Description of Historic Place

The Heritage Chapel, is a small, single gabled wood shingle clad church with a three stage steeple and porch entrance located within the O'Leary Centennial Park, Prince Edward Island and forms part of the Canadian Potato Museum complex.

Heritage Value

The Heritage Chapel is valued for its associations as a place of worship for several congregations in the Knutsford and O'Leary areas, and as part of the Canadian Potato Museum complex in O'Leary, Prince Edward Island.

This church was built under the direction of Rev. William Bryenton in 1879-1880 on the O'Leary Road in Knutsford on land donated by the Silliker family to serve as the Knutsford Bible Christian Church. Loyalist Jacob Silliker, received a 500 acre land grant in Bedeque, coming to PEI, then known as St. John's Island, in 1784 via New York. His grandson Captain John Silliker (1811-1871) and family relocated to Knutsford in 1855. Bible Christianity was established in England in 1815 and as interest and numbers of followers grew, missionaries were sent to Canada, the United States and Australia to spread the word. Rev. Francis Metherall (1791-1875) arrived in Bedeque, PEI in 1831 and spent many years in the West Cape circuit, developing and leading the Bible Christian community. Congregations sprung up throughout the province and further missionaries arrived. However by 1884, internationally, the Bible Christian church merged with the Methodists. This church then became the Knutsford Methodist Church, forming part of the West Cape Circuit along with the Cape Wolfe, Bethel, Milburn and West Cape congregations. In 1923, the building was moved to O'Leary to serve the Methodist congregation there. Church union in 1925 resulted in the Methodist and Presbyterian churches combining to become the O'Leary United Church. As the Presbyterian church building could accommodate the newly amalgamated United congregation, the building was deemed surplus and in 1927 was sold to the St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Parish to become St. Theresa's Roman Catholic Mission Church. The following year, the tower and entry were embellished and the steeple heightened, changing the appearance of the structure.

The last service held in the church was in 1990 and to ensure its preservation, it was moved once again in 1993 to join the museum complex at the Canadian Potato Museum.

The Heritage Chapel continues to be valued as an example of rural church architecture and for its associations with the various faith communities in Knutsford and O'Leary and for its role as an interpretive component of the Canadian Potato Museum.

Heritage Places files, Dept. of Economic Growth, Tourism & Culture, Charlottetown, PE.
File #: 4310-20/04.

Character-Defining Elements

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

- The overall massing of the church
- The wood shingle cladding
- The slope and pitch of the roof
- The 1928 three staged projecting tower housing the front porch entrance
- The placement and size of the Gothic arch windows in the body of the building, as well as the multi-paned windows over the front entrance and steeple
- The dome and cross at the top of the steeple
- the setting of the Heritage Chapel within O'Leary Centennial Park, as part of the Canadian Potato Museum