Description of Historic Place

The building known as Mayne Corners Methodist Church is situated at the northeast corner of Country Heritage Park, located at 8560 Tremaine Road in the Town of Milton, in the Regional Municipality of Halton. The one-and-a-half-storey wood frame building was designed in the Carpenter's Gothic style and was constructed in 1876.

The complete exterior and the interior of the building are protected by an Ontario Heritage Trust conservation easement on Country Heritage Park.

Heritage Value

Mayne Corners Methodist Church is located within Country Heritage Park, an interpretive museum made up of buildings moved from their original context and arranged in a sympathetic setting. The landscaping of Country Heritage Park is of significance, as it reflects a museum approach to the design and programming of heritage attractions that became popular in North America in the late 1960s. This approach sought to portray rural and agricultural history by creating working farms or villages and employing historical interpreters to demonstrate everyday life. The plans for the site were created by landscape architect Murray Haigh and architect Anthony Adamson, both experts in the re-creation of historical settings. Museum records suggest that Haigh attempted to incorporate the appropriate plantings, materials and layout for the designed landscape. In the case of Mayne Corners Methodist Church, a rural church setting was created through the use of grassy, pastoral landscaping. A drive shed was placed to the northwest of the building, as horse and buggy would have been a common form of transportation used by a rural congregation.

Mayne Corners Methodist Church is historically significant for its association with the early settlement of south-western Ontario, and the spread of Methodism to these newly founded communities. The building was originally located at Mayne Corners, a hamlet founded when Wallace Township, Perth County, was officially opened for settlement. The church was constructed in 1876 to replace an earlier log structure. In the mid-1970s, the building was moved from Mayne Corners to its current location at Country Heritage Park, where it became part of a living history museum.

Mayne Corners Methodist Church is architecturally significant as a representative wood-framed, rural Methodist chapel from the late nineteenth century. Designed in the Carpenter's Gothic style, and organized in a three bay rectangular plan which was once quite common in Ontario, but has become increasingly rare. This building is a restored example and has excellent interpretive value. Simple in its construction, Mayne Corners Methodist Church uses a number of elements to create the vertical effect that is a hallmark of Gothic Revival architecture: the exterior is clad with vertical board and batten sheathing; the wood shingle gable roof creates an elongated facade; and windows and doors have pointed lancet openings with intersecting tracery. The chimney is centrally located on the roof, and connects to a wood burning stove situated inside the church. The interior consists of a single room with a raised altar located at the west end opposite the entrance. The walls are finished with plaster and stained wood wainscoting. The floor is hardwood and there is a wood communion rail in front of the altar. There is wood trim around the windows and doors, which have metal hardware. The pews are softwood, faux finished with a Victorian style graining to appear like hardwood. The windows, altar, pews and exterior cladding are all well-preserved.

Source: OHT Easement files

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of Mayne Corners Methodist Church include its:
- association with the early settlement of Wallace Township
- association with the spread of Methodism to newly founded communities in south-western Ontario.
- fine example of rural Methodist places of worship from the late nineteenth century
- fine example of Carpenter's Gothic style architecture
- three-bay form
- gable roof with wood shingles
- vertical board and batten sheathing
- pointed lancet heads of the windows and doors
- centrally located chimney
- wood interior wainscoting
- single room interior
- wood burning stove
- pews, pulpit, and raised altar area
- reconstructed setting of Country Heritage Park
- museum approach to the design and programming of heritage attractions that was popular in North America in the late 1960s
- pastoral landscaping around the building
- drive shed to the northwest of the building