Visiting St. Timothy's Anglican Church, Agincourt, Toronto, Ontario: A Stongly Gothic, Early 20th Century Building

[NB: Among the many notable buildings which are the subject of the hubpages, these may include religious buildings, described as churches, etc.; these descriptions centre on the buildings' architectural and historical interest.]

St. Timothy's Anglican Church commemorated its 100 years in 2011 (1). Originally an Anglican mission, the congregation has met in this early 20th century structure in strongly Gothic lines since the early 20th century, and thus the building as such might be presumed to be one of the last 'traditional' Gothic designs to be built in the area, before more 'functional' designs came into vogue (2).

This, however, is not the case. For example, many decades later, Malvern's Anglican Church of the Nativity, dating from the beginning of the 21st century, exhibits a strongly traditional, Gothic style also.

Thus at St. Timothy's, Agincourt, features on display include several pointed window arches and a pointed, arched main entrance (3), and various flying buttresses: all indicative of Gothic influence, derived from the study of Medieval ecclesiastical buildings.

One typically Gothic feature: pinnacles, is not present here at St. Timothy's. While pinnacles were very common in both Medieval and 19th century Gothic Revival ecclesiastical structures, yet not unusually for an early 20th century Gothic building, St. Timonthy's simple, clean lines — executed in red brick — exclude the more ornate pinnacle embellishment.

The crowning feature of St. Timothy's Church, Agincourt, is arguably its tower, which — given the proximity of a road underpass close to the building (4) — is thus accentuated. As such, the square, Gothic tower resembles that of many similar Anglican parish church buildings in England.

St. Timothy's Anglican Church, Agincourt is situated at 4125 Sheppard Avenue East, Sacrborough, Toronto, Ontario.

August 20, 2019

Notes

(1) See also: https://www.anglicanjournal.com/letters-9496/

(2) It is thus interesting that Gothic style should have survived into the 20th century and beyond in church buildings, when cultural notions of relativism and functionalism have been asserted in other spheres. Perhaps Gothic style represents some lingering craving for order and tradition (while many look to Scripture rather than to artistic and architectural form) that cultural thinkers regarded as 'experts' in other areas have been so at pains to throw off?

(3) The pointed character of the tower window and entrance arches are, however, less pronounced than the arching at other windows on the building.

(4) In recent years, work on the nearby Sheppard Avenue East underpass has allegedly given rise to structural issues at St. Timothy's Church, with transportation and city authorities and the building's insurers each declining to take responsibility for cracks which appeared in its north wall. See also: https://www.toronto.com/news-story/1492365-sheppard-avenue-underpass-takes-toll-on-st-timothy-s-church/ In addition, the presence of the underpass has caused the building, situated at the junction of Lamont Street with Sheppard Avenue, to be in practical terms less accessible.

In Toronto itself, other historic church buildings include the Metropolitan United Church, St James's and St. Michael's Cathedrals; a very few of other noted buildings include: the Ontario Legislative Assembly Building, Queen's Park, Old City Hall, Osgoode Hall, Campbell House, Old Fort York.

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How to get there: Air Canada, flies to Toronto Pearson Airport, with wide North American and other connections, from where car rental is available. However, visitors to Downtown Toronto will find many sights to be easily walkable. TTC bus route 85 passes close to St. Timothy's Church, Agincourt. Some facilities may be withdrawn without notice. Please check with the airline or your travel agent for up to date information. For any special border crossing arrangements which may apply to citizens of certain nationalities, please refer to appropriate consular sources.

MJFenn is an independent travel writer based in Ontario, Canada.