Municipal Heritage Designation (Part IV)

Emmanuel Anglican Church

Portland, Ontario

View of entrance and steeple

View of entrance and steeple

Photo: Rideau Heritage Initiative

Built
1861
Recognized
1984
By
Local government

The register’s text, word for word

Description

This Emmanuel Anglican Church consists of a one-storey Cambrian sandstone structure with a front steeple. It is located at 2767 Highway 15 in the Village of Portland. The Emmanuel Anglican Church was constructed in 1861 by William Willoughby, J. Horton and J. Earl and is reflective of early rural church architecture along the Rideau Canal.

The Township of Bastard and South Burgess recognizes the heritage values of the Emmanuel Anglican Church in By-law No. 601.

Heritage value

The Emmanuel Anglican Church is situated on Portland Hill, overlooking the Village of Portland and Big Rideau Lake. The Emmanuel Anglican Church is typical in size and style of early rural churches built along the Rideau Canal and has served the Anglican congregation of Portland for over a century.

William Homer Sherwood, one of Portland's first farmers, in 1848, purchased a portion of the lot, upon which the Emmanuel Anglican Church would eventually be built. In 1861, the Sherwoods donated a half-acre of their land to the Anglican Church society for the purposes of constructing a church. William Wiloughby was hired to do the masonry and the carpentry was overseen by J. Horton and J. Earl, all local tradesmen. Sherwood eventually also donated land for the creation of an accompanying cemetery. This granting of land from the Sherwoods to the Anglican Church reflects Portland's mid-nineteenth century development and agricultural economic base.

SourceTownship of Bastard and South Burgess By-law No. 601; Diane Haskins, My Own Four Walls: Heritage Buildings in Bastard and South Burgess Township, Council of Bastard and South Burgess Township (1984); Rideau Lakes L.A.C.A.C, Heritage Tour of Portland, (2002).

Character‑defining elements

Character defining elements that reflect the heritage value include the:

  • Nepean sandstone exterior, naturally finished and set in broken courses
  • high gabled and metal-covered roof
  • plain wooden trim on eaves and verges
  • eight narrow, stained-glass pointed windows capped with voussoirs and the corners trimmed with stone quoins
  • red steeple on the front facade
  • long vents on the steeple with a semi-circular head
  • double leafed door located at the base of the steeple with pointed transom light - siting upon Portland Hill, overlooking the Village of Portland

End of the register’s text

Location

2767, Highway 15, Portland, Ontario, K0G, Canada

44.68775° N, 76.20420° W

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From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.