Description of Historic Place
Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, erected in 1933, is a wood-frame building in a mixed residential, commercial and agricultural area on the northeastern edge of Tyndall. The municipal designation applies to the church and its lot.
The compact, seven-domed Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church recalls the richness and depth of religious traditions brought to the Brokenhead area by Ukrainian pioneers in the early 1900s. Restrained yet symbolic in its form and detail, outside and within, the building is a fine representation of a village church based on Ukrainian architectural traditions adapted to the conditions and materials found in Manitoba. Erected by Anton Prychun, a local builder who constructed several churches in Western Canada and Ontario, this facility, now used for special services, is the only church still functioning in Tyndall, which once had six churches.
Source: Rural Municipality of Brokenhead By-law No. 2082-09, June 9, 2009
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church site include:
- its location in Tyndall, with the building removed from the street within a large grassed and partially fenced plot with mature trees
- the structure's traditional orientation, with the apse containing the sanctuary and altar at the east end and a west-facing main entrance
Key exterior elements that define the church's restrained Ukrainian Orthodox style include:
- the tall, narrow, cruciform massing, including shallow transepts, a short apse and a small vestry
- the complex cross-gable roofline defined by a large central octagonal dome, metal-clad and on a wooden drum, with an onion-shaped cupola and cross, and by six smaller, symbolically distributed banyas (onion domes), also metal-clad and with Orthodox crosses, octagonal drums trimmed with inset panels and scrollwork, etc.
- the symmetrical, twin-towered front, including the entrance of panelled wood framed by a round-arched architrave with a sunburst tympanum, a modest staircase, inset tower panels, etc.
- the orderly fenestration, including round-arched openings in plain surrounds on all elevations and in the central dome
Key heritage elements that define the church's symbolically appointed interior include:
- the compact layout of an open narthex and nave, a slightly narrower sanctuary, the vestry to one side and small west-end loft
- the large, well-lit dome on pendentives, integrated with the openings of the sanctuary and transepts
- the religious iconography and delicate folk motifs painted on ceilings, walls and trim throughout
- the modest finishes and features, including the narrow, painted, horizontal and vertical board panelling on ceilings, walls and wainscotting, the wood trim plainly painted or with faux finishes, etc.