All Saints Anglican Church

All Saints’ Anglican Church Provincial Historic Site was designated primarily because of its historical association with the architectural ideas of Rev. Edward S. Medley and his father, Bishop John Medley. Both sought to design Gothic Revival churches in New Brunswick to further the mission of the Anglican Church in the province. Following his father’s intense interest in the Gothic Revival style, the younger Medley studied high Victorian Gothic architecture for three years in London under architect William Butterfield, a leading English Gothicist.

Constructed in 1861, this church is important historically because its quality interior and exterior detail reflect the “Carpenter Gothic” style of nineteenth century church architecture. It is an example of the application of formal British Neo-Gothic theory developed by the Ecclesiological or Cambridge Camden Society to the design and construction of a vernacular wooden church in the colonies.

As Edward Medley’s first attempt at church design and construction in New Brunswick, this small board-and-batten building reflects both the architectural and religious conventions of the Gothic Revival style when applied to a wooden rural church. He went on to design three other Anglican churches in New Brunswick.