
Contextual view, from the southeast, showing the church building and bell tower of Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, Elphinstone area, 2006
Photo: Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 2005
- Built
- 1917
- Recognized
- 1991
- By
- Local government
The register’s text, word for word
Description
Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, completed in 1917, is a modest wood-frame building on a rural site in the Elphinstone area. The provincial designation applies to the church and bell tower, its cemetery and the grounds they occupy.
Heritage value
The unpretentious white wood-frame presence of Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, set on a slight rise overlooking cultivated farmland interspersed with small lakes and woodlands, offers a welcome surprise to the traveller on a quiet country road south of Riding Mountain National Park. The nearby bell tower, and the cemetery on a plot sloping away to the rear, complete the picture. This fine well-preserved example of a modest Gothic Revival-style rural church, in which services continue on a limited basis, offers an enduring link to the origins of the isolated community of Wisla and the faith and perseverance of its pioneers.
SourceLocal Government District of Park By-law No. 883, January 14, 1991
Character‑defining elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the church site include:
- its location in the Wisla district, one kilometre north of Road 470, with the church facing east on an open plot and a cemetery to the rear
- the two-storey wooden bell tower, with a square open cupola and large bell, nestled against a thick grove of trees to the north
Key exterior elements that define the church's modest Gothic Revival design include:
- the one-storey rectangular massing set beneath a moderately pitched gable roof, with a small gable-roofed front porch, polygonal apse and shed-roofed north porch
- the quaintly detailed octagonal bellcote with blind windows and a steep roof
- the symmetrically organized fenestration, including twin oculi at the front and pointed windows
- the unpretentious materials, finishes and details, including the wood-frame construction, white-painted wood siding with matching corner and eave trim and contrasting window and door surrounds, crosses on rooftops, etc.
Key elements that define the church's fine interior include:
- the modestly scaled plan, well-appointed nave and a compact choir loft at the east end
- the walls and ceiling of horizontal wood panelling above vertical wood wainscotting, painted in muted colours and enhanced with decorative stencilled borders
- the uncluttered chancel with oak pulpit and an ornate altar; all behind a painted wood balustrade
- the narrow choir loft supported by columns finished in faux marble and accessed by steep wooden stairs
- fine religious iconography such as images and statuettes of Saints Peter and Paul, etc.
End of the register’s text
Location
SE 7-19-21 WPM, Park (South), Manitoba, R0J, Canada
50.61779° N, 100.37012° W
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St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church4.8 km · Strathclair · 1907
Horod School6.2 km · 1909
Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Transfiguration9.9 km · Strathclair · 1924
Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church11 km · 1939
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church12 km · 1912
Our Lady of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church13 km · Rossburn · 1929
Similar places
Places whose register descriptions are closest to this one.
Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic ChurchRossburn, Manitoba
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Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox ChurchStonehenge RM 73, Saskatchewan
Saint Peter and Saint Paul Orthodox Church HallStonehenge RM 73, Saskatchewan
St. Peter,
DynevorSt. Clements, Manitoba
From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.