Description of Historic Place

St. Paul’s Anglican Church is a small stone Gothic Revival church from the mid-19th century. It is located in the fishing village of Grand Harbour, the central community on Grand Manan Island. The Grand Harbour Brook drains into the Bay of Fundy directly behind the church. The lot is level and has large maple trees shadowing the front of the church and the rest of the property. The church hall is about 6 metres from the church.

Heritage Value

St. Paul’s Anglican Church is designated a Local Historic Place for being the first church established on Grand Manan Island. Built of local logs in 1822, it burnt in 1839 - with the leader being hung in effigy on the lawn - and was rebuilt of stone in 1840. This would be just the beginning of a long and interesting history of this church. It remains the island’s only stone structure of its kind. It has our oldest birth, death, and baptism records for the island. Many residents from the whole island were buried at the Old Pioneer Cemetery associated with this church, as it was the only facility available in the early years. As other churches became established, folks were buried in their own communities.

St. Paul’s Anglican Church is also recognized for its architecture. It is a good example of small-scale rural Gothic Revival architecture in stone. This style is evident in such details as the Gothic arch openings, the central bell tower and the stone exterior highlighted by lighter-coloured stone quoins.

Source: Grand Manan Archives – Local Historic Places files

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements that describe the St. Paul’s Anglican Church include:
- first established church and only stone church on the island;
- Gothic door and window openings;
- traditional Gothic mullion pattern in windows;
- central belfry;
- lighter-coloured stone quoins.

The character-defining elements relating to the interior include:
- the only church on Grand Manan Island with a balcony;
- durable wood floor with no basement;
- lathes walls with furring;
- arched wood sheathing on the ceiling.