The church of our lady

Historical buildings in Guelph
When John Galt founded Guelph on April 23 1827 he picked the highest spot in the centre of the newly found town to the roman Catholics as a favor to a friend Bishop Alexander McDonnell Who had given him on the foundation of the Canada company. When John Galt cleared the road by the spot where the church was to go he named it after the bishop which is now called McDonnell street. In the Guelph public library wrote the following statement in the deed to where the church would stand, “On this hill would one day rise a church to rival St peters in Rome.” The church of our lady is the third to stand on this site. The first church, a framed wooden church named St Patrick’s had been built in 1835 and was the first structure to be painted on the inside as well as the outside. It burned to the ground on October 10th 1844. Construction on St Bartholomew’s church began shortly after St Patrick’s was destroyed. The new building was completed in 1846. This church was also consumed in flames. Construction of the new church began in 1877 under Irish Canadian architect Joseph Connolly who designed many churches in Ireland, England and Ontario, notably the St Peters Basilica in London Ontario. It was built of limestone in Gothic revival style. The church of our lady is considered to be Connelly’s masterpiece. Mathew Bell, a well- known Guelph artisan was responsible for some of the carvings on the exterior and the pillars on the inside of the church. Mathew Bell died in 1883 as a result of injuries sustained in a fall while working on the building. In 1888 almost twelve years after construction started it was dedicated to the church of our lady. The twin towers, which rise to heights over 200 feet, were not completed until November 13th 1926. In 1958 a new entrance from Mc Donnell street was constructed, but the outside appearance of the church has changed very little since 1926. The complete building of the church took more than 50 years, probably make it the longest construction project in the city’s history. The church is a national historical site. This was a brief history lesson about the church of our lady.