St. John's Anglican Church - 64 Townsend Street - Heritage House Tour 2023

St. John’s Anglican Church  - 64 Townsend Street 

Open for viewing  10 am - 4 pm

National Historic Site of Canada

stjohnslunenburg.org

The second oldest Protestant church in Canada, St John’s occupies the western-most of the four town blocks originally reserved for public purposes. In 1754, the British colonial government’s administrators made a grant of about 500 pounds for the building of the Church. he framing timbers are believed to have been shipped from Boston. Completed in 1763, it was constructed in a simple two-storey New England meeting house style, with timbers believed to be shipped from Boston. It remained unchanged for 80 years until alterations were made in 1840, 1870 and 1892 to create its unique, highly ornamental carpenter gothic character.

On October 31, 2001, tragedy struck when a fire started in the southwest corner of the church, travelled along the eaves and ignited the roof structure under the copper surface, making it impossible for firefighters to douse the flames. After the impressive restoration completed in 2005, supported by local craftspeople, the legacy of St. John’s lives on.