E M M A N U E L L A S Y M E O N A K I
GOTHIC REVIVAL
Saint Patrick’s Church Halifax
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U N I V E R S I T Y
E M M A N U E L L A S Y M E O N A K I
ST. PATRICK’S Halifax, NS
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Class presentation
This essay and publication have been prepared as part of my final class presentation. The photos of St. Patrick’s Church in Halifax have been taken by myself with the kind permission of the custodian during the Open House event on June 5th, 2016.
Emmanuella 
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GOTHIC REVIVAL St. Patrick’s Church
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St. Patrick’s Church was built in the late 1800’s by Henry Peters and mass was celebrated in the upper level of the church on the 27th of December 1885 in front of an old altar. St. Patricks Church, which is located at 2263 Brunswick street in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a Roman Catholic church and it has been built in the Gothic Revival Style. A style revived by Augustus Pugin1 (1812- 1852) who is considered the pioneer of the revival style. He was known for his ecclesiastic buildings and specifically Catholic Cathedrals between 1841-1844 (Ramos) The Gothic Revival was consequently forwarded by his rival John Ruskin (1819 -1900). The style was very popular in Great Britain, Europe and the colonies, and crossed the Atlantic around the 1880’s. In terms of style, the Gothic Revival emerged as a counter to the
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Neoclassic and eclectic style of the early reign of Victoria which were seen as more pagan. Pugin was known for “inject[ing] morality into architecture” (Crook 52,53).
Church is the true mechanics’ institute, the oldest and the best. She was the great and never failing school in which the great artists of the day of faith were formed.Under her guidance they directed the most wonderful efforts of her skill to the glory God...for without such...talents are vain, and the greatest efforts of art sink to the level of an abomination. (Frank 155)
St. Patrick’s pugian influence it is evident in the facade, the pointed arch windows, the quatrefoils, but also in the elaborate interior. The nave and the two aisles have vaults with pointed traverse arches and quadripartite ribs and the style it is typically English.
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The windows of the church are also in the typical Gothic Revival style although the stained glass originally installed between 1898 and 1903 was replaced by the Bavarian Art
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Establishment of Franz Mayer & Co. in 1922. The popularity of the Gothic Revival Style was undeniable and the desire to emulate Pugin’s work is clearly visible in the comparison of some of the revival elements of St. Patrick’s church in Halifax and St. Giles’ in Cheadle. Here the design repetition aims to put order to chaos. Pugin’s ecclesiastic architecture become the means and font of inspiration for a work that will reform design and reshape taste and St. Patrick’s Church in Halifax surely speaks to that.
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Bibliography: • Beed, Blair. Notes from the Collection of William Kelly. Saint Patricks’s Parish. Web <http://stpatricks.halifax.ns.ca/ saint_patricks_church_history.html>. Accessed June 14, 2016. • Crook, J. Mordaunt, "Pugin Created the Dilemma of Style." Web < www.victorianweb.org.> Accessed June 3, 2016 • Frank, Isabelle (Editor). The Theory of Decorative Art. Yale University. 2000 • Ramos, . AHIS 2120 Lectures. NSCAD University. May 2016.
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