Description of Historic Place

Carman United Church is a two-storey brick structure built in Carman in 1906-07 and recently expanded through the addition of a spacious hall. The municipal designation applies to the church and its lot.

Heritage Value

Carman United Church, originally a Methodist facility, is an exceptional example of an English Gothic Revival church erected in rural Manitoba in the early twentieth century. Designed by William Fingland of Winnipeg, the structure is a captivating interpretation of the style, with brick buttresses, pointed windows and heavily ornamented towers. It also is noted for its outstanding acoustics and stained glass from the Luxfer Prism Co. of Toronto. The church became part of the United Church of Canada after its congregation voted in 1925 to accept union with other Protestant denominations.

Source: Town of Carman By-law No. 88/1586, March 24, 1988

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Carman United Church site include:
- its central location in Carman at the junction of 1st Street SW and 3rd Avenue SW
- the building's east/west orientation on well-groomed grounds amidst mature trees

Key elements that define the church's attractive Gothic Revival exterior include:
- the two-storey buff brick structure set on an exposed limestone foundation and composed of a variety of volumes with steeply pitched roofs, including cross-gable and hipped sections
- the pentagonal gallery projecting out from flanking asymmetrical square towers
- the heavily ornamented, dominant north tower with stacked volumes, stepped-back buttresses and pilasters spanning each corner and terminating in highly detailed flat caps; also, an octagonal top featuring lucarnes and a spire with an ornate metal St. Andrew's cross
- the less dramatic south tower with corner buttresses, a crenellated parapet, a brick shaft topped by a four-sided limestone Maltese cross, and a pyramidal roof with an ornate metal Latin cross
- the variously sized openings, most with pointed arches and protruding smooth-cut limestone sills and arched brick surrounds; with the looming mullioned windows on the north and south sides of note, etc.
- the details, including stepped-back brick buttresses with limestone offsets, stone belt courses, tower cornices and coping, a large brick chimney, etc.

Key elements that define the church's interior layout, finishes and details include:
- the largely intact Akron plan with a square nave organized by U-shaped wooden pews flanking two aisles and an east-end gallery
- the floor sloping gradually down to the pulpit and choir platform, made intimate by a lowered, vaulted ceiling and pointed alcove arch
- the double-height gallery segmented into separate spaces, with the upper level holding three bays open on the front
- the nave divided from the gallery via large retractable wooden doors wound into recesses at each side
- the ornate stained-glass windows with wooden tracery
- the historically accurate pale yellow colour palette contrasted by a dado of dark brown burlap
- the details and finishes, including ceilings arched from four sides, some plaster and lath walls, wooden doors (especially the vestibules' transomed swinging doors), intact woodwork and light fixtures, mouldings, etc.