Description of Historic Place

The Officers’ Quarters at Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada is a two-storey, rectangular-plan, masonry construction, measuring 27 by 13 metres, and covered with a metal clad-hipped roof. The building’s austere classical composition combines smooth ashlar limestone courses with contrasting rusticated stonework at the base, corners and arches. An arcaded portico dominates its main elevation, facing the parade square of the fort, which it frames along with the other major buildings of the complex. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Officers’ Quarters are a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of their historical associations, and their architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value
The Officers’ Quarters are closely associated with the established defensive strategy for Canada’s borders between 1820 and 1830. In the wake of the War of 1812-1814, the British military authorities reviewed their defensive strategy for warding off attacks from the south by way of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River, and decided to build a new fortification at Ile-aux-Noix. The fort and its buildings thus also illustrate the strategic and tactical discussions that influenced the development of the Upper Richelieu Valley. The Officers’ Quarters were erected as an integral component of the fort and form part of the housing infrastructure built within the ramparts to accommodate the British garrison. It has housed many officers belonging to the various infantry and artillery regiments posted in the Montreal area.

Architectural Value
Designed by Samuel Romilly, Commanding officer of the Royal Engineers, the Officers’ Quarters are of an excellent aesthetic quality. The building is a well balanced, sophisticated composition which draws on the Palladian style, as can be seen in the front elevation, portico and contrasting ashlar and rusticated stonework, with neoclassical influences, legible in the severe lines of the secondary elevations. Of a very good functional design, the building offers comfortable lodgings well fitted to the status of officers. The well conserved exterior and relatively unchanged interior, with its high quality woodwork and large number of original architectural details, testify to the use of high-quality, durable materials and to the excellent workmanship invested into this structure.

Environmental Value
The Officers’ Quarters reinforce the military character of the fort as seen from the exterior and contribute to establishing that of the parade ground. The site and its relationship to the scenic country setting of Ile-aux-Noix have remained unchanged. The well-known image of the building’s front façade and portico make it a familiar regional landmark, which contributes to define the Richelieu valley as the “valley of the forts”.

Sources: André Charbonneau and Yvan Fortier, Logis d’officiers du fort Lennox, Québec. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 89-057; Officers’ Quarters – Casemates of the North and West Fronts, Saint-Paul-de-l’Ile-aux-Noix, Québec, Heritage Character Statement, 89-057.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Officers’ Quarters should be respected.

The building’s well-balanced, sophisticated composition, which draws on the Palladian Style with neoclassical influences, its very good functional design, offering comfortable lodgings, and its excellent quality materials and craftsmanship, as manifested in: the symmetrical, regular composition, simple massing and balanced proportions of the building; its arcaded portico, hipped roof and regular distribution of openings, which all take part in its classical expression; the skillful stonework, which contrasts smooth ashlar limestone in narrowly jointed courses with rusticated stones at the base, quoins and arches; the many original interior details: banisters on the staircases, door and window frames, that exemplify the rich interior woodwork, the original fireplaces and the other distinctive elements of the interior décor, the plaster and the wallpaper finishes on the walls, all of which reflect the high status of the Officers’ Quarters; the distribution of the spaces, which has remained virtually unchanged and reflects its use as private rooms above common spaces.

The manner in which the building reinforces the military character of its setting and serves as a regional landmark, as demonstrated in: the deliberate similarity between the Officers’ Quarters and their counterpart, the guardhouse, which creates a symmetrical composition in relation to the entrance to the parade square at the Fort Lennox National Historic Site of Canada; the intact quality of the landscape in and around the fortifications, which has remained free of more recent constructions.

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

The officers' quarters were built in the period 1821-1827 to the plans of Samuel Romilly, then commanding officer of the Royal Engineers in the Montreal district. It seems that the design for some of the casemates built between 1819 and 1830 can also be attributed to Romilly.

