Port Medway Baptist Church - Port Medway, Nova Scotia
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member T0SHEA
N 44° 07.763 W 064° 34.500
20T E 373999 N 4887449
Right in the village, this was the third Baptist church to be built in Port Medway.
Waymark Code: WMRXXQ
Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Date Posted: 08/19/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member rjmcdonough1
Views: 1

If one were to also include East Port Medway, there were four Baptist churches built, two of which burned down. This church, consecrated in 1872 after the previous church burned on April 9, 1868, and the 1832 (or 1829, depending on who one chooses to believe) Baptist meeting house are the only two to survive. The meeting house is now operated as a museum, while this church, to the best of our knowledge, remains in use holding services, if somewhat irregularly.

A relatively plain rectangle, the building has a massive square bell tower centered on the front elevation and set well into the front gable end. The pyramidal roof of the tower morphs into an octagonal belfry with rounded arched vent openings and is capped with an "Onion Dome" style of roof, reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox structures. Under all the eaves of the building, including those on the tower, are myriad simple brackets, well over one hundred in total. The nave was given simple rectangular windows, four each side, while the front façade was graced with three rounded arched windows and the transom over the entrance a large sunburst window.

To the side of the building, mounted on a low, angled plinth and backed by Canadian and Nova Scotian flags, is a large schooner's anchor, obviously quite old. Unfortunately, no plaque or sign is present to apprise us of the history of the anchor.

Once known as Port. Maltois, it is now Port Medway, which may be a variation of the earlier name or of Port Midway, a name derived from the fact that the settlement was approximately midway between Bridgewater and Liverpool. The area was settled by New England fishermen and sea traders about 1760.

A Free Will Baptist church was built just prior to 1829. It was sold to the Methodists in 1862. A Baptist meeting-house at Port Medway, in a state of near completion in September, 1851, was opened on August 19, 1855. A Free Will Baptist church at East Port Medway burned down in February, 1878. The Anglican Church of the Holy Redeemer was purchased in 1857, and was destroyed by fire on April 9, 1868. A new church was consecrated in 1872.
From the Nova Scotia Archives
Address of Tower:
1621 Port Medway Road
Port Medway, NS Canada
B0J 2T0


Still Operational: yes

Number of bells in tower?: 1

Rate tower:

Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Unknown

Relevant website?: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the tower taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this tower and any other interesting information you learned about it while there.
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Lynx Humble visited Port Medway Baptist Church - Port Medway, Nova Scotia 09/22/2018 Lynx Humble visited it