History of Cochrane Street
United Church,
St. John's Newfoundland
Cochrane Street United Church,
St. John's, was designated a Registered Heritage Structure on
November 26, 2004 by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland
and Labrador.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
Cochrane Street Methodist
Church began
as a Sunday School in Temperance Hall, Victoria Street, St. John's
in October, 1878 to hold the overflow of a growing Gower Street
congregation. Although Cochrane Street Church, a high-spired
wooden structure, was dedicated in May, 1882, it remained part
of the Gower Street circuit until 1890.
The first minister of the
original Cochrane Street Church was Rev. Dr. George Bond, Assistant
Minister at Gower Street. Assistant ministers from Gower continued
to conduct services at Cochrane until 1890 when Cochrane Street
became a separate circuit with Rev. F.R. Duffill presiding.
Although the original Cochrane
Street Church was described in newspapers of the period as a
"beautiful...elegant" church with its pitch-pine interior,
a St. John's Daily News story of 1916 looked back on the church
as "the worst-ventilated building in the city."
The first Cochrane Street
Church survived the fire of 1892 which destroyed most of St.
John's, and it was near Cochrane Street that the fire was contained.
However, in January, 1914, a fire broke out in the basement of
the church about 20 minutes after the Sunday evening service,
conducted by Rev. C.A. Whitemarsh.
The fire took place during
a freezing rain storm, and observers of the period claimed there
would have been a repeat of the 1892 fire had it not been for
the weather.
The cause of the fire was
not determined, although newspapers of the period leaned towards
electrical wiring as the problem, instead of the furnace overheating.
Two members of the congregation, interviewed by the Evening Telegram,
claimed they hung their coats in the furnace room before the
service and there was not enough fire in the furnace to dry the
wet garments during the worship.
Following the fire, the
Cochrane Street Church Board of Trustees net the next day to
discuss plans for a new church. Arthur Mews, church organist
and choir director and church trustee, was appointed secretary
of the building committee, which was chaired by Hon. J.C. Crosbie.
About $40,000 insurance
was carried on the church, and the building committee sought
to build a new church costing between $60,000 and $80,000. Since
money for plans was not available, architects were invited to
submit plans for consideration at their own risk.
The building committee
wanted a church of Gothic style, and was impressed with Gothic
designs submitted by Ross, and MacDonald, architects of Montreal.
However, the building cost of $160,000 plus $40,000 for an enlarged
Sunday School was well beyond Cochrane Street Church's means.
Arthur Mews suggested that
Ross and McDonald contact Mr. Carmen Paine, a Newfoundlander
living in Montreal, who could advise them on Cochrane Street's
requirements.
Mr. Paine, an acquaintance
of Mr. Mews, also knew a Mr. Dowswell, chief designer with the
firm of Ross and McDonald. Dowswell suggested, and Paine strongly
agreed, that the church be built on the Greek Cross or Byzantine
style, adding it was a stately, ecclesiastical, and could be
built of concrete and hold 1100 people for around $80,000.
Mr. Paine also pointed
out to Arthur Mews, "Gothic style belongs exclusively to
the Church of England and Scottish churches in its native land....non-conformists
should have a church fashioned more like an auditorium, where
everybody gets a good view and is in easy reach of the Minister."
The building committee
agreed, and on June 29, 1915, the cornerstone was laid by Rev.
Dr. S.D. Chown, General Superintendent of the Methodist Church
of Canada. Despite a steady, cold drizzle, a large gathering
attended the ceremony. Glass jars containing Methodist newspapers,
the New Testament, Newfoundland coins, and local newspapers,
were placed inside the cornerstone. A jar of artefacts which
had been inside the original church's cornerstone was also placed
inside the new stone.
As 1915 was also the 100th
anniversary of Methodism in St. John's, the church trustees agreed
to name the new church "Cochrane Street Methodist Centennial
Church". Following amalgamation with the United Church of
Canada in 1925, the name became "Cochrane Street United
Centennial Church". Church programs of the period show the
name "Centennial" was still in use in 1944, but was
apparently dropped over the next six to eight years.
The new Cochrane Street
Church, built from local materials to keep costs down, was ready
for occupancy in February, 1916, but was still without pews,
organ, stained glass windows and electrical fixtures.
The pews were to be shipped
from a factory in Dundas, Ontario in December, 1915, but due
to a railway embargo in Canada as a result of World War I, they
were not shipped until March, 1916. Railways were apparently
tied up moving men and materials to Halifax to be shipped to
Europe.
The pews arrived and were
installed around June 6, 1916 and on June 18, with a temporary
organ and without stained glass windows and many light fixtures,
the church was dedicated by Rev. Charles Howse, president of
the Newfoundland Methodist Conference.
About 1200 worshippers
attended both the morning and evening dedication services, as
Gower Street, the Mother Church of Methodism in Newfoundland,
was closed for that Sunday to allow its congregation to participate
in the ceremony.
The first pastor of the
new Cochrane Street Church in 1916 was Rev. Dr. George Bond,
who was also first minister of the original church in 1882.
One major change in the
new church was a gowned choir, with the men in black gowns and
the women in black gowns and mortarboards. The St. John's Daily
News story on the dedication describes the use of gowns as a
"novelty (which is) somewhat startling at first and the
courage of the church authorities in introducing it justifies
admiration".
