Adaptive Reuse in Carlisle, North Middlesex

 

The Presbyterian Church Heritage Centre (PCHC) is moving into Carlisle United Church, in the hamlet of Carlisle, near Ailsa Craig in Middlesex County.*

Formerly the National Presbyterian Museum, the PCHC was located in St. John's Presbyterian, Toronto, from 2002 to 2021. But that church is currently being renovated into condominiums, forcing the Heritage Centre to find a new home. The new location will be this quaint country church built in 1879. 

Like many congregations, the Carlisle church started out in an earlier building. Carlisle Presbyterian Church was founded in 1858 in a more primitive structure, replaced as soon as funds became available. The congregation joined the United Church of Canada in 1925.

But recently, like many rural congregations in the 21st century, Carlisle United has been struggling. With 19 members left in the congregation, continued use of the building was becoming impossible. Having the PCHC move in has brought new life to these folks, even though they've had to worship in the church basement. The former upstairs sanctuary will be renovated into an exhibit hall. 

Temporary basement sanctuary

The move of the PCHC hasn't been easy or cheap. A fundraising campaign was necessary to increase the load-bearing capacity of the Carlisle church's sanctuary floor from 40 lbs. per sq. ft. to 100 lbs. per sq. ft. This involved removing the ceiling in the downstairs hall so the contractors could add the necessary reinforcement joists. But the pandemic allowed the necessary work to proceed easily, since there was no weekly worship service. 

The renovated building will include a replica chapel of the 1850s, an enlarged version of what was in the earlier museum in Toronto. Accommodating about 30 people, the replica can be used by the Carlisle congregation and for occasional weddings. The only condition is that, when visitors tour, it will be necessary to hide the church's large electronic organ. After all, no instrument of any kind was present in the strict services of yesteryear. So the plans will have to include a method of disguising that organ.

Additionally, thanks to the PCHC moving in, the church building will have a few mod cons it's never had before: air conditioning, a security system, and a phone, for the first time in its 164 year history!

Pews are currently stored in the future site of a replica pioneer sanctuary. 

Magnificent memorial windows in what will become the upstairs exhibit hall. 

The PCHC is not scheduled to open until 2024. But I have a question already. Where will visitors stay overnight or eat? Carlisle is a bit off the beaten track.  

Victoria Inn. Note Middlesex Heritage Trail sign out front. 

What I'd like to see is the old Victoria Inn, also in Carlisle, become a B&B to accommodate visitors to the PCHC. Built in 1855 by Joseph and William Haskett, this example of an early Ontario inn once featured a verandah across the front, complete with hitching posts for horses. The building has never had running water, central heating, hydro, or phone. A building more authentic than this you simply can't get. 

New owners are renovating the interior. ( I don't encourage trespassing but when a building is this close to the road it's hard to resist peaking through the windows.) I haven't heard they're planning a B&B. They probably aren't. But I can't help thinking what a fine heritage inn this would make. 

Who knows? With enough attractions this "ghost town" might be back on the map. Carlisle was one of the most important villages in north Middlesex in pioneer days, with a population of 200 or more. Settler George Shipley of Carlisle, England, named it after his home town. Building a dam across nearby Linn Creek, Shipley soon constructed a flour mill and other businesses were quick to follow. When a post office opened in 1853, it had to be named Falkirk, there being a Carlisle elsewhere already. Old maps use either name, depending on the mapmaker's point of view. The village declined after the railroads - both the Grand Trunk and the London, Huron & Bruce - bypassed it. Today, the community is mainly residential and very quiet. A good place for an afternoon drive to "get away from it all." 

* A big thank you to Curator Ian Mason for information and to local resident Doug Carmichael, member of the Advisory Committee for the PCHC, for the tour of the church interior. 

Update, December 19: Latest word is that the PCHC has received a $100,000 grant from The Presbyterian Church in Canada to finish the project.