Guard House

The Guard House is situated at the Fort Battleford National Historic Site of Canada, located on the outskirts of the town of Battleford. The simple timber building is a gable-roofed, balloon framed building. The two principal elevations have a doorway, a large window, and smaller, high set windows. Steel bars are placed across some of the windows. White-painted clapboard clads the building’s exterior. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

The Guard House is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value:

The Guard House is one of the best examples of a building associated with the presence of the North-West Mounted Police on the Prairie frontier during the late 19th century and early 20th century. The Guard House reflects the paramilitary character of the force, as well as its role of law enforcement among the civilian population. The building is one of five structures within Fort Battleford National Historic Site of Canada, which was established by the federal government in 1951.

Architectural Value:

The Guard House, which is valued for its good aesthetic design, is typical of the balloon frame structures erected at Mounted Police posts in the North-West during the latter decades of the 19th century. The Guard House employs a basic form that was tailored to specific functions by altering the external dimensions and the arrangement of door and window openings. The Guard House represents one variation of the standardized model for Mounted Police guard houses, although it is the only one known to have survived. The structure exhibits very good functional design in its role as a lock up and guard room, and its present condition attests to its good materials.

Environmental Value:

The Guard House reinforces the historic character of Fort Battleford National Historic Site of Canada and is a familiar landmark to residents and to visitors.

Sources:

James de Jonge, Five Buildings, Fort Battleford National Historic Park, Battleford, Saskatchewan, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Building Report 89-010;Guard House, Fort Battleford National Historic Site of Canada, Battleford, Saskatchewan, Heritage Character Statement 89-010.

The character-defining elements of the Guard House should be respected.

Its good aesthetics, very good functional design and good quality materials and craftsmanship, for example:

- the simple, single-storey massing of the rectangular building;

- the gable roof covered in wood shingles;

- the balloon frame construction and exterior walls of clapboard;

- the spacing of the door and window openings, the multi-paned windows and the steel bars over some of the windows.

The manner in which the Guard House reinforces the historic character of the fort and is a well-known local landmark, as evidenced by:

- its simple design and materials that harmonize with the other buildings within the historic fort setting;

- its role as an important component of the group of surviving structures from the Fort Battleford National Historic Site of Canada complex that makes it familiar to locals and visitors.