Designation Under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act -
106 Trinity Street (Enoch Turner Schoolhouse)
(Don River)
The Toronto Community Council recommends the adoption of the following
report (December 16, 1999) from the Managing Director, Toronto Historical
Board:
Purpose:
This report recommends that the property at 106 Trinity Street (Enoch
Turner Schoolhouse) be designated under Part IV of the Ontario
Heritage Act.
Financial Implications and Impact Statement:
None.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1) City Council designate the property at 106 Trinity Street (Enoch
Turner Schoolhouse) under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.
(2) the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the
necessary action to give effect thereto.
Background:
At its meeting of December 8, 1999, the Board of Heritage Toronto had
before it the attached report and adopted the recommendations listed
above.
In a letter dated November 26, 1999, the Executive Office for the Board of Directors of the
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation requested that the property at 106 Trinity Street be
designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The designation of the property will
assist the Foundation in their fundraising efforts to help restore Enoch Turner Schoolhouse.
The property was included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties on June 20,
1973.
Comments:
Short Statement of Reasons for Designation:
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
106 Trinity Street
The property at 106 Trinity Street is recommended for designation for
architectural and historical reasons. In 1848, Enoch Turner
Schoolhouse was completed as the first free school in the City of
Toronto, providing accommodation for over 200 pupils. Enoch Turner,
a wealthy brewer, financed the construction of the school to educate the
children of the poor Irish Protestant immigrants in the Corktown
neighbourhood. The plans might be attributed to architect Henry
Bowyer Lane who designed the adjacent Little Trinity Church in 1845.
The complementary west wing was completed in 1869 according to the
plans of Toronto architects Gundry and Langley. In 1910, the south
addition was built.
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is designed in the Early Gothic Revival Style
and displays a church-like appearance. The 1848 schoolhouse features
a 1-&-1/2-storey rectangular plan beneath a gable roof with a brick
parapet on the east face. The building is constructed of red brick with
patterned buff brick, stone and wood detailing. On the principal (east)
façade, a gable-roofed porch contains a pointed-arch entrance with a
stone surround, a board-and-batten door, and a carved wood transom.
The entry is flanked and surmounted by lancet windows with stone hood
moulds and lug sills. A stone plaque reading "SCHOOL HOUSE
ERECTED BY ENOCH TURNER, A.D. 1848" is placed above the entrance.
On the five-bay north wall, piers organize tall lancet windows on either
side of a segmental-arched door opening with brick voussoirs and
paired board-and-batten doors. The 1-&-1/2-storey west wing features
a hip roof with cross-gables, lancet windows, and segmental-arched
door openings. The single-storey flat-roofed south addition
complements the main building with its cladding and fenestration. The
exposed truss roof in the west wing is an important interior feature.
The property at 106 Trinity Street is located on the west side of Trinity
Street, south of King Street West. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an
important early example of Gothic Revival design in Toronto. The
school complex and the adjacent Little Trinity Church and Rectory form
an important institutional enclave at the southwest corner of King and
Trinity Streets. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an historical and
architectural landmark in the Corktown neighbourhood and in the City
of Toronto.
Conclusions:
Heritage Toronto recommends that City Council designate the property
at 106 Trinity Street (Enoch Turner Schoolhouse) under Part IV of the
Ontario Heritage Act.
Contact:
Kathryn Anderson
Preservation Officer, History
Heritage Toronto
Telephone: 392-6827 ext. 239; Fax: 392-6834
E-mail: KathrynHAnderson@toronto.city.on.ca
_________
(Communication (December 2, 1999) from
the Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board)
Recommendation
1. That City Council state its intention to designate the property at 106 Trinity Street (Enoch
Turner Schoolhouse) pursuant to Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act to be of architectural
and historical value.
2. That the appropriate officials be authorized to take whatever action is necessary to give
effect hereto.
Comments
1. Background:
In a letter dated November 26, 1999, the Executive Officer for the Board of Directors of the
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation requested that the property at 106 Trinity Street be
designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The designation of the property will
assist the Foundation with their fundraising efforts to help restore the Enoch Turner
Schoolhouse. The property was included on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage
Properties on June 20, 1973.
A Short Statement of Reasons for Designation, intended for publication, follows. A Heritage
Property Report (Long Statement of Reasons for Designation), including visuals, is attached.
Both documents constitute the Reasons for Designation.
2. Short Statement of Reasons for Designation:
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
106 Trinity Street
The property at 106 Trinity Street is recommended for designation for architectural and
historical reasons. In 1848, Enoch Turner Schoolhouse was completed as the first free school
in the City of Toronto, providing accommodation for over 200 pupils. Enoch Turner, a
wealthy brewer, financed the construction of the school to educate the children of the poor
Irish Protestant immigrants in the Corktown neighbourhood. The plans might be attributed
to architect Henry Bowyer Lane who designed the adjacent Little Trinity Church in 1845. The
complementary west wing was completed in 1869 according to the plans of Toronto architects
Gundry and Langley. In 1910, the south addition was built.
