Description du lieu patrimonial

The Campbellton United Church is a well maintained church featuring a rectangular sanctuary with four round arch windows on either side. A front centred entrance tower is the most decorative part of the building. It features faux buttresses, decorative hood mouldings over pointed arch Gothic windows, and a trefoil window above the double door. It overlooks the Northumberland Strait and has a small graveyard behind it. The registration includes the church and its lot.

Valeur patrimoniale

The church is valued for its well maintained Gothic Revival style; for its association with the history of the Presbyterian and United churches in the area; and for its contribution to its streetscape.

The Presbyterian faith came to the area in the 1840s when the church was established by James MacNeill and his cousin John Ramsay. Ramsay's parents were among the Scottish settlers who were shipwrecked off Malpeque Bay in the Annabella in late September, 1770. They had come from Campbelltown in Argyll, Scotland. Most passengers lost everything in the storm, but were helped by local Acadians.

The chief employers in the area were the shipbuilding and blacksmithing industries. The first church was a crude log structure built on Ramsay's farm about a mile from the current building. The second church began its life as a store. Around 1861, a New Brunswicker, a Mr. McLaughlin, built two structures intended to be used as a tavern and a store. When he was drowned in a boating accident on a voyage to New Brunswick to obtain rum for the tavern, his family donated both buidings to the community. The tavern became the new school, while the store became the new church. It was John Waters who had built both buildings. The church was ready for services by 1864.

The building did not have its current appearance until 1902, when it was moved fifty feet south of its original location and a new steeply pitched roof was added by John Green of Miminegash. He also added the interior ceilings. The elegant spire and entrance doors were built by John and Alfred Doyle.

It became part of the United Church of Canada in 1925 and a bell was added to the steeple in the 1930s. Today, the church is used seasonally, with services held bi-weekly from June to September and on special occasions.

Source: Culture and Heritage Division, PEI Department of Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour, Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8
File #: 4310-20/A18

Éléments caractéristiques

Character-defining elements which reflect the Gothic Revival style of the church include:

- the rectangular shape of the sanctuary
- the four round arch windows on the side elevations
- the wood shingle cladding
- the steeply pitched gable roof
- the centred entrance tower with faux buttresses
- the pointed arch windows in the tower
- the pointed arch double entrance door
- the hood moulding
- the trefoil window above the door
- the location of the church near its cemetery with the Northumberland Strait behind it