Bylaw: (1989)-13198
Legal description: Lot 2, Lot 3, Lot 7, Lot 8, Plan 326, Lot 21, Plan 21
Designated portions
- The elements of the building to be designated include:
- the exterior of the building, including the stone walls and foundations of all four sides, and the existing shape and exterior appearance of the doors and windows in those walls.
- The slate roofs
- The wooden ceiling of the nave, chancel, and sanctuary, supported by arched timber trusses, springing from brackets designed in the form of hammer beams.
- The stained glass in the memorial windows in the nave, chancel, and sanctuary, as well as the diamond-patterned, older stained glass where it occurs elsewhere in the building.
It is understood that the new openings may be created at the foundation level of the southwesterly façade, and that any of the designated features may be restored to an authenticated earlier design, without requiring permission to alter under Section 33 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1980.
Property history
St. James was the last of Guelph’s stone churches constructed of locally-quarried limestone. Begun in 1891, opened at Easter 1892, it is one of the eight major 19th-Century stone churches which stand today as landmarks in the central area of Guelph.
The building was designed by Richard C. Windeyer, well-known Toronto architect of the period. It accommodated Guelph’s second Anglican parish, formed in 1890 for former St. George’s Church parishioners.