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is designed in the Early Gothic Revival Style and displays a
church-like appearance. The 1848 schoolhouse features a 1-&-1/2-storey rectangular plan
beneath a gable roof with a brick parapet on the east face. The building is constructed of red
brick with patterned buff brick, stone and wood detailing. On the principal (east) façade, a
gable-roofed porch contains a pointed-arch entrance with a stone surround, a board-and-batten door, and a carved wood transom. The entry is flanked and surmounted by lancet
windows with stone hood moulds and lug sills. A stone plaque reading "SCHOOL HOUSE
ERECTED BY ENOCH TURNER, A.D. 1848" is placed above the entrance. On the five-bay
north wall, piers organize tall lancet windows on either side of a segmental-arched door
opening with brick voussoirs and paired board-and-batten doors. The 1-&-1/2-storey west
wing features a hip roof with cross-gables, lancet windows, and segmental-arched door
openings. The single-storey flat-roofed south addition complements the main building with
its cladding and fenestration. The exposed truss roof in the west wing is an important interior
feature.
The property at 106 Trinity Street is located on the west side of Trinity Street, south of King
Street West. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an important early example of Gothic Revival
design in Toronto. The school complex and the adjacent Little Trinity Church and Rectory
form an important institutional enclave at the southwest corner of King and Trinity Streets.
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an historical and architectural landmark in the Corktown
neighbourhood and in the City of Toronto.
_________
(Heritage Property Report - 106 Trinity Street: Enoch Turner Schoolhouse)
This report comprises the "Long Statement of Reasons for Designation" under Part IV of the
Ontario Heritage Act for the property at 106 Trinity Street (Enoch Turner Schoolhouse). It
contains Basic Building Data, as well as sections on Historical Development, Architectural
Description, Context, Summary and Sources. Location Map and Photographs are included,
and the "Short Statement of Reasons for Designation" (intended for publication) is appended.
Basic Building Data:
Address: 106 Trinity Street (west side of Trinity Street, south of King Street
West)
Ward: 25 (Don River)
Current Name: Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
Historical Name: Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
Construction Date: 1848
Architect: Henry Bowyer Lane (possible attribution)
Contractor/Builder: none
Additions/Alterations: 1969, west wing, Gundry and Langley;
1910, addition; 1971-1972: restoration project
Original Owner: Enoch Turner, brewer
Original Use: educational (private school)
Current Use*: institutional (museum); * this does not refer to permitted
use(s) as defined in the Zoning By-law
Heritage Category: Landmark Heritage Property (Category A)
Recording Date and Recorder: November 1999/KA
Historical Background:
Corktown:
In 1793, with the establishment of the Town of York as the capital of the Province of Upper
Canada, a ten-block townsite was laid out between present day George, Front, Berkeley and
Adelaide Streets. East of the town, the area near the Don River was set aside for government
uses. The First and Second Parliament Buildings were built in 1793 and 1814, respectively,
near the southeast corner of present day Front and Parliament Streets. Further east, the
Crown reserved the open space as King's Park until 1819. The southern portion was
subdivided for residential streets by 1830. Industrial uses followed, with the establishment of
a flourmill at the foot of present day Trinity Street by brothers-in-law William Gooderham
and James Worts in 1837. The company evolved into a major distillery operation. The
Dominion Brewery on Queen Street East was another important employer in the area. The
intervening streets were filled with workers' housing, occupied mostly by poor Irish
immigrants. As a result, the area was unofficially named "Corktown".
Roman Catholics worshipped at the first St. Paul's Church (completed in 1826) at Queen and
Power streets. The closest Protestant church was St. James' Cathedral where parishioners
were required to pay for their pews and to educate their children. At a demonstration held
at City Hall in July 1842, Irish Protestants demanded an Anglican church and school for the
east end of the community. Their supporters included Bishop John Strachan, the Gooderham
family, and a local brewer named Enoch Turner. While the school was not funded, Bishop
Strachan and Sir John Beverley Robinson donated land for the church. The Church of Holy
Trinity in the Park opened at King and Trinity Streets on February 14, 1843. It was known
as "the Poor Man's Church" before being renamed Little Trinity Church (to distinguish it
from Holy Trinity in Trinity Square).
Enoch Turner (1792-1866) was a native of Staffordshire where his family was involved in the
local pottery industry. He immigrated to Toronto in the early 19th century, founding a
brewery on the creek near Front and Parliament Streets. As a successful businessman, Turner
turned his attention to funding worthy causes associated with his Anglican faith. In 1849, he
contributed generously to an endowment fund establishing the University of Toronto as a non-denominational institution. Turner resided near his brewery until 1856 when he moved to
Sherbourne Street, north of Dundas Street. His residence, named "Allandale" after local land
owner William Allan, is now part of the Sherbourne Lanes housing complex at 241-285
Sherbourne. The property is identified on the City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties.
