Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 25

Gothic Revival in Canadian Architecture

by Mathilde Brosseau

Preface

This study of Gothic Revival architecture is part of a general programme to analyze data collected by the Canadian Inventory of Historic Building. In July 1976 (when this study was begun), the Canadian Inventory of Historic Building had catalogued approximately 180,000 buildings. Data on each component of exterior design were processed by computer, which greatly facilitated our task of selection.

At the outset, we had to gain access to all information directly or indirectly related to the profile of Gothic Revival buildings. Several long building listings were obtained by asking the computer to identify all buildings meeting certain criteria as, for example, pointed windows and doors, essential characteristics of this style. At first, we gave the computer the widest possible choice in order to avoid prior rejection of structures with any departures from the "classical" definition of the style. This allowed us to modulate and regionalize, so to speak, our perception of Gothic Revival in Canada.

The computer thus produced a wide preliminary classification of structures classified in three categories — domestic architecture, religious architecture and public architecture (non-religious); within each of these categories, the buildings were classified by province and type of material.

The next step was a visual analysis of the thousands of buildings thus obtained; by a process of comparison, we were able to determine peculiarities of style in various regions of the country.

Once this analysis was complete, we had to corroborate its conclusions by examining various other iconographic sources. This measure was necessary because, despite the large number of catalogued buildings, the work of the Canadian Inventory of Historic Building was limited to a sampling of Gothic Revival buildings that have survived to the present. We consulted the vast collection of photographs in the Public Archives of Canada, along with a variety of publications of the 19th century and even the 20th century that were likely to illustrate Gothic Revival buildings.

The results elucidate — at least we hope so — the arrival of the style in this country, its evolution through three general phases of mutation and, finally, the interpretive variants attributable to geographical context, various cultural traditions and the development periods of the principal regions of Canada.

We wish to express our gratitude to all those individuals and organizations which have contributed directly or indirectly to the completion of this project. Their collaboration in various ways has enriched our work at each stage of progress. In terms of research, many people (often local historians and local priests or ministers) were able to provide us with information on buildings in many regions of Canada. Without their help, we would have been unable to obtain these data because of the impossibility of doing our own research on buildings all over the country. It is also important to stress the contribution of various archives and publishing houses who gave us permission to reproduce drawings and photographs of buildings, thus adding to the iconographic aspect of the study. Finally, in terms of organization and writing, we wish to extend particular thanks to our dear colleague PierreMorin, as well as architectural historian Christina Cameron and Douglas Richardson whose precious advice helped in clarifying our thoughts.

A collection of slides of Gothic Revival buildings in Canada is being prepared in conjunction with the National Film Board.