Description of Historic Place

Tummel United Church, completed in 1907, is a wood-frame building on a plot of farmland in the village of Tummel. The municipal designation applies to the church and its grounds.

Heritage Value

Tummel United Church, built as Tummel Presbyterian to replace an earlier (1887) log structure located four kilometres to the south, is a fine example of a rural community church that emphasizes functionality. The tidy wooden facility, erected largely by volunteer labour and fully completed only as sufficient funds became available, also is the oldest operating church in the Shell River municipality. Its straightforward design and materials, and modest Gothic Revival appointments, made it a suitable home for a union church formed by local Presbyterians and Methodists in 1916, nearly a decade before their parent bodies created the United Church of Canada. Situated on sheltered level grounds, this enduring house of worship offers services on a limited summer schedule.

Source: Rural Municipality of Shell River By-law No. 19/63, September 14, 1993

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Tummel United Church site include:
- the building's placement at a rural crossroads in Tummel, surrounded by hedges and trees

Key exterior elements that define the church's restrained Gothic Revival style include:
- the simple L-shaped form with the main volume set beneath a tall, steep, side gable roof and the porch under a lower perpendicular gable roof
- the orderly fenestration, defined by arched windows with Y-tracery set symmetrically along the east and west sides, in a group of three on the south facade, as a tall narrow opening on the south face of the porch and in a transom over the double-door entrance
- the unpretentious materials and finishes, including the white-painted horizontal wood siding with dark window and door trim, storm windows with metal latches, a brick chimney, wood shingles, etc.
- the cornerstone identifying stages in the building's history