Turner remained active in the Corktown community, serving as a warden at Little Trinity
Church. Although he married twice, Turner remained childless. According to historical
descriptions, "in a period of grinding poverty he was regarded as a generous and
compassionate man who loved children and animals. At the end of a hard day it is said that
he would feed his horses beer" (Reed Scrapbooks).
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse:
Common schools were established in the Province of Upper Canada (later Ontario) in 1816.
Partially funded by government grants, the balance of their operating expenses was raised by
students' fees. By the mid 19th century, there were 15 common schools in Toronto whose
operation was overseen by a special committee of City Council. The Province introduced the
Common School Act of 1847, permitting municipalities to raise funds for public education
through taxation. Despite the support of the Board of School Trustees, city aldermen were
reluctant to impose property taxes for education. All schools that enjoyed public support
closed for one year. This provoked Enoch Turner into funding the first free school in Toronto.
It was designed to educate the children that populated the neighbourhood adjoining his
brewery. Little Trinity Church donated the land for the project. The school opened in 1848
with space for 240 pupils. It was known locally as the Ward School and used, in part, by Little
Trinity as a Sunday School. William Honeywood Ripley, Little Trinity's first minister,
supervised the students. A Latin Master at Upper Canada College, Ripley offered his services
free to the parish and school until his death from cholera in 1849.
Enoch Turner financed the school for three years. Beginning in 1850, citizens elected school
trustees who were responsible for educational funding. Public education began in Toronto
in 1851. The Toronto Board of Education rented the Ward School, which was renamed
Trinity Street School. In 1859, Palace Street School opened at Front and Cherry Streets (it
is listed on the Inventory of Heritage Properties). Trinity Street School was returned to Little
Trinity Church. In 1869, the Toronto architectural firm of Gundry and Langley designed a
west wing for a Sunday School. The schoolhouse was used as a local recruiting centre during
the Boer War and World Wars I and II. In the 1930s, a large-scale soup kitchen operated on
the premises for the duration of the Great Depression.
In 1970, the property was in deteriorated condition and threatened with demolition. Little
Trinity Church donated the property to the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation. A
fundraising campaign supported by the Premier of Ontario and the Mayor of Toronto raised
$250,000 toward the restoration of the building. The project involved restoring the brick,
windows and finials, stabilizing the foundations, replicating the window sash and doors, and
altering the interior. The work was completed in 1972 under the supervision of Toronto
architect and preservationist Eric Arthur. The Foundation offers "living history" classes in
the schoolroom where elementary students experience the educational practices of the mid
1800s. The west wing is used for a variety of activities. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse has been
in continuous operation for more than 150 years as a school, Sunday School and parish hall,
centre for social services, community meeting place, and cultural venue. With Little Trinity
Church and Rectory, Enoch Turner Schoolhouse was among the first sites included on the City
of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties in 1973.
Architecture:
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is designed in the Early Gothic Revival style where features
associated with medieval architecture were applied to balanced Classical designs. This
simplicity and lack of asymmetry distinguishes the early phase of the style from later Gothic
Revival designs. It is speculated that Enoch Turner Schoolhouse was designed, but not built
at the same time as Little Trinity Church, thereby explaining its church-like appearance.
Architect Henry Bowyer Lane was well-versed in Gothic design, employing the style for Little
Trinity Church and its successors: St. George the Martyr Church on John Street (where only
the tower survives) and Holy Trinity Church in Trinity Square. The latter properties are listed
on the Inventory of Heritage Properties.
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse features a long and narrow rectangular plan that rises 1-&-1/2
stories beneath a gable roof with a brick parapet on the east face. The chimneys are missing.
The structure is clad with red brick and trimmed with contrasting buff brick, stone and wood.
The principal (east) façade on Trinity Street is symmetrically organized with a narrow three-bay façade. A brick frieze runs above the first-floor openings and continues across the north
wall. The main entrance is placed in a shallow brick porch with a gable roof. The stone
surround incorporates a pointed-arch opening with voussoirs, a board-and-batten door and
a wood transom carved in a trefoil pattern. The entrance is flanked by single lancet windows
with pointed hood moulds and lug sills. A nameplate reading "SCHOOL HOUSE ERECTED
BY ENOCH TURNER, A.D. 1848" is placed above the entrance. The half-storey contains a
diminutive lancet window with stone trim.
The north wall is organized into five bays by pilasters. In the centre, a segmental-arched
opening with brick voussoirs contains a pair of board-and-batten doors. Historical
photographs indicate that a shallow porch with a gable roof originally protected the door
opening. On either side, the bays display tall lancet windows. The south wall was removed
for the 1910 addition, and the rear (west) wall was concealed and altered when the west wing
was added.
