Landmark Building
CHRIST CHURCH
1116-102 Ave, Edmonton
Designed By: W.G. Blakey
Built in 1921
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In 1909, Anglicans from the West End attending downtown churches came to same conclusion reached by the Presbyterians and the Methodists: it was time to build a church closer to home. The first Christ Church, finally built in 1919, was a plain frame building at 116 Street and 102 Avenue. When it was build, there was more woods than homes in the parish, but soon the West End became more populated, and a larger building was needed. By 1921 two lots at 121 Street and 102 Avenue, the former site of a skating rink, had been purchased.
The pre-WWI land bust, the post-war recession, and the financial problems of congregations which had embarked on ambitious building programs, were a curb on the building plans of the Elders of Christ Church. To economise, the skating clubhouse was converted to a rectory, and architect W.G. Blakey was hired to design a relatively modest new church. His partner and brother, R.P. Blakey, designed many of its interior features. The vestry, constructed in 1912, was also a W.G. Blakey design.
Christ Church follows an architectural revival movement which looked to medieval English models for inspiration. This same movement shaped the Robertson Presbyterian and Wesley Methodist Churches, as well as the Oliver School. Unlike these buildings, however, Christ Church is based on rural and domestic models of this architectural style. Humble materials and a more intimate scale produced a charming and unpretentious parish church.
The church and vestry buildings form a visual unit because their designs relate to and reinforce each other. Both use the same building materials: white stucco with red asphalt tile roofing. They also share architectural forms: both the church and vestry have steeply-pitched roofs with gabled dormers. A bell tower huddles between the apse end of the church, and the jerkinhead-roofed vestry with its oriel window.
Initially, it was not certain that this would be the parish’s permanent church “…but the quaint building quickly endeared itself to the hearts of the parishioners”. That it was widely popular is demonstrated by W.G. Blakey’s 1923 design for the Highlands United Church, which is almost identical to the Oliver church. Christ Church Anglican continues to endear itself to parishioners and Oliver residents alike.
The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Historical Walking Tours of Downtown, 2004, Centennial edition of the brochure. Planning and Development Department, City of Edmonton, and Alberta Community Development., 2004, with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.