December 16, 1999
To: Toronto Community Council
From: George E. Waters, Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board
Subject: 106 Trinity Street (Enoch Turner Schoolhouse) - Designation Under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act
Don River
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
Richard L. Stromberg
Manager, Historical Preservation
Heritage Toronto
(g:\report\2000\cc2000\cc003-2000)
List of Attachments:
Report, Managing Director, Heritage Toronto, December 2, 1999 (thb99056.hpd)
Heritage Property Report: Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
HERITAGE TORONTO
December 2, 1999
To: Chair and Members, Toronto Historical Board
Subject: 106 TRINITY STREET (ENOCH TURNER SCHOOLHOUSE) -
DESIGNATION UNDER PART IV OF THE ONTARIO HERITAGE
ACT
From: Managing Director, Toronto Historical Board (thb99056.hpd)
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.
George Waters
Acting Managing Director
RS/KA
encl. Heritage Property Report
HERITAGE 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
Heritage Property Report
Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
106 Trinity Street
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.
Kathryn Anderson
December 1999
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.
