Description of Historic Place

St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church is a small rural Carpenter Gothic church built of Prince Edward Island sandstone and brick located in the South Shore community of Cumberland overlooking the Northumberland Strait.

Heritage Value

St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church is valued for its rare sandstone and brick construction, for its connection with the Roman Catholic church, its location, and its importance to the community. This church was named in honour of St. Martin of Tours who lived during the 4th century, the patron saint of France and of soldiers. The tomb of St. Martin was rediscovered in 1860 which led to renewed popularity and devotion to St. Martin.

St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church is one of a handful of Prince Edward Island sandstone buildings. Designed by mason-architect John Corbett, it was completed in 1868. Irish-born Corbett was construction supervisor for several Roman Catholic buildings in Charlottetown including the Bishop's Palace (1872-1875), the Convent of Notre-Dame (1870) and the Welsh-Owen Building (circa 1872) and is credited with the design of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Fort Augustus (1870, destroyed by fire in 1897). St. Martin's Church was built of locally quarried sandstone by James Foley and brothers Lawrence and Peter Murphy. Preparations for the construction of the church began in 1865 when the stone was quarried from the nearby Murphy homestead. The Murphy family were immigrants from County Carlow, Ireland where they learned their trade. Sandstone was used in the construction of the church walls to the eave line which turns to brick. Small scale brick was used in the framing of the Gothic windows and in the construction of the tower. A small brick vestry on the south elevation was re-built in wood in 1971, the same year a church bell was installed.

Prior to the construction of St. Martin's, parishioners, who first settled in the area in the 1820s, travelled by boat to Charlottetown for Mass and later attended services in private homes. St. Dunstan's parish priests served St. Martin's until 1929 when the church was placed under the direction of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in Charlottetown. St. Martin of Tours is now affiliated with St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in Cornwall.

Located on a tall cliff west of the mouth of the Charlottetown Harbour overlooking the Northumberland Strait, St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church continues to be a landmark in its community and to mariners.

Source: Heritage Division, PEI Department of Tourism and Culture, Charlottetown, PE

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the church is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the sandstone and brick construction
- the brick detailing surrounding the Gothic windows
- the pointed-arch Gothic windows
- the square brick tower with inset panels, and Gothic window
- the dentil detailing at the top of the inset panels on the tower
- the doors with transom window
- the roof pitch and the eave returns
- the spire
- its location overlooking the Northumberland Strait