Description of Historic Place

St. Columba Anglican Church is a Municipal Heritage Property situated on a 0.8-hectare parcel of rural land approximately six kilometres east of the Village of Tuxford. The property features a small, wood-frame church that was built in 1898.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of St. Columba Anglican Church lies in its status as one of the earliest churches built in the district and the oldest still standing. As was common in Saskatchewan’s homesteading communities, members of Church of England who had settled in the area held their first services in private homes. Soon, though, they had raised sufficient funds to build a church on a parcel of land donated by one of the congregation. St. Columba, named after the home church of an English supporter of the church building fund, was consecrated by Bishop John Grisdale on November 2, 1898.

Regular services were held at St. Columba until 1959, when the district’s Anglican congregations were amalgamated in a Moose Jaw church. St. Columba still hosts occasional weddings and baptisms, and the cemetery is still used. The church building and grounds are maintained by descendants of the early congregants as a valued symbol of community heritage.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Marquis No. 191 Bylaw No. 4/99.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of St. Columba Anglican Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that express the church’s historical integrity, its age and long association with the community, including its wood-frame construction; clapboard siding; shake shingles; wood flooring, trim, wainscoting and ceiling panelling; the headstones in the churchyard cemetery; and the church’s location on its original site;
-elements that reflect the building’s role as a rural church, including its simple form, the rooftop belfry, pointed-arch windows, and interior space consisting of nave, vaulted ceiling and raised chancel.