St. George's (Round) Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia
| St. George's (Round) Church | |
|---|---|
St George's Round Church, view from the Northwest
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| 44°39′12″N 63°34′58″W / 44.6534°N 63.5829°WCoordinates: 44°39′12″N 63°34′58″W / 44.6534°N 63.5829°W | |
| Location | Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Country | Canada |
| Denomination | Anglican Church of Canada |
| Churchmanship | High Church |
| Website | Official Website |
| History | |
| Founded |
1756 (as the Little Dutch (Deutsch) Church) |
| Dedication | Saint George |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | Unknown |
| Style | Palladian |
| Groundbreaking | 1800 |
| Completed | 1812 (Original structure) 1827 (Addition of the apsidal chancel and entrance) 2000 (Restoration) |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Wood |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island |
| Province | Canada |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Christopher Snook |
| Laity | |
| Director of music |
Garth MacPhee |
| Official name | St. George's Anglican Church / Round Church National Historic Site of Canada |
| Designated | 18 November 1983 |
| Type | Provincially Registered Property |
| Designated | 8 April 1999 |
1756 (as the Little Dutch (Deutsch) Church)
Garth MacPhee
St. George's (Anglican) Round Church is a wooden round church in the neo-Classical Palladian style located in Halifax Regional Municipality in Downtown Halifax .Construction on the church began in 1800 thanks in large part to the financial backing of the British royal family. The church’s architect remains a mystery, but Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (and father of Queen Victoria) is believed to have been highly involved in the design process. It is located at the corner of Brunswick and Cornwallis Streets in the North End district. The church was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1983 given its associations with the early history of Halifax and its Palladian architecture.
The congregation of the Round Church was founded at the much smaller Little Dutch (Deutsch) Church, located just a few blocks north at the corner of Brunswick and Gerrish Streets. The Little Dutch Church was founded by German Lutherans who had settled in Halifax by special command by Edward Cornwallis, who deemed the other settlers of Halifax to be unsatisfactory for founding a church. These "foreign Protestants”, who were among the founding members of Halifax, started construction on the Little Dutch Church in 1756. These settlers used a house they had acquired after trading lumber and converted it into a one-room church, known as a “saalkirche”. Construction on the pioneer church was finished in 1758 and the steeple and belfry were later added in 1760. The congregation was extremely poor, but they badly wanted a German Lutheran minister. Services were originally held in German, preached by laypersons and were of an evangelical Lutheran bent, despite the church falling under the supervision of St. Paul's Church (Halifax). However, in 1784, the congregation was granted their wish for a German Lutheran minister with Bernard Michael Houseal.Because of the congregation's poverty, they couldn't afford the minister by themselves. In order to keep their minister, the only option the congregation was presented with was by fulfilling the conditions of the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel to gain their support. Thereby, the church became officially Anglican but retained its Lutheran traditions. Just over 40 years later, the congregation outgrew the LDC and work on The Round Church began.
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