The two churches are very similar in design, each a single story with a bell tower/steeple centered on the entrance façade and the entrance in one side of the tower. Each tower has a crenellated top with large finials at each corner. The crenellations on St. David's are simply cutouts on boards spanning between the finials and are not structural details. Each church is also still clad in cedar shingles, which helps to emphasize their great (for a North American church) age.
St. David's United was initially affiliated with the Church of Scotland, becoming affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1875, then 50 years later, with Church Union in Canada, becoming St. David's United. While its partner, Holy Trinity Anglican, is shuttered, having held its last service in 2008, St. David's United is still going strong.
Though Historic Places Canada lists the church as having been built as early as 1837 and as late as 1841, we shall have to go with the latter, later, date given the excerpt below.
St. David's United Church, located in Georgetown, Prince Edward Island, was originally established as a Presbyterian church in 1837 when Lieutenant Governor Charles Fitzroy granted town lots 11 and 12 to Rev. Roderick MacAulay, minister of the Presbyterian congregation. The church was built a few years later and a manse was erected at some time between 1861 and 1863 under the direction of Rev. G. M. Grant. The congregation also included the adjacent communities of Sturgeon, Alliston, Brudenell, Burnt Point, Boughton Island, Montague, Cardign and Whim Road. Rev. Grant, who also ministered to the Marshfield and Harrington charges, later became Principal of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
When the United Church of Canada was established in 1925, the congregation of St. David’s chose to join the new denomination and became part of a pastoral charge which also included Sturgeon and Milltown Cross. In 1965 St. David’s United Church amalgamated with the Dundas and Annandale pastoral charge to form the Central Kings Charge. The manse for the charge was located in a new house built in 1960 adjacent to the church in Dundas. The Sturgeon congregation which had originally been of the Methodist persuasion and then part of the Georgetown United pastoral charge joined with the Montague pastoral charge. Today St. David’s is a single point pastoral charge.
From the Archives Council of Prince Edward Island
St. David's United Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
This wood shingled church is located prominently on Grafton Street in Georgetown. It features a rectangular sanctuary with a gable roof. A square tower clips the front gable and has a side entrance. The tower roof is flat with four finials rising from each corner. A crenellation design carved on four boards connects each of the finials. Tall Gothic pointed arch windows with tracery are arranged on the facade. The top three panes of these contain coloured glass. The back of the building features a gable roofed porch with side entrance.
HERITAGE VALUE
The church is valued for its well preserved Gothic Revival style; for its historical association with Rev. George Monro Grant; and for its contribution to the Town of Georgetown.
Presbyterian settlers had come to the Three Rivers area and Georgetown as early as 1774. However, the property for this church was not granted until 1837 by Lieutenant Governor, Charles Fitzroy. It then comprised Town Lots 11 and 12. The first minister was Rev. Roderick MacAulay who had the church constructed at some point between 1837 and 1841. The first baptism was recorded in October of 1854.
The church was then affiliated with the Church of Scotland. It was served by supply preachers in the years which followed. These included: Rev. John Keir of Princetown; Rev. John MacLennan of Belfast; Rev. John Geddie of Cavendish; and Rev. William Snodgrass of Charlottetown.
In 1856, the Colonial Committee of the Church of Scotland sent out Rev. Andrew Lougheed to serve Georgetown. He remained until July of 1860 when he returned to Scotland, accepting a charge at Paisley.
He was replaced with Pictou County Nova Scotia native, the Rev. George Monro Grant, who was inducted on June 28, 1861. He had recently graduated from the University of Glasgow and had served in River John, Nova Scotia. He only spent two years on PEI, but during that time, he worked to increase the cause of his church in the colony. A manse was erected in Georgetown, and two other churches - St. Columba's in Marshfield and St. Andrew's in Harrington were constructed. His abilities were rewarded further in 1863, when he was invited to become the minister of Halifax's St. Matthew's Church. He would remain there until 1877, when he replaced Principal Snodgrass as the leader of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He would become a legend in this role until his death in 1902.
St. David's became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada in 1875 and later voted to join the United Church of Canada in 1925. In recent years, the church has been renovated to reflect its earlier appearance.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
- the wood framed rectangular sanctuary with gable roof
- the entrance tower with flat roof, finials, crenellation, and louvres on three sides
- the wood shingle cladding with scallop shingles near the top of the tower
- the series of Gothic arch windows with tracery in the side elevations
- the symmetrically placed Gothic arch windows with tracery on the front elevation in the tower and on either side of the tower
- the small gable roofed porch with eave returns on the back of the building
From Historic Places Canada