It is, in fact, the one time Methodist Church from Montrose, a few miles away, which was moved to this place in 1924.
Here's how we came to find this church:
While touring PEI we had stopped for breakfast at the locals' favorite breakfast spot in Alberton and struck up a conversation with a table full of locals. After a few minutes one asked if we had yet sampled the local lobster. On our negative reply she told us where and how to buy some live lobster. She then informed us that we were to come to her place that afternoon at around 3 PM and she would cook them for us so we could gorge ourselves on lobster on her patio.
It turned out that they had received some (like 75 pounds) of fresh snow crab from a friend and the whole family were, that afternoon, cooking and canning snow crab. [WOW - is fresh snow crab ever sweet, it is sensational!] We ate all the lobster we could and upon hearing that we were interested in old churches and cemeteries, they directed us to one that was nearby, mentioning that we should take the path from the cemetery to the beach, as there were some nice rock formations.
The church mentioned above is Christ Anglican Church, begun in 1850, along Highway 12 about one kilometre south of Kildare Capes. The Church has an interesting story. The cemetery began with the death of Hannah Garland (St. John’s) Travers, who was buried on the family farm, a part of which became the cemetery at the rear of this church.
In 1864-1866 local farmers built the first Christ Anglican Church on the site, which was in continuous use until it burned to the ground in 1923. In 1924, the disused Methodist Church at Montrose, a few miles away was skidded down the frozen Montrose and Kildare Rivers and up the coast, to be placed on the site of the burned church. That church had been built across the river from the present Montrose United Church in about 1885.
From the Maritime Conference Archives
The first Presbyterian church in Montrose was built in 1885. There was also a Methodist church across the river from the present site. Anticipating church union, the Methodist Church was sold to the Anglicans, whose church had burned, in 1924.
The Presbyterian Church became the United Church building in 1925. That church building burned in May 1944 and a new building was opened on November 11, 1945.
Now a Provincial Historic Place, it is no longer in continuous use. It, like the United Church in Montrose, holds services for vacationers in the summer months.
At the entrance to the church is a bronze memorial plaque affixed to a large stone which commemorates 160 fishermen who died in the gale of 1851, some of whom are buried in the church's cemetery. At the rear of the cemetery is a similar memorial stone.
Christ Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Christ Church is an Anglican church located at Kildare Capes overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Gothic Revival style building features a rectangular sanctuary with four rectangular windows on the side elevations. The entrance tower terminates in a cross and has pointed arch windows and decorative hood moulding. The registration includes the church and its lot.
HERITAGE VALUE
The church is valued for its well preserved Gothic Revival style; its association with the Yankee Gale; and for its contribution to the community.
This site was originally associated with the Travers family who used the place as a cemetery. When Hannah Gerhard Travers died in 1850, she was buried on a high point of land on the Cape overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
In October of 1851, a massive storm known as the Yankee Gale drowned many American fishermen who were fishing in the waters off Prince Edward Island. Some 90 vessels were wrecked and 160 men died. Three of them washed ashore at Kildare Capes and were buried in the Travers family graveyard. A dozen more bodies were later found along the coast and interred here. In 1995, a large granite monument was erected as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the storm.
The Rev. Robert W. Dyer was the first Anglican priest to arrive in the area in 1859. The first church on the site was constructed by 1866. This was the first Anglican church in Prince County. It was destroyed in a fire on August 18, 1923.
The parishoners decided to purchase the Methodist Church in Montrose which was no longer being used. In 1924, it was hauled over the ice on the frozen Montrose and Kildare rivers to the sea and then along the shore until it was placed in its current location. Spurgeon Jeffery was in charge of this amazing feat.
Today, the church is a landmark in the area and is used each year for regular Sunday services in the summer months.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
Character-defining elements which illustrate the Gothic Revival style of the church include:
- the wood frame construction and wood shingle cladding
- the rectangular sanctuary with gable roof
- the brick chimney
- the entrance tower topped with a cross
- the fenestration of the rectangular windows on the side elevation
- the stained glass Gothic window at the back elevation
- the pointed Gothic arch windows with tracery in the tower
- the hood mouldings
- the double entrance door
- the location of the church on treed grounds overlooking Kildare Capes
From Historic Places Canada