Description of Historic Place

All Saints Anglican Church is a one-storey log and wood frame building constructed in 1884 in the Erinview area. The municipal designation applies to the church and the grounds it occupies.

Heritage Value

All Saints Anglican Church is a well-preserved example of the kind of early religious structures pioneer communities established in rural Manitoba in the late 1800s. The log and wood frame building is a simple expression of faith modelled on the Gothic Revival parish churches of Great Britain, but executed using the unpretentious materials and appointments available to a fledgling settlement. Built on land donated by the Fred Robertson family, and funded by a sympathetic relative in England upset by the lack of religious facilities in the new country, the church conveys a dignified visage in its picturesque setting near East Shoal Lake. Restored in recent years, it continues to host annual services and special gatherings.

Source: Rural Municipality of Woodlands By-law No. 2425/01, March 13, 2001

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the All Saints Anglican Church site include:
- the building's quiet location near East Shoal Lake in the Erinview area, on an expansive grassed and treed lot that also holds the Erinview Cemetery

Key elements that define the church's early and straightforward vernacular architecture include:
- the box-like symmetrical massing topped by a gable roof of cedar shingles, with the log and wood frame construction obscured by plain sheathing
- the pointed arched windows throughout, in singles and pairs, containing four-over-four-pane sash windows in simple frames and casings painted to contrast with the facades
- the minimal details, including the plank double entrance doors formed into a segmental arch, the modest brackets under the eaves, the brick chimney, etc.

Key elements that define the church's quaint interior layout, finishes and details include:
- the one-room space organized by the centre-aisle nave and raised chancel and altar
- the informal, accommodating mix of wooden pews and moveable chairs
- the practical materials, finishes and details, including the plaster walls and gambrel-style ceiling, the plank floors, the dark-stained wainscotting and trim, the plank vestry, the ornate gilt chandelier, etc.