Rendering of All Saint's Church by Thomas Fuller, circa 1865
Construction began on the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, All Saints Westboro in 1865.
It has been used for meditation, prayer and worship ever since.
Westboro Village was then in Nepean, Ontario along the bank of the Ottawa River where
a number of sawmills once stood. The Chapel was built as a church for this community and marks in
the floor were reported to have been made by the hobnails of the lumberjacks.
The design in the Gothic Revival style, was by Thomas Fuller who also designed the Parliament
Buildings in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and other churches in this region. His pictorial
rendering of the stone building shows a small belfry in a spire which does not exist and a
wooden framed entrance porch which is actually built of stone. The construction took some time
as funds were short.
The inner doors of the entrance are finished in grained paintwork which is believed to be original.
The double diagonal design of the planking of the inner and outer doors and the vestry door
forms a pattern reminiscent of the exposed roof joists and the window arches. The outer doors were restored
in 1998.
The stained glass windows are relatively new and dedications and dates can be seen in them. When visiting
the Chapel, please note the dove and Holy Spirit in the west wall.
Photo above is of the church, circa approximately 1921.
With the growth of the congregation, a larger worship space was needed and the adjoining larger church was
constructed in the period 1952 to 1954. The larger church and the parish hall are contiguous with two
walls of the chapel so that the windows on the north and east are no longer on exterior walls.
In 1998 the parish of All Saints, as part of its renewed vision as a "Christian Community in Action"
committed significant resources to making the Chapel of the Holy Spirit available to the community at large
as a place of renewal and spiritual nurture. A variety of programs, concerts and special liturgies are
offered. As well, the chapel is open from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm weekdays, and for daily prayers at
10:00 am Tuesdays. Evening prayer is Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 4:30 pm. On Thursday evenings
the chapel is open for Christian Meditation with teaching tapes by John Main or Laurence Freeman.
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