HERITAGE OTTAWA
Members of Heritage Ottawa were amongst the many attendees this weekend at a landmark colloquium entitled "The Origins and Significance of Residential Gothic Architecture in Ottawa".
Competition for the design of Canada's Parliament Buildings drew several English architects to Ottawa in the late 1850s. The Gothic Revival style of architecture that they introduced to the region would help to identify Canada and its dawniing capital as progressive partners in the British Empire.
Residential stone villas built for Ottawa's leading merchants, industrialists and professionals of the day shared a revolutionary floorplan configuration in which four wings revolve outward from a central stairhall. This 'pinwheel' plan has been traced to 19th century architect A.W.N. Pugin, the father of English Gothic Revival architecture.
The colloquium began on Friday morning with an excursion to the Gothic influenced Old St Mary's Church (1822-1825) and its successor New St. Mary's (1909), adjuncts to the Pinhey Estate along the Ottawa River.
A guided tour of Earnscliffe (1855 - 1857), former home of Sir John A. Macdonald and current residence of the British High Commissioner in Canada, followed on Friday afternoon. David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa led the group through the home's stately interiors, while Bruce Elliott of Carleton University's History Department led tours of the exterior. An informative and lively delivery by both made for a memorable experience.
Friday evening brought the group to St. Alban's Church for a much-anticipated lecture by Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin of the University of Kent School of Architecture. His well-received presentation on the topic of architect A.W.N. Pugin was the keynote address of the colloquium, and the inaugural event of Heritage Ottawa's 2014 - 2015 lecture season.
On Saturday morning at Carleton University, David Jeanes of Heritage Ottawa presented a talk about Ottawa's pinwheel plan houses. Ian Badgley, Archaeologist with the Heritage Program of the National Capital Commission spoke about the social history of LeBreton Flats from an archaeologist's standpoint.
Lunch followed at Cabotto's Restaurant, a historic pinwheel plan house located on Hazeldean Road in Stittsville. A three-hour bus tour of other pinwheel plan houses in Ottawa followed, guided by David Jeanes.
The colloquium was co-sponsored by Carleton University, Heritage Ottawa, Pinhey's Point Foundation and the City of Ottawa.
An associated exhibition on Ottawa's ecclesiastical, Parliamentary and residential gothic architecture remains on view at the Carleton University History Department, Fourth Floor Paterson Hall, for the remainder of the fall term.
Thanks to Dr. Timothy Brittain-Catlin and organizers Bruce Elliott, Peter Coffman and David Jeanes for delivering a brilliant and informative event!
Photo: Danielle Jones, Taken at Earnscliffe