Description of Historic Place

The Presbyterian Church is an Italianate building with some elements inspired by Neo-Gothic religious architecture of the period. It has a gable roof with a steeple that sits at one end of the roof. Its arched windows are of the Roman style. The building is located on Acadie Street in Richibucto.

Heritage Value

The Presbyterian Church is designated as a Local Historic Place for its architecture and for its use as a place of worship.

This church is a fine example of Italianate religious architecture with Neo-Gothic elements of the late 19th century. It is distinguished by its Roman style windows and its steeple that sits on one end of the roof. This type of steeple, rarely found among protestant churches, is not original but was added in the first half of the 20th century. The building is covered with modern siding in imitation of its original clapboard finish. The church still has its original fenestration complete with its original window frames. The double window with oculus on the front façade has remained intact and still retains its coloured panes. The front porch is not original, having replaced a smaller original porch in 1994 when the building was placed on a new foundation. The main door of the church, located inside the front porch, is original. The steep inclination of the roof, as well as the decorative barge boards and finials that are evident in the historic photographs, reflect the influence of Neo-Gothic architecture of the period.

On the interior, the building still retains part of the original window frames. Also extant is the original wainscoting on the lower part of the plaster walls with chair rails. The wainscoting consists of narrow vertical sheathing boards that are decorated with a double bead. Exposed roof trusses of the cathedral ceiling consist of chamfered timbers.

The Presbyterian Church opened its doors in 1888. This religious temple later housed the congregation of the United Baptists which was formed by the amalgamation of the Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists in 1925. It later became a Baptist church and, since 2006, houses the Église Baptiste française (French Baptist Church) of Richibucto.

Sources: Richibucto Town Hall - Richibucto Local Historic Places files; Centre d'études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson, Université de Moncton

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Presbyterian Church include:
- the rectangular one-and-a-half storey plan;
- the steeple at the end of the roof;
- the Roman windows;
- the main door with its brass doorknobs;
- the original wainscot consisting of narrow vertical boards with double beads;
- part of the original frames of the windows and main door;
- the exposed roof trusses with chamfered timbers;
- the original double front gable window with its oculus and coloured panes;
- the original plank floor;
- the mill-sawn floor joists with circular saw marks;
- the square machine-cut nails used in its construction.