places made special by their stories
The Di Castri Walkway
The Di Castri Walkway -- the corridor that leads to the Chapel -- is named after Queenswood's architect, John A. Di Castri. The walkway presents many trademarks of Di Castri's work: crisp straight lines, glass walls and an adaptation of the building to the natural landscape (as opposed to altering the landscape for the building). But what makes this walkway really special is its spiritual significance. The land slopes slightly downward as one walks toward the Chapel, and so the walkway imitates this gradual descent, which for Di Castri, embodied the personal, pyschological, emotional and spiritual descent of one about to enter the sacred. Walking down the corridor, there is a sense of preparing to enter into something special and transcendent, not only because we may be preparing our hearts for a sacred experience, but also because our physical bodies are also participating in this experience. It is an experience of the whole human person.
In a similar way, as one exits the Chapel and ascends the walkway, there is a sense of re-emergence as we re-enter our daily life within the rest of the building. But we do not leave the sacred behind; we bring what we have experienced in the Chapel with us to bless and honour all aspects of our life.
"Queenswood was inspired and evolved based on spirituality and it developed in harmony with the contours of the site. There was always the awareness of the descent and rise of the terrain, and the orientation of light with the natural surroundings. To achieve the desired impact, the chapel is at the heart of the Queenswood complex. The staircase which descends to the chapel incites a feeling of anticipation as one enters this sacred space. Finding oneself in this space, a person is led to discover the Divine Presence within and without. Spirit becomes a reality and prepares one of the Zen ascent of the staircase back up and out once again into reality."
John A. Di Castri, architect
A portrait of John is now on display in the Queenswood library.
The Statue of the Madonna and Child in the Grotto
Decades ago, the Sisters of Saint Ann operated a hospital in Dawson, BC. The sisters had traveled to BC in 1858 in order to provide healthcare and education for its earliest settlers. This hospital in Dawson had only one young doctor and several Sister of Saint Ann nurses. There was a couple who came to the hospital one evening. The woman, who was pregnant, was not well and her pregnancy was in danger. The doctor examined her but felt he was too inexperienced to perform the surgery that was required. He asked them to head straight to Vancouver as quickly as possible to find another doctor who could perform the surgery. This was a risk, because the doctor didn't know if the mother or the child would survive the trip. The husband, who was particularly devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asked the doctor to attempt the surgery; if it was a success, he would donate a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the hospital and promote her devotion within its community. The doctor responded that he would do the surgery, but if both the mother and child survived, he wanted a statue of the Madonna and child instead. Both mother and child survived, and the hospital was honoured with the Madonna and child statue that the doctor had requested.
As years went on, the statue and devotion to the Madonna and child became a centrepiece within the hospital community. Several decades later, a fire broke out in the hospital. After all of the patients, guests and staff were safely out of the hospital, a group of men ran back into the burning building to and rescued the statue. It was the only object to survive the fire.
The Sisters of Saint Ann then brought the statue to Queenswood, and placed it in the grotto near the rose garden and the Mary Garden. Like Queenswood in general, its Catholic roots are clearly evident in its appearance and history, but it has taken on a strongly universal significance for Queenswood guests. It is a favourite spot to pray, meditate or reflect, and it has inspired peace and comfort for many who sit in its presence.
Queenswood House
Before Queenswood was built in 1966-67, a large English-style mansion sat on this serene and secluded property. It was built in 1928 by Colonel Alan Abbott Sharland, who had moved to Victoria with his wife from England. Called "Queenswood House," this home was
popularly known in Victoria as a place for garden parties in the summer and balls in the winter. The property was much larger than the 14 acres on which Queenswood now rests. It was an extravagant property, with a chauffeur's self-contained quarters, a summer house and game farm. But the Sharlands eventually returned to England and sold Queenswood House to the Kilgours who ran the Birdcage Restaurant on Government Street. A fire in 1958 destroyed the mansion, and it proved to expensive to rebuild. The lot sat empty until 1962 when the Sisters of Saint Ann bought it to build their new residence.
There are six vestiges that remain of the old Queenswood House. The first and most obvious is the stone fence and pillars and iron gates that lead to parking lot #1 off of Arbutus Rd. One pillar on the left side has "Queenswood" engraved in it, and the other pillar on the other side has "House" engraved in it. This was the original entrance to the property from Arbutus Rd.
The second and arguably most-loved vestige is the Mary Garden. Originally built as a rose garden for the mansion, Col. Sharland hired Scottish stonemasons to travel to British Columbia to build this beautiful structure. Nowadays, this garden is home to many varieties of plants and flowers.
The shed on the pool-side of Queenswood in parking lot #2 was originally constructed with the mansion as its squash court. Looking inside the shed, where we now store all of our garden supplies, as well as our kiln, you can see the innumberable squash-ball marks covering the white walls. In fact, during the 1970s, before the Ian Stewart athletics Complex was built at the University of Victoria (UVic), UVic professors would come down to the Sister of Saint Ann's Queenswood residence to play squash! It was after this period that the sisters started to use it as a shed.
There are stone steps that lead from the driveway to parking lot #2 that are also from the old Queenswood House. They match the rock-work of the Mary Garden and along Arbutus Rd, though we don't know where these originally led. Today, there is not path from the stairs, but they lead toward the labyrinth that was built in 2000.
The Queenswood House tennis court is also still visible, though today it functions as a parking lot for St. Anne's Residence, the Sister of Saint Ann retirement facility across parking lot #2.
Finally, the sixth remanent of Queenswood House is the Queenswood name itself. Before Col. Sharland bought this property, it was owned by the Queenswood Land Company. We gather that Col Sharland adapted the company's name for his home, calling it "Queenswood House." When the Sisters of Saint Anne built their residence for young sisters studying at UVic, they adopted Col. Sharland's name, calling the residence "Queenswood House of Studies." As Queenswood House of Studies shifted its mandate to provide services for the public, it became known as Queenswood Centre for Spiritual Growth. In 2007, the Sisters of Saint Ann restructured Queenswood as an independent non-profit society, calling it "Queenswood Society for Spiritual Growth" (with the tagline "An oasis for seekers"). Queenswood Society continues in its present form today as the non-profit charitable organization that operates the building and services on-site. Finally, when Queenswood Society rebranded their services in the summer of 2008, it was decided that the site and services would be renamed simply "Queenswood." Its modern tagline is "Revitalize your spirit."
New Articles on the history of the Queenswood property:
- Castle, Geoffrey. "Only the Gates Now Remain," Times Colonist. Oct. 7, 1994.
- Litt, Richard. "Welcomes Everyone Today," Times Colonist. Date unknown.
