In the Year 2007 Sterling Stratton put together a picture book entitled
The Complete Book of Island Churches At The Turn Of The Century. It included 302 Pen & Ink Sketches done in 2000, including all churches in Prince County, Queens County, Kings County, Summerside & Charlottetown, in other words, all the churches on the Island. This sketch can be found in the bottom left corner of
Page 3 of that book.
The carpenter Gothic church probably was not architect designed, instead being built either without complete plans or taken from the designs of other churches the builders had known. An interesting touch is the entrance, placed in the side of the bell tower centered on the façade, as opposed to being placed in the front, as is the norm. Unelectrified and probably unheated as well, the church now holds services in the summer only.
Another unusual addition is the placement of a
Chi Rho symbol atop the steeple, an ancient pagan symbol comprised of the two Greek letters
Chi and
Rho, adopted by Christians as their own. Below the Chi Rho the steeple is clad in wood shingles with two bands of triangular shingles. The rest of the church still wears wood shingles, as well, making it somewhat of a rarity. A Rector's Report dated September 14, 1891 noted that a bell was in place in the tower at that time.
Construction on the church began in the summer of 1888, with consecration coming about on October 20, 1890. The 1-1/2 acre parcel of land on which the church sits was bought from the John Currie family next door for twenty dollars. A document outlining the transaction (In the Diocese of NS & PEI Archives, Halifax, NS ) is dated the 26th of March 1887. One family closely associated with the church is that of the Jefferys. Five generations of the Jeffery family have served as Wardens of the church, while many of the family now occupy places in the cemetery.
The cemetery at the rear of the building predates the church by one year, with the first burial, that of Elizabeth Jane Jeffery, infant daughter of Spurgeon & Dorcas (Collicutt) Jeffery, taking place on June 9, 1887. Though apparently still in use, it remains small, with barely twenty headstones to be found.