Building of the Week: St James' Anglican, Mahone Bay

This week’s Building of the Week is St James' Anglican, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia.  It was built in 1885-1887 by the important east coast architect William Critchlow-Harris (1854-1913) who was especially active in Nova Scotia and P.E.I.  This particular building fits in nicely with the spread of Ecclesiology in Nova Scotia and with the long-standing tradition of wooden-church building on the east coast in general.  For a larger image, see the bottom of the page for our "Building of the Week" section.

Mahone Bay is a must-see for anyone interested in church architecture as the town’s waterline is dominated by three side-by-side nineteenth-century churches.  We came across this church last spring on a road trip around Nova Scotia before the 2009 Gothic Summit in Halifax (and hope to stop there again on our way to Lunenburg for the 2010 SSAC Conference!).  This shot was taken moments before all three churches were let out on Good Friday - needless to say, I’m lucky I got this shot before the crowds of people trampled through the frame (and trampled over me) on their way out.