St. Raphael's church was constructed by Scottish
pioneers between 1815 and 1821. It was built with Glengarry limestone
and had a timber roof supported entirely on the massive stone masonry
perimeter walls. Typically, the walls were built in two-wythe masonry
construction with rubble infill. The exterior wythe consists of
ashlar masonry using regular dressed stones while the interior wythe
was built in roughly squared coursed rubble masonry. The interior
was originally covered with painted lime plaster. The church was
built without any columns and therefore provided an unobstructed
view for 1000 people.
In the fall of 1970, fire destroyed the church interior
and roof structure, leaving only the massive stone masonry walls.
Initial stabilization measures were carried out
in 1973 and 1986. However, it became evident over the years that
more significant intervention was required to preserve this landmark.
In
1999, the Friends of the Ruins of St. Raphael successfully raised
sufficient funds to complete Phase 3 of the stabilization efforts.
This work included:
structural stabilization of the gable walls using
vertical prestressing rods
pointing of all interior wall surfaces
capping of window sills and interior foundation walls.
Phase 4, which was completed in 2006, consisted of the repair and pointing of the exterior wall surfaces.
In all, nearly $ 1,000,000 was spent over the years on the preservation of this notable heritage landmark.
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St.
Raphael Ruins, St. Raphael, Ontario
