Kemptville United Baptist Church
Title
Kemptville United Baptist Church
Church Name
Kemptville United Baptist Church
Church Association
Yarmouth Association
Province
Nova Scotia
County
Yarmouth County
Address
16 North Kemptville Road, Yarmouth, NS
Status
Active
Date
Originally Built 1882; Current building Built 1950
Historical Information
A Baptist church in Kemptville dates to 1882, at which time it was a Free Baptist Church, until 1906, when it became a United Baptist Church. This church is atypical for its time in terms of style; it is built on in a symmetrical design, with a three-bay façade, with a centrally placed steeple that juts forward from the front façade. This building was perfectly positioned in the landscape at the part in the roads towards North and East Kemptville, with multiple vantage points. The building has return eaves with square architectural embellishments surrounding this area of the building. The architecture demonstrates a move from primarily Gothic Revival Architecture to more Classical, with the rectangular windows and Colonial trim boards, rather than gothic arched windows. The open cage belfry, below a tall and narrow spire, is unique to this building. This architectural style and design emphasize balance, evident in the size and shape of the building, doors, and windows. Each side of the building has four more of these rectangular windows, similar in size and shape to those along the steeple. This building throughout its life was covered by cedar shakes and wooden shingles on the exterior walls and roof. This is part of the reasoning the building was destroyed so quickly by fire on 29 January 1950.
The Kemptville United Baptist Church was rebuilt at the same site and was dedicated on 10 June 1951. This building follows many of the same stylistic choices as its predecessor, such as a symmetrical design, with a three-bay façade, with a centrally placed steeple that juts forward from the front façade. It is about the same size and shape as the previous building on the site. It has a style of window that is unique to this building, and not found on the previous one. It has a three-paned window, with the top pane being a rounded curve. One of these windows is found in each of the three bays on the front façade and four along each of the sides. The steeple is enclosed and has arched vents along the slanted sides to allow for ventilation and sound from the bell to be heard. The building has had a modern one-and-a-half-storey addition that was built onto the structure in the late twentieth/early twenty-first century, containing a new entranceway, recreational rooms, and office space (see last photo). This changed the type of window that was present on the front façade to plain, rectangular ones. This impacts the architectural significance of the structure and detracts from the embellishments that are/were on the rest of the building.
The first three photos are of the Baptist church built in 1882.
Information provided by the church and YarmouthHistory.ca.
The Kemptville United Baptist Church was rebuilt at the same site and was dedicated on 10 June 1951. This building follows many of the same stylistic choices as its predecessor, such as a symmetrical design, with a three-bay façade, with a centrally placed steeple that juts forward from the front façade. It is about the same size and shape as the previous building on the site. It has a style of window that is unique to this building, and not found on the previous one. It has a three-paned window, with the top pane being a rounded curve. One of these windows is found in each of the three bays on the front façade and four along each of the sides. The steeple is enclosed and has arched vents along the slanted sides to allow for ventilation and sound from the bell to be heard. The building has had a modern one-and-a-half-storey addition that was built onto the structure in the late twentieth/early twenty-first century, containing a new entranceway, recreational rooms, and office space (see last photo). This changed the type of window that was present on the front façade to plain, rectangular ones. This impacts the architectural significance of the structure and detracts from the embellishments that are/were on the rest of the building.
The first three photos are of the Baptist church built in 1882.
Information provided by the church and YarmouthHistory.ca.
Files
Collection
Citation
“Kemptville United Baptist Church,” Atlantic Baptist Built Heritage Project , accessed April 29, 2024, https://atlanticbaptistheritage.omeka.net/items/show/304.