The design of the church,
with its spacious Mediterranean-style bell tower and 55-foot
high Byzantine dome, is somewhat of a novelty itself as the architecture
is unique in this part of the country.
The Church's stained-glass
windows are gifts of the Pitts, Marshall and MacPherson families,
with the eastern window of Canada's most easterly United Church
depicting Holman Hunt's "Light of the World". The church
seats about 1100 people.
Cochrane Street United
Church is situated in the old part of the city and seeks to serve
the old and the new. It is surrounded by older homes, many of
which have been preserved as heritage structures, which remind
us of our great past.
Across the street is Government
House, historic residence of the Province's Lieutenant Governor,
while to the east is an urban area, symbolic of the new developing
St. John's.
In 1981, the Avalon Presbytery
of the Newfoundland Conference declared that Cochrane Street
Church would continue to serve the eastern urban area and new
development in the north-east St. John's since no decision could
be made to begin a new congregation in this area.
As a result, the congregation
ventured on a Centennial Restoration Program which will see considerable
improvements to the interior and exterior of the building. Recently,
there have been repairs to the dome's exterior and to the interior
of the church, including the dome.
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CONSTRUCTION OF PRESENT BUILDING
The present building is the second to
serve the congregation. The original Gothic structure (dedicated
1882) on the same site was destroyed in a fire on January 18,
1914. The Board of the church immediately invited bids
from architectural firms to submit plans for another Gothic structure.
The bid from Ross and Macdonald of Montreal was $160,000, much
more than the insurance of $40,000 and the $80,000 that the congregation
was willing to commit.
A member of the congregation, Mr.
Carman Paine, an architect, was living in Montreal at the time
and knew the chief designer, a Mr. Dowswell, at Ross and MacDonald.
 The main Chandelier
Mr. Dowswell felt that because the congregation
was non-conformist, that is Protestant but not Church of England,
the building’s architecture should fit more with the
form of worship where everyone was in easy reach of the minister
in an auditorium type of setting. The result is what we have
today.
The building’s cornerstone
was laid on June 29, 1915. The intent was to use as much local
material and labour as possible, recognizing that because of
the war in Europe, transportation and materials, as well
as labour, were in short supply.
The contractor for the building
was the Downing Cook Company of Toronto. Work was completed in
the spring of 1916, with the first service held on Easter Sunday,
1916, in the Sunday School area of the building, a three story
extension attached to the sanctuary. The church was
dedicated on June 18, 1916, but without organ, stained
glass windows and many light fixtures.
The church was named Cochrane Street
Methodist Centennial Church in recognition of 1915 being the
centenary of organized Methodism in Newfoundland.
The congregation became part of
The United Church of Canada when that organization was created
in 1925, and was known as Cochrane Street Centennial United Church,
with the “Centennial” being dropped sometime in the
1940s.
Architecture
of the Building
The architecture of Cochrane
Street United Church is unique in this part of the country.
Built of local materials - concrete reinforced with steel,
and painted in white and terra cotta, the outside of the building
has a Mediterranean look. The 70 foot high bell tower with
its arching capitals, echoed in the original light fixtures over
the front doors, also contribute to the North Italian (Romanesque
Revival) style of the building. At the street level, even with
the low facade, the front gables and tower completely hide the
copper-clad dome.
There
are additional features on the exterior which are also reminiscent
of this style of architecture. These include the wooden eaves,
the cupolas on the dome and the decorative brickwork around
the doors and windows. Note the crosses and the Stars of
David on the bell tower and the Greek cross over the front doors.
On entering
the building, the porch exhibits several barrel vaults, which
are an important element of the Byzantine style of architecture.
The
large Byzantine dome is supported on four Corinthian pillars
(another design element of the Romanesque Revival style). Soaring
to 55 feet, with a diameter of 50 feet, the dome supports the
chandelier which has a Greek cross design, as does the
seating area of main floor of the sanctuary. Unlike the
true Byzantine style of Church buildings, Cochrane Street is
barren in comparison. There are no paintings or mosaics
on the floor, walls, dome, or the barrel vaults over the balconies
and in the choir loft.
In the sanctuary, the
pillars exhibit the only decoration apart from the Canadian designed
and built stained glass windows. At the time of construction,
the entire interior of the building was painted the blue-green
seen in the tops of the capitals. The lighter colour scheme
was completed in the 1970s, at which time the floors were also
carpeted (and re-carpeted in March 2005).
The woodwork
echoes the Arts and Crafts Movement. All the woodwork,
including the pulpit area, the choir loft and screen, the organ
case, and the pews were designed and constructed in Dundas, Ontario
by the Valley City Seating Company, which is still producing
church furniture. The organ screen is carved in great detail.
It complements the decoration on the tops of the pillars. The
compound curve of the seats makes them very comfortable.
The light
fixtures, produced by the Murray Kay Company of Toronto, are
original to the building. The large Greek cross chandelier and
the “crown of thorns” fixture in the east balcony are
very interesting and striking additions to the building.
Some further
items of interest include the hat racks still remaining under
the pews in the balconies (for the use of the men of the congregation),
the baptismal font of carved marble, the original communion rail
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