Indian Head Walking Tour Brochure & Map.pdf - Tourism ...

1. 201 Grisdale Road:
Still Known as Bishop’s Court
With a stroke of his pen, Lord Thomas Brassey
replaced (at a cost not to exceed $6000)
Qu’Appelle’s original Bishop’s Court, in Indian
Head. Built in 1895, its main entrance on the east side,
the three-storey stone, brick and frame house measured
40 feet by 35 feet. Above the full-sized basement, the
ground floor had ten-foot ceilings throughout, as well
as bay windows, red-brick fireplaces and beautiful
furnishings. Up the narrow stairs were six bedrooms,
also with ten-foot ceilings, as well as a balcony and
a pull-down ladder allowing access to the unfinished
dormered attic.
Bishop’s Court was home to Bishop Burn from1895
to 1896 and Bishop Grisdale until 1911. After that,
young clergy and immigrants made Bishop’s Court a
temporary home. In 1928, thanks to a Church of England
settlement scheme that placed over 100 English boys,
Brassey hostel was home to a series of 15 to 18 year olds
until they found farm work. By 1937, Bishop’s Court
was converted to a home for aged men and managed by
a synod committee. When the town barber, Tom Rath,
removed the two top stories in 1959, local Anglicans
salvaged the Bishop’s Coat of Arms. This 50-square-inch
carved wooden crest featuring the cross, a rising sun and
a bishop’s mitre can be seen in our local museum.
In 1993, Garry and Gloria Bernard did much to
salvage the historic building during ten months of
renovations. They also added a verandah and landscaped
the yard.
Andrea and Dwight Webster, with children Alexa and
Rylan, purchased the house and five-acre lot in 2008.
They added hardwood floors and refaced the fireplace.
Over the years, many visitors have come to the evolving
Bishop’s Court to recapture past times. DT
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