Saint-François-de-Sales Church

Dominating the region with its tall bell tower, the Saint-François-de-Sales Church is a Roman Catholic place of worship built in the Gothic Revival style in 1888 on a large church property on Principale Street in the very centre of the village of Rogersville.

The heritage value of the Saint-François-de-Sales Church in Rogersville lies mainly in its history, which is closely linked to that of Mgr. Marcel-François Richard (1847-1915), founding priest of the parish. Mgr. Richard was Rogersville’s first parish priest, serving from the founding of the parish in 1885 until his death in 1915. He was the one who changed the name from Carleton to Rogersville in honour of the Bishop of Chatham, Mgr. Rogers. It was mainly from his parish of Rogersville that he participated in a number of church and school construction projects as part of his colonization work. He was responsible for the arrival in Rogersville, in the early 1900s, of two Cistercian communities: the Trappistine Sisters and the Trappist Fathers. He was also responsible for bringing in the congregation of the Daughters of Jesus and the Eudist Fathers. In addition, he was the driving force behind several structures still standing today, including the church, the presbytery and the Assumption Monument. The heritage value of the Saint-François-de-Sales Church lies as well in its importance as the place of worship of most of the village’s residents.

The heritage value of the Saint-François-de-Sales Church further lies in its architecture. This wooden church built in 1888 combines several influences, including Gothic, Gothic Revival and Classical, resulting in a style of architecture typical of a number of wooden Acadian churches found in New Brunswick, one being the church in the neighbouring parish of Collette and Acadieville. An addition was built in 1904 and the interior was renovated between 1954 and 1956.

Source: Village of Rogersville, Historic Places File "Saint-François-de-Sales Church"

The character-defining elements associated with the Saint-François-de-Sales Church include:

- high location in the centre of the village;

- site as a whole, consisting of the church’s large landscaped property, the presbytery, the Assumption Monument and the picnic area;

- original rectangular plan approximately 100 feet x 60 feet;

- 1904 expansion;

- wooden construction;

- tall steeple;

- pinnacled buttresses at the corners of the walls on the main façade;

- pinnacled buttresses at the corners of the bell tower;

- lancet windows with truncated tops;

- chimney in the rear;

- church’s interior renovations from 1954 to 1956.