The Interior of St. Barts
On entering the porch the visitor passes under the belfrey contained in the gable above. Here are hung the three bells which were cast at the Meneely foundry in Troy, New York, and presented by Princess Louise in 1880. They are rung before all the services of the church: at the Eucharist a saering bell is rung at the Sanctus to announce to the neighbourhood that the most solemn part of the service has begun; and bells are rung again at the end of the service.
The interior of the porch of 1985 is enhanced by a stone floor and oak doors and wainscot. A specific memorial to Mrs. Brodribb is supplied by the four windows. These were made by Christopher Wallis of London, Ontario, a leading contemporary stained-glass artist who is represented in Ottawa by the centennial window in the Cathedral. Of the two larger windows, that in the west wall shows the Virgin sheltering a group of children, a subject referring to women’s work in the Church and particularly to the donor's concern for the Sunday School. The east window represents the patron of the parish, St. Bartholomew the Apostle, holding in his right hand the symbol of his martyrdom and supporting on his left arm the church as built in 1868. The two smaller windows flanking the outside door are filled with heraldic glass denoting the places and dioceses in the United States where the donor spent her life.
The interior of the porch showing the stained glass window of St. Bartholomew, one of the smaller stained glasss windows as well one of the bell ropes.
Once inside the church, the visitor has a general view of a rectangular room with brick walls painted white and a timber roof of double-sloped framing, Both roof and benches (the latter made by an early parishioner Henry Avery) are of stained white pine from the Ottawa valley. At the east end there is no chancel but only a broad sanctuary dominated by the altar. In accordance with the arrangement, of ancient parish churches in England, organ and choir are placed at the west end. From this arrangement it is evident that the church was designed for liturgical worship according to the principles of the Tractarian movement in nineteenth century England.
View towards the east end of the church, with the font in the foreground
On the side walls, at the springing of the roof, is a series of the heraldic shields of all the governors general of Canada since Confederation; these were given by K.H. Harris and his wife and were painted for the most part by the heraldic expert Alan Beddoe. They run consecutively from the south-east corner of the church to the north-east. Below them are numerous memorial tablets.
Some of the heraldic shields of former Governors General
Walking towards the altar, and looking to the wall on the left, the visitor will see the parish’s First World War memorial tablet; the memorial to Jules Leger (died 1980) which is an enlargement carved in wood by Art Price of the Governor General’s medal designed by Alex Colville - on which the owl of Wisdom shelters under its wings the crown and maple-leaf.
The Leger memorial plaque
On this wall too are a pretty window of the Resurrection in late Victorian style commemorating Canon Hanington’s son drowned at sea in 1913; the pulpit of 1952 honouring Archdeacon Netten; a tablet to Lady Patricia Ramsay (the former Princess Patricia of Connaught) dedicated by the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in 1982; and finally a tablet to the members of the Duke of Connaught’s Household who fell in the First World War. The first pew on this side was marked with the badge of the Governor General’s Foot Guards in 1973, when St. Bartholomew’s became the Guards’ chapel. Two sets of the Guards’ colours are laid up in the church.
The Ressurection Window
In the east wall is the church’s chief glory, the large Memorial "Warrior Saints" window of 1918, given by the Duke of Connaught in memory of the officers listed on the tablet. (For more information see: East Memorial Window)
The Memorial Window
The carved oak altar is covered, except in penitential seasons, either with an all-seasons tapestry frontal (Wippel- Mowbray 1979) and superfrontals** in the colours of the seasons, or on great festivals with a best white frontal commemorating Mrs.Sherman Dawson. On the altar stand the two brass eucharistic candlesticks and, behind the altar, the cross with rays of glory, all three of which items as well as a pair of vases having been given in 1913 by the Duchess of Connaught. This she did in an effort to relieve the bareness of the church which, as she wrote in her diary for 1912, had ‘no decoration whatsoever, no altar cloth, no candles, no flowers’. The brass missal stand and the credence table, along with another pair of vases, were gifts from Lady Dufferin. The large candlesticks on the window-sill (the only ones lit for the Offices of Mattins and Evensong) were the gift of Mrs. C.D. Howe.
