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Trinity United Church

36 John Street, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, B0T, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1994/10/07

Old Kirk Burying Ground, Trinity United Church, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 2007.
; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2007.
Old Kirk Burying Ground, Trinity United Church
Old Kirk Burying Ground, Trinity United Church, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 2007.
; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2007.
Old Kirk Burying Ground, Trinity United Church
Front and west elevation, Trinity United Church, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, 2007.
; Heritage Division, NS Dept. of Tourism, Culture and Heritage, 2007.
Front and west elevation, Trinity United Church

Other Name(s)

Old Kirk Burying Ground
Trinity United Church
St. John's Kirk

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1891/01/01 to 1891/12/31

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2007/08/23

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Trinity United Church is located on the corner of John and Hammond Streets in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. This one-and-a-half storey wooden church was built in 1891. A large cemetery is also located on the upper slope of the property. The building, cemetery and property are included in the municipal designation.

Heritage Value

Trinity United Church is valued for its architecture and for its association with the development of the Presbyterian Church in Shelburne.

Among the Shelburne Loyalists who settled the town of Shelburne there were numerous Presbyterians belonging to the Kirk Church of Scotland. The burying ground located at the present Trinity United Church dates back to the construction of the first, though temporary, Presbyterian Church in 1784. Most of the early Kirk Church of Scotland settlers, such as George Gracie, Matthew Dripps and Alex Leyburn are buried in it.

In 1803-1804, St. John's Kirk was built adjoining the burying ground. It was used until it was sold and moved to make way for the new Trinity United Presbyterian Church. The church that stands today was opened in 1891. At the 1925 union to form the United Church of Canada, the church became Trinity United Church.

This one-and-a-half storey wooden building is set on a granite block foundation. The main body of the church and the attached vestry have steeply pitched gable roofs and wood shingle cladding, some of which is fish scale pattern. The Gothic Revival-style stained glass windows have pointed labels and plain lug sills. The pointed steeple is set on a rectangular three-storey base with buttressed corners and a string course mid-way up the base. There is decorative moulding marking the string course. The steeple is mounted above a moulded cornice with decorative cut-work at the base. The base of the steeple has four gable-hooded pointed openings with each opening flanked by flared brackets.

The Trinity United Church and Burying Ground are a standing visual record of the development of the Presbyterian Church and the perpetuation of a way of worship brought to Shelburne in the late eighteenth century.

Source: Town of Shelburne, Heritage File no. 19, Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of the Trinity United Church include:

- one-and-a-half storey wood structure;
- granite block foundation;
- steeply pitched gable roof;
- wood shingle cladding;
- Gothic Revival-style stained glass windows with pointed labels and plain lug sills;
- pointed steeple set on a rectangular three-storey base with buttressed corners and a string course;
- Palladian window in the west;
- Rose window over the entry;
- location on a prominent lot in the centre of Shelburne.

Character-defining elements of the Old Kirk Burying Ground include:

- location on a prominent lot in the centre of Shelburne;
- historic headstones carved by local masons;
- absence of roads or automobile thoroughfare;
- historic fences surrounding some plots;
- granite slabs supporting part of the knoll.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Nova Scotia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (NS)

Recognition Statute

Heritage Property Act

Recognition Type

Municipally Registered Property

Recognition Date

1994/10/07

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Building Social and Community Life
Religious Institutions
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Philosophy and Spirituality

Function - Category and Type

Current

Religion, Ritual and Funeral
Mortuary Site, Cemetery or Enclosure

Historic

Religion, Ritual and Funeral
Religious Facility or Place of Worship

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Town of Shelburne Office, Water Street, P.O. Box 670, Shelburne, NS, B0T 1W0.

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

51MNS0019

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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