The brick High Gothic styled church is the work of famed New York architect, Patrick Charles Keely, the designer of over 600 Roman Catholic churches in eastern North America. The cornerstone was laid on June 9, 1859, with completion of the church coming about in 1860. The magnificent pipe organ was installed in 1882 while the church's interior decoration took place primarily in 1885. Standing 185 feet high at the top of the steeple, this is the largest church on Prince Edward Island.
Known colloquially as Tignish Church is a 19th century Roman Catholic church located in Tignish parish, Prince Edward Island, Canada. As of 2006, it is the single largest church on Prince Edward Island, measuring 185 feet high. It can be clearly seen for 6 miles on flat land, and for many more miles at sea. It is perhaps most famous for its widely publicized apparition of Jesus event...
The twelve pillars located inside consist of one large tree that was cut down from "Virgin Forest" located on the Centre Line Road. Each of these pillars were shaped by hand.
In 1885 the stations of the cross were erected in the church. These are very unique, as there are only three others like it in all of Canada. In 1888 a famous artist from Montreal; Francois Xavier Edouard Meloche, painted the twelve life size murals of the Apostles located along the walls, between the stained glass windows. In this same year the church was decorated dark blue with stars. In 1997 the church was once again painted, in creams, greys and a replica of the same blue sky...
Famous Organ
In 1882 a 1,118–pipe hand–pumped church organ, was installed by long–standing priest Dugald M. McDonald. Although the organ was purchased for $2,400.00 CAD in 1882, its current retail value is an estimated $1 million USD. The organ was featured in many of the documentation done by Henry Gaudet, a former member of the parish. It has also been featured on many local newscasts and newspapers. The organ was manually operated by hand pump until electricity was first provided in Tignish in 1959. The organ still resides at the church to the present day.
From The Church
St. Simon and St. Jude
Roman Catholic Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The parish church of St. Simon and St. Jude is the spiritual centre for the Roman Catholic community of Tignish, PEI. The brick High Gothic style building was created from local materials on spacious grounds and includes a nearby parochial house. The registration includes the footprint of the building.
HERITAGE VALUE
St. Simon and St. Jude Roman Catholic Church is valued for its High Gothic style; as an example of the work of the famed New York architect, Patrick Charles Keely in Prince Edward Island; and for its contribution to the community of Tignish.
The building is a significant PEI example of the ecclesiastical architecture of Patrick Charles Keely (1816-1896). Originally from County Tipperary in Ireland, Keely held a virtual monopoly on Catholic Church construction in America in the 1870s and 1880s. His work can be seen in nearly 600 churches from Brooklyn, New York to Boston, Massachusetts and from Charleston, South Carolina to Halifax, Nova Scotia and even into Iowa.
Island priest and later Bishop
Peter McIntyre initiated the construction of this church by following a Keely design.
The substantial building was built of brick and the youth of the parish worked diligently to furnish the lime and sand required to make the mortar and over 500,000 bricks used during construction. When the building was completed, one exhuberant young man celebrated by climbing to the top of the spire!
He was not alone in marvelling at the new church. Island surveyor and later resident of Beaconsfield in Charlottetown,
Henry Jones Cundall, declared to his diary on July 5, 1860: "...I went up the spire as far as the ladder would permit inside where a very extensive view is obtained... a very handsome church nearly finished." A year later, he would return and remark on its stained glass windows. These were installed by the New York firm, Morgan and Brothers. He also took several photographs which today provide us with the earliest glimpse of the structure.
By 1882, the Louis Mitchell pipe organ was installed and in 1885, the interior of the church was decorated in religious scenes and life sized statues of the twelve apostles by the Montreal artist,
F. Meloche.
Today, this fine church is cherished by its community and continues to showcase the artistic talents of an earlier age.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The heritage value of the church is shown in the following character-defining elements:
- the steeply pitched roof
- the pointed arch windows and doors
- the corner and side buttresses
- the local brick construction
- the tall entrance tower with spire topped by a cross
From Historic Places Canada