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All Souls Chapel National Historic Site of Canada

7 All Souls’ Lane, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, C1A, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1990/02/23

Corner view of All Souls Chapel, 1991.; Parks Canada Agency/Agence Parcs Canada, 1991.
General view of the place
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Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1888/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2007/05/14

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

All Souls Chapel is a small chapel built in the High Victorian Gothic Revival style of rust-red, Prince Edward Island sandstone. It is attached to the side of St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral, a brick Gothic Revival church built in 1867-9. All Souls Chapel is located in Charlottetown’s historic downtown, next to Rochford Square Park and the Provincial Government Buildings. The formal recognition consists of the building on its legal property.

Heritage Value

All Souls Chapel was designated a national historic site in 1990 because it is an exceptional example of the High Victorian Gothic Revival Style in Canadian architecture.

All Souls Chapel was designed by the celebrated Island architect William Critchlow Harris as a memorial to the Reverend George Hodgson, the first priest-incumbent of the Cathedral. On the exterior, Harris fashioned a masterful local interpretation of High Victorian Gothic Revival architecture by using roughly textured, rust-red Prince Edward Island sandstone to create the colour and texture demanded of the style. Harris’ interior design is representative of the style’s capacity to embrace other architectural influences, such as the Romanesque. The eighteen mural paintings that distinguish the interior are by the well-known 19th-century Canadian artist Robert Harris, brother of the architect and painter of the official portrait of the Fathers of Confederation.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minute, February 1990.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements which relate to the heritage value include:

- its simple form and proportions of the chapel, based on long rectangular plan;
- its steeply pitched gable roof;
- its deep-set hooded windows;
- the gable end profiles with kneelers finished in sandstone;
- its masterful use of rough-textured Prince Edward Island sandstone masonry on the exterior for wall surfaces, window surrounds, and parapets;
- its simple exterior detailing drawn from Medieval and Romanesque precedents, including, its label mouldings, its buttresses, its pointed-arch windows, and its small porch;
- its interior architectural elements and decorations associated with High Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, including, the dramatic chancel arch of Romanesque influence, the rich carvings, the terra cotta medallions, the encaustic tiles and the stained glass windows;
- the altar screen designed by William Critchlow Harris with its arched niches containing statues of the apostles;
- the mural paintings executed by Robert Harris;
- its setting as part of the larger St. Peter’s Anglican Cathedral complex in historic downtown Charlottetown.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Federal

Recognition Authority

Government of Canada

Recognition Statute

Historic Sites and Monuments Act

Recognition Type

National Historic Site of Canada

Recognition Date

1990/02/23

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Learning and the Arts
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Architecture and Design

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Religion, Ritual and Funeral
Religious Facility or Place of Worship

Architect / Designer

William Critchlow Harris, Jr

Builder

Lowe Brothers Charlottetown

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

National Historic Sites Directorate, Canadian Inventory of Historic Building Documentation Centre, 5th Floor, Room 525, 25 Eddy Street, Hull, Quebec

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

572

Status

Published

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7 All Souls' Lane / All Souls' Chapel

All Souls' Chapel is an Island sandstone, High Victorian Gothic chapel that stands next to St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral and overlooks the beautiful Rochford Square. The chapel…

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