The west wing complements the schoolhouse with its height, brick cladding and stone detailing.
Featuring a square plan, the wing is wider than the schoolhouse at the north end. The wing
is covered by a hip roof with cross-gables. A cupola with a steeple and finial was removed
from the centre of the roof; its base remains. Beneath the gables on the north, west and south
walls, trios of lancet windows display varied heights. A door opening (on the north wall it is
segmental-headed) and a single lancet window flank the central window grouping. The
window openings have sandstone sills. A single-storey flat-roofed addition along the south side
of the original schoolhouse has similar cladding, fenestration and details.
On the interior, the exposed truss roof in the west wing is identified as an important feature.
Context:
The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is located on the west side of Trinity Street, south of King
Street East. It is positioned behind Little Trinity Church and Rectory, forming an institutional
enclave at the southwest corner of King and Trinity Streets. The site includes a
commemorative plaque installed by the provincial government.
To the west, house form buildings at 399-403 King Street near Parliament Street are surviving
examples of mid-19th century housing that are identified on the Inventory of Heritage
Properties. At the south end of Trinity Street, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery is a
National Historic Site that is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Summary:
The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is the oldest free school in Toronto. The building has been
used continuously by the community since its opening in 1848. It is an early example of Gothic
Revival styling in the city, possibly attributed to the important 19th century architect, Henry
Bowyer Lane. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an historical and architectural landmark in the
Corktown neighbourhood and in the City of Toronto.
Sources:
Arthur, Eric. Toronto. No Mean City. 3rd ed. Rev. by Stephen A. Otto. Toronto: University
of Toronto, 1986.
Dendy, William, and William Kilbourn. Toronto Observed. Toronto: Oxford University,
1986.
"Enoch Turner Schoolhouse". Reed Scrapbooks, Baldwin Room, Toronto Reference Library.
Gowans, Alan. Styles and Types of North American Architecture. New York: Harper Collins
Publishers, 1992.
Jones, Donald. "Toronto brewer built little red schoolhouse". Toronto Star (1 September
1979).
McHugh, Patricia. Toronto Architecture. A City Guide. 2nd ed. Toronto: McClelland and
Stewart, 1989.
Pope, John. "The Enoch Turner School, 1848". York Pioneer (1971) 19-31.
Robertson's Landmarks of Toronto. Vol. 3. Republished from the Toronto "Evening
Telegram." Toronto: J. Ross Robertson, 1898.
Scadding, Henry. Toronto of Old. (1873) Ed. by F. H. Armstrong. Toronto: Oxford
University Press, 1966.
Scheinman, Andre, "The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse: Conservation Report". December 10,
1997.
_________
(Attachment I: "Short Statement of Reasons for Designation")
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
106 Trinity Street
The property at 106 Trinity Street is designated for architectural and historical reasons. In
1848, the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse was completed as the first free school in the City of
Toronto, providing accommodation for over 200 pupils. Enoch Turner, a wealthy brewer,
financed the construction of the school to educate the children of the poor Irish Protestant
immigrants in the Corktown neighbourhood. The plans might be attributed to architect
Henry Bowyer Lane who designed the adjacent Little Trinity Church in 1845. The
complementary west wing was completed in 1869 according to the plans of Toronto architects
Gundry and Langley. In 1910, the south addition was built.
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is designed in the Early Gothic Revival Style and displays a
church-like appearance. The 1848 schoolhouse features a 1-&-1/2-storey rectangular plan
beneath a gable roof with a brick parapet on the east face. The building is constructed of red
brick with patterned buff brick, stone and wood detailing. On the principal (east) façade, a
gable-roofed porch contains a pointed-arch entrance with a stone surround, a board-and-batten door, and a carved wood transom. The entry is flanked and surmounted by lancet
windows with stone hood moulds and lug sills. A stone plaque reading "SCHOOL HOUSE
ERECTED BY ENOCH TURNER, A.D. 1848" is placed above the entrance. On the five-bay
north wall, piers organize tall lancet windows on either side of a segmental-arched door
opening with brick voussoirs and paired board-and-batten doors. The 1-&-1/2-storey west
wing features a hip roof with cross-gables, lancet windows and segmental-arched door
openings. The single-storey flat-roofed south addition complements the main building with
its cladding and fenestration. The exposed truss roof in the west wing is an important interior
feature.
The property at 106 Trinity Street is located on the west side of Trinity Street, south of King
Street West. Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an important early example of Gothic Revival
design in Toronto. The school complex and the adjacent Little Trinity Church and Rectory
form an important institutional enclave at the southwest corner of King and Trinity Streets.
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is an historical and architectural landmark in the Corktown
neighbourhood and in the City of Toronto.
Map 1
Map 2
Map 3