Heritage in the Hat: The Clinker Church, St. Ambrose of Redcliff

By Malcolm Sissons on April 19, 2021.

In 1907, the village of Redcliff was established and grew quickly. Between 1907 and 1912, one glass and three brick manufacturing companies, an iron works and a truck manufacturing plant located in the “Smokeless Manufacturing Centre of Canada.”

By 1912, Redcliff, population 3,000, was incorporated as a town.

Pressure grew for an Anglican church from the many people of English origin. The Anglican Diocese of Qu’Appelle appointed Reverend H.C. Gibson of Maple Creek, and formerly of Bournemouth, England, to the parish.

In early 1913, Rev. Gibson persuaded Redcliff Realty Company to donate four lots for a church, parsonage and parish hall, provided they could be constructed within two years. The estimated cost of $7,000 could not be raised locally, and only the wood frame parsonage was built that summer (since demolished). Consequently, Reverend Gibson went to England to seek assistance from the parish of St. Ambrose, Bournemouth, where his father was the parish priest. He successfully raised $6,200 for the project and returned to Redcliff in the spring of 1914.

A wood frame chapel, intended to also serve as a parish hall, was immediately erected at the back of the lot and a first service was held at the beginning of May.

Local architects Bourne and Morrison were commissioned to design a church to seat 350 people but this must have been scaled back as capacity is 110 today.

There was also discussion of a bell tower but this was abandoned due to cost.

During the Victorian era, Gothic Revival became the preferred style for ecclesiastical architecture in England and St. Ambrose is patterned on typical rural village church. It features a steeply sloping gable roof, buttresses and Gothic arch windows and a rose window. Inside, the ceiling is supported by exposed wooden beams.

W. Wolfe Construction Company of Redcliff began work on St. Ambrose in July 1914. Seventy thousand clinker bricks for facing and common bricks for the inside walls were purchased for $7/thousand from Redcliff Clay Products (later Premier Brick). Clinker bricks were an accident: over-fired and fused together, they were required to be broken apart with a sledge hammer. Usually considered undesirable, their irregular and dark burnt appearance found favour with architects. On December 13, 1914, St. Ambrose Church was consecrated by Bishop Lord of Qu’Appelle although pews were not installed until April 1915. A few months later, the tornado that devastated Redcliff just missed the church.

In 1919, the Vestry proposed that a scroll be displayed with names of the men who went to war, which is still located on the north interior wall. During the Depression, the Vicar pleaded for the congregation to fund a new furnace and to have electricity installed but the church is mostly as originally built. Recent renovations include new cedar shingles and a rebuilt chimney.

The church was dedicated to St. Ambrose, the Saint of the Parish Church in Bournemouth whose generous gifts made the church in Redcliff possible. St. Ambrose Anglican Church was designated a Provincial Historic Resource on October 15, 2008.

Malcolm Sissons is a former member of the Heritage Resources Committee of the City of Medicine Hat. Research for this article was provided by Cliff Dacre.

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