Description of Historic Place

The Aneroid United Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the north west part of the Village of Aneroid. The red-brick church, built between 1918 and 1926, features Gothic arch windows and a crenellated steeple with spire.

Heritage Value

The Aneroid United Church is valued as a place of worship. The congregation was formed as the Aneroid Union Church in 1918 by Baptists and Presbyterians in the community. That same year, the congregants began worshipping in the roofed over basement of the incomplete church until it was completed in 1926. In 1925, the congregation was among the first to join the newly-formed United Church. The church continues to be used by the congregation.

The Aneroid United Church is also valued as an architectural landmark in the community. Architect Charles Nicholson of Swift Current is credited with the design, adorning the structure with a crenellated steeple, Gothic arch windows with label mouldings, and contrasting materials such as rugged-brick quoining and pebble-dash stucco surfaces. The interior of the church features a gallery, a raised choir, and austere plaster walls. Contractor John P. Moore of Swift Current was responsible for construction of the church, though local men were in charge of laying the scored fieldstone foundation in 1918. The sophisticated design and quality craftsmanship make the church a landmark in the community.

Source:

Village of Aneroid Bylaw # 51.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Aneroid United Church resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which relate to the architecture, such as it symmetrical rectangular form, the steeply pitched front gable roof, its raised basement with a scored fieldstone foundation, the pressed red-brick exterior cladding with rugged-brick quoins, pebble-dash stucco detailing, and concrete finishing comprising the window sills, lintels, label mouldings and coping, the rectangular multi-pane windows and straight-flight entrance steps with panelled brick railings;
-those elements which identify the buildings as a place of worship, such as the crenellated steeple with a polygonal spire and ornamental iron cross finial steeple, the Gothic arch windows with intersecting tracery holding stained glass and multiple lights containing opaque glass, the round stained glass window, the interior gallery with iron supports, raised choir loft and chancel, the open character of the sanctuary and its austere plaster walls.