Description of Historic Place

The St. John’s Anglican Church Cemetery is a rural cemetery dating from the late 18th century. The designation is limited to the sections of the cemetery to the front and to the sides of St. John’s Anglican Church. An asphalt pathway separates it from the modern part of the cemetery and its boundaries are the Tilley House property to the south, Front Street to the east and the historic Guild Hall and Court House Road to the north.

Heritage Value

The St. John’s Anglican Church Cemetery is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with Loyalist and other early settlers in the Gagetown area. The cemetery has some pre-1800 stones, and taken as a whole contains much of the history of the village. Members of the family of Rev. Richard Clarke, first Anglican clergy in Queens County (1785 – 1811) are interred here. Also James Peters, who laid out the village on a town plat, and Samuel Leonard Tilley’s parents and his maternal grandmother, Charlotte (Haines) Peters, lie here. One of the fascinating and evocative stones is that of Colonel Thomas Gilbert which reads, “He was known for his loyalty to the King in 1775”. Several more Loyalists and other important villagers are here too, and the stones themselves are a study in marble and granite with a few hand-carved sandstone markers.

There are fascinating inscriptions, “folk art” death’s heads, several decorative Victorian white marble slabs with weeping willows or fallen rose buds, and even thistles for a homesick Scot. Stories exist about several of these people, making this early churchyard cemetery a fine instrument to show visitors who the people of Gagetown were and who they are today. It is maintained and well-cared for by the Vestry of St. John’s Anglican Church.

Source: Queens County Heritage Archives – Gagetown Historic Places files

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the St. John’s Anglican Church Cemetery include:
- headstones of various sizes, styles and materials, including marble slabs, granite obelisks and sandstone markers;
- some stones dating from the late 18th century;
- pleasant and tranquil rural setting;
- well-maintained landscaping and grounds;
- interesting inscriptions, decorative motifs and folk art carvings on some stones.