The cemetery was begun on the grounds of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1884. While the church ceased operation as a church in the 1960s, the cemetery continues to be used for interments by the Orwell congregation. Withy many old and ornate headstones, the cemetery now holds just over 200 interments.
Built in 1861 as a Scottish Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew's Presbyterian, in 1925 it became St. Andrew's United Church with Church Union in Canada. The Gothic Revival building continued to serve the congregation until the late '60s, when a new St. Andrew's United was built at Vernon Bridge.
Today the church and cemetery are attractions at the
Orwell Corner Historic Village, an authentic historic village of old buildings which once constituted the Village of Orwell. The intent of the village is to preserve the old village and present it as it was circa 1895.
Opening days and hours for the village for 2015 were as follows:
(Future years should be essentially the same)
July 1 to Friday August 28 - Daily 9:30 am to 5:00 pm.
Closed Sept 7st to allow our staff to enjoy a well deserved Labour Day
August 31 to Sat October 16. Open Monday to Friday 9:15 am -4:45 pm.
Church and Cemetery
Presbyterians who first settled in Orwell joined the Belfast congregation nearby. However, steady population growth brought about construction of the Orwell Presbyterian Church in 1861 where services were conducted in Gaelic and English. Hymns were sung unaccompanied with the congregation following the lead of the percentor until 1892 when a choir platform and an organ were added. In 1925 the Orwell congregation became part of the United Church of Canada. With a new church at Vernon, services at Orwell were discontinued. The church has recently been refurbished to the period of the 1930s. The adjacent cemetery dates back to 1884 and is still used by Orwell congregation families.
From the Orwell Corner Historic Village