The officers' quarters and casemates are integral parts of Fort Lennox, which became a national historic site in 1922. Today, the second storey of the officers' quarters houses the offices of Fort Lennox National Historic Park's services to the public, and the ground floor has exhibition rooms. The casemates are mostly unused, except for one, which houses a generator. The casemates form part of the Fort Lennox interpretation plan. These structures belong to the Canadian Parks Service. See FHBRO Report 89-57.


Reason for Designations

The officers' quarters were designated Classified and the casemates on the north and west fronts were designated Recognized. These structures were designated because their construction attests to the defensive strategy for Canada's borders that was current between 1820 and 1830. The officers' quarters are also of excellent aesthetic quality while the casemates of the north front are very good. Finally, it must be emphasized that the historic association between all these buildings and the scenic country setting of Ile-aux-Noix has remained unchanged.

In the wake of their experiences in the War of 1812-1814, the British military authorities reviewed their defensive strategy for warding off attacks from the south, and a few years later they decided to build a new fortification at Ile-aux-Noix: Fort Lennox. The prime objective of this fort was to halt any enemy advance by way of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River. The officers' quarters and the casemates were built to meet the needs of the British garrison posted in Fort Lennox.

Though relatively simple volumetrically, the officers' quarters are architecturally attractive and esthetically striking. The pattern of the masonry on the main facade of the building, drawing on the Palladian style, brings out the remarkable series of archways behind which there is a longitudinal portico. The more Spartan treatment of the secondary facades shows a neoclassical influence.

The interior of the officers' quarters is also of interest, as the woodwork has remained appreciably as it was at the time of construction, and the original partitions, despite some alterations, still exist.

Finally, the good state of preservation of a large number of the original architectural details of the officers' quarters shows that the materials wechosen have proven durable and that excellent workmanship quality was maintained throughout construction.

The architectural quality of the first four casemates built on the north front is related to their symmetrical distribution on both sides of the passage of the fort entrance. In functional terms, the design of the casemates located on both the north and west fronts is typical of the military engineering of the period, which councilled the use of the rampart embankments to erect bomb-proof structures. These casemates, taking the form of circular or elliptical masonry vaults, were used for a variety of complementary and utilitarian functions connected with garrison operations. Different materials and details were employed in the design of the casemates associated with the officers' quarters or the barracks. These variations, in the quality of finishes for instance, were intended to distinguish officers from men in the military hierarchy.


Character Defining Elements

Officers' Quarters:

The heritage character of this edifice lies in its facades, with their skillfully fitted cut stone, and in the large number of original interior details.

The existing contrast between the masonry of the wall sections, with their smooth surfaces, and the rusticated quoins and archways, is a notable characteristic and must be preserved. The obvious similarity between the officers' quarters and their counterpart, the guardhouse, creates a symmetrical combination in relation to the entrance to the Fort Lennox parade square. The arcaded portico and hipped roof and regular distribution of openings are elements that define this similarity and should not be altered. To do so would diminish the impact of this architectural similarity, unquestionably deliberate at the time the fort was laid out.

Great care must be taken with the banisters on staircases and the door- and window-frames that exemplify the rich interior woodwork of the officers' quarters. Any future museological arrangements should be designed so as not to alter the existing distribution of space or cover up the original fireplaces and other distinctive elements of the interior decor.

Casemates of the North and West Fronts:

The overall effect created by a succession of apertures under the ramparts of Fort Lennox's north and west curtains largely determines the casemates' heritage value.

These vaulted spaces covered with earth merit preservation as essential components of the fort. A number of details go back to the casemates' construction: fireplaces, small hand-basins and other details of this kind still survive. They should be left in place and protected. The archings and the masonry ribbon decorating the casemate facades on both sides of the fort entrance help to reinforce the symmetry mentioned above. The casemates' present appearance should be preserved.

The scenic country setting of the officer's quarters and casemates is still what it was when the British military occupied Ile-aux-Noix. Fortunately, no construction has come to disturb these fortifications. If the vocation of Fort Lennox and Ile-aux-Noix is maintained in future, continuity should be ensured for the fort's surroundings.



Translation