St. Anne's Chapel of Ease

St. Anne’s, the Anglican Parish Church of Fredericton, was built in an astonishing nine months between 1846 and 1847 to fulfill the need of a proper place of worship while the nearby Christ Church Cathedral was being built. This National Historic Site is considered to be the finest and most significant Gothic Revival church of its size and kind in North America, and survives virtually unchanged in the last 150 years. It was designed by Frank Wills (1822-1857), the young English architect of Christ Church Cathedral, and was intended by Bishop Medley that it would become a model for all other parish churches in New Brunswick. Of special note throughout the site are: the corner stone wall and lych-gate, intended to shelter the funeral coffin pending the arrival of the officiating priest; the ornate ironwork hinges on the side entrance; the interior roof, chancel screen, pulpit, altar and pews crafted of local butternut; and the multicoloured Minton encaustic tiles decorating the floor and chancel. The sum result is a most graceful structure, acknowledging both its English medieval antecedents and its more contemporary 19th century function as a medium for expounding Medley’s architectural principles in North America. Upon completion of the modern Parish Church in 1960, the original Church became a Chapel of Ease.