Chechow Church

Chechow Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located on a small parcel of land in the Rural Municipality of Preeceville No. 334. The designation applies to a wood-frame church located approximately nine kilometres southwest of the Town of Preeceville. The property also contains several non-contributing wood-frame buildings adjacent to the Church.

The heritage value of Chechow Church lies in its association with the establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic faith in the Chechow district. Soon after immigrating to the Preeceville region, these settlers, originally from the village of Chechow, Buchach, Galicia (Ukraine), gathered the resources required to build a place of worship. The settlers obtained enough money, material and donated labour to build the church in 1906. It remained unchanged, both inside and out, when the congregation celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2006.

The heritage value of Chechow church also lies in its architecture. The design of the building has elements associated with both eastern European religious and domestic vernacular styles. The eastern European religious style is exemplified by the large dome directly above the centre of the building. Although it is not onion-shaped, the dome is a typical element of this style and is found in almost all Ukrainian Catholic or Ukrainian Orthodox churches throughout western Canada. The vernacular style is exemplified by the simple slightly adorned architecture and the symmetrical footprint of the building.

Source:

Rural Municipality of Preeceville No. 334 Bylaw No. 5-2006.

The heritage value of Chechow Church resides in the following character-defining elements:

-those elements associated with the establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic faith in the Chechow district, such as the location of the building on its original site;

-those architectural elements typical of the eastern religious and domestic vernacular styles, such as the central, octagonal-shaped dome, symmetrical placement of arched windows on either side, the pitched roof, centred front entrance, and detached bell tower;

-any interior elements that represent the site as a place of worship, such as the pews, altar and icon screens that depict the Ukrainian Catholic faith.