Description du lieu patrimonial

The historic place consists of the former Port Kells United Church and the adjacent residence, formerly a manse, located side by side at the front of the property at 19131 – 88 Avenue in Surrey. The immediately adjacent landscape, including the front lawns, is also included within the historic place. The garage behind the manse and the large new church at the rear of the property do not form a part of the historic place.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Port Kells United Church and Manse have heritage value for their association with the northeast Surrey communities of Anniedale and Port Kells, and with the various denominations that comprised the United Church of Canada. They also have value for the plainness of the buildings, namely, the simplified Gothic Revival of the church and Bungalow style of the manse, that are characteristic of building design in rural communities.

The historic place has value in the way its changes of location, size, and denomination over time reflect the ebbs and flows of the adjacent communities of Anniedale, Port Kells, and Tynehead, and their patterns of worship. Methodism flourished in the pioneer era. A congregation was started in Port Kells in 1888 and moved to the Anniedale schoolhouse three years later. The present church was built in Anniedale in 1907 as part of the Cloverdale Methodist Circuit. The nucleus of the building has value because it represents the simple, wood Gothic Revival churches built by small congregations across BC and Canada: a simple rectangle with a steep, gabled roof and a plain interior, its Christian use expressed only by the three pointed-arched Gothic windows on each side.

As a consequence of Church Union in 1925 and the consolidation of the Anniedale and Tynehead congregations, services were discontinued. In 1933-34 the church was dismantled and rebuilt on rented property in Port Kells, which by then had lost its railway and steamship stops and reverted from a developing river port to an agricultural community. In 1949, the church was moved to its present site on 88 Avenue, on land donated by long-time residents Charles and Florence Talpey. The Port Kells United Church was enlarged at this time, presumably with the rear addition and basement.

The property also contains a small house, used for many years as the church manse, illustrating the close relationship between the pastor's home and his place of work. The house was moved from elsewhere on Davis Road to this site in 1951. The house, which appears to have been built in the 1910s, represents California Bungalow design. It has the style's defining gable-roofed body and projecting porch (now filled in), but retains only a little of the characteristic wood detailing, most of which was lost in changes over the years.

The Port Kells United Church was most active during the 1950s, reflecting the importance Canadians placed on religion at the time, before the general decline in worship that began a decade later. The interior was remodelled in 1956 and around the same time, the front addition and bell tower were built.

The church left the United Church fold in 1990, becoming the Port Kells Congregational Christian Church. This transition may reflect the growth of evangelical denominations in the agricultural Lower Mainland, bringing the church closer to its original Methodism. The new institution has thrived. A large new house of worship was built at the rear of the property in 1996.

The historic church building and its basement are now rental halls, used by a variety of religious and secular organizations. In this way, the building continues to be valued by its community. The present users include the Romanian Pentecostal Church, a Korean religious organization, and the Port Kells Seniors. The bell still rings for weddings. The manse is currently rented to a retired minister, who serves as the caretaker of the large property.

Source: City of Surrey Planning and Development Department

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of the Port Kells United Church and Manse include:

Historic Church
- steep gabled roof
- pointed-arched windows with tracery mullions
- horizontal wood shiplap siding
- simplicity of the exterior and interior design
- brick chimney

Front and Rear Additions
- bevelled siding on the front wing
- shiplap siding on the rear wing
- medium-pitched gabled roofs
- belltower

Manse
- site near the relocated church
- medium-pitched gabled roof
- projecting porch with a medium-pitched gabled roof (its formerly open sides now filled-in)
- shiplap and wood shingle siding
- one-over-one, double-hung wood sash windows
- posts, eaves brackets, and horizontal outrigger on front porch
- eaves, fascia and drip moulding at front and back

Site
- mature trees along both sides of the property line
- deep lawn in front of the church and the manse
- clear view of both buildings from 88 Avenue