Description of Historic Place

The former Bristol / Lot 40 Presbyterian Church is a wood shingle-clad Gothic Revival church with pointed arched windows and a square entrance tower. Re-located from its original site, the former church building has been re-purposed as a cottage. More recent additions enlarged the living space while maintaining the heritage character. The building is located within the north shore community of St. Peters Harbour, Prince Edward Island.

Heritage Value

The former Bristol or Lot 40 Presbyterian Church is valued for its rural Gothic Revival church architecture, its excellent construction, age, and associations with of the community.

Dating from 1888, the Gothic Revival church building was built at St. Peters West by local builders Erasmus Coffin and John MacEwen and possibly Edward Jardine of East Point as a Presbyterian Church. The original location of the church was renamed Bristol in 1901.

The Presbyterian faith has a long history in the North Shore area with missionary Rev. Dr. James MacGregor (1759-1830) of Pictou, Nova Scotia regularly visiting St. Peters, Covehead and Bay Fortune. The first Presbyterian church in the area was built in 1806 and known as Barrens Church. Its first resident minister was Rev. Peter Gordon (abt. 1773-1809).

With church union in 1925 the Bristol Church along with the congregations of Mount Stewart and Black River (Donaldston) amalgamated with the United Church of Canada.

A further amalgamation in 1961 saw the Donaldston, Mount Stewart, West St. Peters/Bristol and St. Peters churches become the Mount Stewart-Morell-St. Peters Bay Pastoral Charge. This amalgamation resulted in the closure of the smaller community churches and their congregations were then served by the newly constructed 1962 Peter Gordon Memorial Church in Morell.

In 1963 the former Bristol United Church was offered for sale and in 1967 it was purchased for use by the Apostolic Pentecostal Church, later renamed in 1977 the United Pentecostal, congregation.
By the 1980s, the building was no longer used as a church, and once again offered for sale. It was purchased and used as a residence for a time in the 2000s by US based music composer and producer, Paul Leka.

The current owners purchased the property in 2012, moving it to its current location and began the conversion to a summer home. To facilitate the move, the steeple was removed. Some of the materials were reused in the rehabilitation of the building. Additions and modifications were made to the exterior including a kitchen addition, a new steeple tower, replicated main doors and windows in the steeple, while many original interior features were maintained or re-purposed where possible.

The former Bristol / Lot 40 Church is an example of very good adaptive re-use of a heritage building, maintaining many of its original historic Gothic Revival characteristics, and continues to be valued as a tangible reminder of the religious history of the community.

Source: Heritage Places files, Dept. of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File # : 4310-20/B13

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the former Bristol / Lot 40 Church is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the scale and massing of the building
- the pitch and slope of the roof
- the wood shingle cladding
- the size and placement of the pointed Gothic arched windows with tracery on the side elevations, original to the building
- the square entrance tower, with 2014 replicated rounded arched window with tracery on the front elevation and pointed arched window above the entrance doors
- the original wood entrance door

Further contributing character-defining elements:

- the setting of the church in the north shore cottage community of St. Peters Harbour, in sight of the dunes
- the existing original interior features -- Douglas fir geometric designed wall and ceiling paneling, interior hanging lights, pews and updated and incorporated interior features re-using reclaimed materials including the clay chimney bricks as for wood stove hearth and mantle, interior doors and hardware, parts of the removed steeple wood flooring