Located across the street from the Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, St. Bartholomew’s is also considered to be the regimental chapel of the Governor General’s Foot Guards. Upon the founding of the Foot Guards in 1871, St. Bartholomew’s became the informal Chapel of the Governor General’s Foot Guards. It was not until the battle colours were hung in 1971 that it formally adopted the title.
The original structure was in the Gothic Revival style of the nineteenth century. Low‐buttressed walls made of local limestone support the steep wood roof. One of the key features of the church of St. Bartholomew’s is the stained glass War Memorial window (also known as the Ottawa Window) that is located on the east wall of the chapel. It was designed and crafted by Irish artist, Wilhelmina Geddes, and was commissioned by the Duke of Connaught in memory of the members of his personal staff who fell during the First World War. Lack of funds during the building’s early years meant the use of modest ornamentation and slow ongoing additions to the interior. Nearly all elements within the church including bells, organ, baptismal font, cover, and cross, pews, candlesticks and many others were gifts to St. Bartholomew’s Church from parishioners and Governor Generals, lending to the initial impression of congregational investment in the little church as well as the building’s handmade feel.
In 1925, the belfry over the east end and spire over the west end of the church were found to be dangerously deteriorated and had to be removed entirely due to insufficient funds for repair. The chapel was extended by one bay to the west at this time (green), and then again in 1952 (blue) with the addition of a wooden porch to protect the congregation from the winter and provide a place for Princess Louise’s bells, which had been laying on the ground behind the church since the original belfry was removed. In 1985, the porch was rebuilt in stone to strengthen the structure and secure the new belfry in the gable (blue).
In 1963, a hall and vestry have adjoined the church (orange). Both of these additions were designed by George Bemi, and harmonize well with the existing structure despite their modern style. This is the Integrated Project Dossier compiled by a group of undergrad students of the Architectural Conservation and Sustainability Program (Engineers and architects) at Carleton University for the CIVE3207 (ARCN4100) Historic Site Recording and Assessment course in 2016.