St. Mary's Anglican Church - Virden, Manitoba - (204) 748-1379

Welcome to the page for all of our Church Family and friends. This page has been created to give our parish another way of communication with each other, the community and beyond. Our mission is: "To know Christ and to make Him known"

Watch us live: http://stmary.webhop.org/

The Anglican Church first became active in Virden in 1882. At that time services were held in the home of one of the parishioners. In August of 1885, the Canadian North West Land Company gave the Anglican community a parcel of land at the corner of Ninth Avenue and Queen Street. In December of 1885, a wood frame Church was constructed on the property. The parish of St. Mary the Virgin was officially created on April 20, 1886

The original church remained on the site until 1891, at which time it was sold and removed. The present church was then constructed on the site using field stones from the Assiniboine River valley. The stones were hauled to the site, split and put in position.. Construction began in 1892, with the corner stone being laid by Mrs. Nina Gertrude Watts, wife of the rector. A tin box containing newspapers, building plans and other items was also placed in the foundation at that time.

It is believed that the building's architect, Walter Chesterson of Winnipeg, designed St. Mary's from a small church located on the Isle of Wight.. The resulting structure is a basilica styled Church with a large stone tower at the south east corner, numerous stained glass windows and beautiful woodwork throughout.

It took some years to completely pay off the debt incurred in building, but the congregation persisted and as a result, the church was consecrated in 1905 by the Archbishop of Rupert's Land, the Right Reverend Samuel Prichard Matheson.

Since then, there have been additions built onto the original building, but during each expansion, great care was taken to preserve the look and feel of the original building. Included in these expansions were a fieldstone fence, the addition of a clostier and a entension of the roof to protect the sidewalk. The last major work done was upgrading the foundation under the tower. This was finished in the late 1970's.

Of course a parish is far more than it's building and St. Mary's is no exception. For over one hundred and twenty five years, the congregation has served the needs of the community and continues to do so today. We encourage you to come see us anytime for a tour of the grounds but we would especially like to invite you to worship with us on Sundays, and experience all that St. Mary's has to offer.

God bless and we hope to see you soon!