There are churches which have the word "Free" in their names but this was truly a "Free" church, as both the land and the materials which comprise the building were donated. Built in 1861 as a Scottish Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew's Presbyterian, in 1925 it became St. Andrew's United Church with Church Union in Canada. The Gothic Revival building continued to serve the congregation until the late '60s, when a new St. Andrew's United was built at Vernon Bridge.
Today the church is one of the attractions at the
Orwell Corner Historic Village, an authentic historic village of old buildings which once constituted the Village of Orwell. The intent of the village is to preserve the old village and present it as it was circa 1895.
One of the seven
Museum and Heritage PEI sites, this historic village offers the mood and charm of a small village of the 1890s. Here one may experience regular daily programming (July and August) such as candle and ice-cream making, a working farm and blacksmith shop, tours of the agricultural museum and treats from their tea room. Tour one of the few old wood framed one room schoolhouses to have survived on the Island, this one having opened for classes in 1895.
Opening days and hours for the village for 2015 were as follows:
(Future years should be essentially the same)
July 1 to Friday August 28 - Daily 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Closed Sept 1st to allow our staff to enjoy a well deserved Labour Day
August 31 to Sat October 16. Open Monday to Friday 9:15 am to 4:45 pm
We will close for the season at 4:45 pm Friday October 16.
Presbyterians who first settled in Orwell joined the Belfast congregation nearby. However, steady population growth brought about construction of the Orwell Presbyterian Church in 1861 where services were conducted in Gaelic and English. Hymns were sung unaccompanied with the congregation following the lead of the percentor until 1892 when a choir platform and an organ were added. In 1925 the Orwell congregation became part of the United Church of Canada. With a new church at Vernon, services at Orwell were discontinued. The church has recently been refurbished to the period of the 1930s. The adjacent cemetery dates back to 1884 and is still used by Orwell congregation families.
From the Orwell Corner Historic Village