St. Paul's Church

Lunenburg's Anglican story in Nova Scotia begins almost with the town itself. The settlement was founded in 1753 by foreign Protestants, mostly from Germany, Switzerland and France, and the Church of England parish was established in the first years of the colony. Its church, St. John's Anglican, stands on the upper slope of the Old Town and is counted among the oldest Anglican parishes in Canada. The building seen today is the product of a long history, because the original church of the 1750s was replaced in the 1800s by a Carpenter Gothic church, which was destroyed by fire in 2001 and then rebuilt with great care.

The reconstruction is part of the attraction. After the fire, the community decided to rebuild the church to match the lost one, and craftspeople used traditional methods and timber to restore its exterior, spire and interior. The result is a graceful wooden church of steep gables and pointed windows, with a tall spire that is one of the focal points of the Lunenburg skyline when seen from the harbour. Inside, light falls through coloured glass onto pews and a vaulted ceiling, and the interior has the quiet, simple feel of a small-town parish church.

A note on the name: the church here is often confused with St. Paul's in Halifax, and the Anglican church in Lunenburg's Old Town is St. John's, and the oldest Anglican church in Canada is St. Paul's in Halifax, a different building about an hour's drive away. Visitors looking for Lunenburg's historic parish church should head for St. John's, which is a short walk uphill from the waterfront.

The church is a working parish, so access depends on services and on volunteer availability, with the building often open for visits in the warmer months and by arrangement in the colder ones. Donations are welcome, and visitors should be respectful of any services in progress. It is best to confirm hours locally.

Lunenburg's Old Town was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 as the best surviving planned British colonial settlement in North America, and the church fits naturally into a walk that includes the colourful waterfront houses, the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and the Lunenburg Academy on its hilltop. Photographers will find that late afternoon gives the warmest light on the spire and the painted houses below.