The Altar, Memorial Window, some of the regimental colours, with the Eagle Lectern in the foreground.
The wainscot in the sanctuary is a memorial to Canon Hanington and dates from 1953. The sanctuary lamp hanging the roof is a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Edward Reid; the smaller one over the credence table was until recently in chapel of Rideau Hall.
The brass altar rail (1872) was acquired from the Cathedral through a gift from Miss Phoebe Read at the time of the construction of a new choir at the Cathedral in 1932. The brass eagle lectern is a memorial to three parishioners killed at Paardeburg in 1900 during the South African War. There are two processional crosses: a larger one of brass and a smaller one of wood for children's processions given by Vincent Massey. The seven-branch candelabra, used on great festivals, is a memorial to Mrs. George Avery. The Sunday School banner of St. Bartholomew was given by the Mothers’ Union; a drawing for it hangs in the corridor.
The view towards the west end of the church
Turning to the south wall, the visitor will see over the vestry door a larger shield of the arms of the Earl of Athlone, presented by his wife Princess Alice. The first pew on this side, marked with the Royal arms, has been from the beginning the viceregal pew, occupied by members of the Royal Family and all governors general. It is furnished with five Victorian chairs matching the one in the sanctuary - all of them having probably been sent from Rideau Hall in the early days. The second pew, traditionally that of the Governor General’s Household, is also marked with the badge of the Princess Patricia’s Light Infantry. Along this same wall, among other memorials, are tablets to the Duchess of Connaught and her grandson Alastair, second Duke of Connaught (died 1943 at Rideau Hall): the Earl of Athlone and Princess Alice; The Earl Alexander of Tunis; General Georges- Philias Vanier; Lord and Lady Dufferin; Lord Bessborough and his son George Ponsonby; and Lord and Lady Tweedsmuir.
The window in the south wall is a quaint Victorian one of 1886 to the memory of William Brough Osgood killed at Cut Knife Creek during the second Riel Rebellion. On the door jamb is the weathered fragment of a medieval stone crocket removed from one of the towers of York Minster during a restoration and given by Canon Hanington in 1904.
The South Window
On the west wall behind a wood screen is the organ. It was originally built in 1894 by the pioneer Montreal firm of Samuel R. Warren and placed in the temporary chapel beside Rideau Hall erected by Lord and Lady Aberdeen. When this building was removed in 1911 the organ was stored for two years until the Duchess of Connaught obtained the Aberdeen's permission to install it in the church. Originally built with mechanical action, it was rebuilt in 1955 with electro - pneumatic action as a Second World War memorial. It was again rebuilt in 1977 by Casavant Freres with additional pipework and a new console. Above the organ is the circular O'Connor memorial window. Its tracery, forming a double triangle, is filled with modern glass depicting the Virgin and Child.
The O'Connor Memorial Window
On the north wall behind the choir stalls is the St. Luke window of 1966 by Rosemary Kilbourn; it is a memorial to Dr. Robert Elmer Wodehouse, army medical officer and church warden. Also behind the choir stalls is the Women’s Auxiliary banner showing the arms of the diocese of Ottawa; when the W.A. was absorbed into the Anglican Church Women it was presented to St. Bartholomew's by Mrs. H.A. Hart, daughter of Mrs. Blair Rogers who made it. Near it is the funeral hatchment of the heraldic expert and artist Alan Beddoe (died 1975).
Detail of the St. Luke Window
In the middle of the aisle is the stone font, a memorial to Christina Checkley, an early parishioner. The brass alms basins are memorials to the Dawson family. On the bench - ends opposite the door are the brass - headed churchwardens’ wands for use on ceremonial occasions.
The Coat of Arms of St. Barts
Part 1: The History of St Barts
Part 2: The Church Exterior