Sydenham Street United Church

Sydenham Street United Church, formerly Sydenham Street Methodist Church, is a church in Kingston, Ontario, Canada that dates to 1852. It was originally a Methodist church, but since 1925 has belonged to the United Church of Canada.OriginsThe church has its origins in the New Methodist Chapel, a small frame building built in 1811 in the village of Kingston at the corner of Wellington and Johnson streets. Another small frame chapel was built in 1816–17 by British Wesleyans on the southeast corner of Bay and Bagot streets, and was enlarged in 1835. The two congregations combined when the various branches of Methodism were unified. The Rev. Egerton Ryerson (1803–1882) was their resident minister at the time of Lord Sydenham’s death.ConstructionJohn Counter (1799–1862), a prominent Kingston businessman and first mayor of the city of Kingston, was a strong supporter of the Wesleyan Methodists. He donated the property for the Sydenham Street Church. The land had formerly been used as the circus grounds. The building was designed by the architect William Coverdale. John Counter laid the cornerstone on 17 April 1851. The Reverend Samuel Dwight Rice was transferred from Mount Elgin to Kingston, and helped manage the construction project. Counter served on the church's management committee.The 1852 church was a stone building 60by, with a seating capacity of between 1,000 and 1,200. The cost was about CAN$28,000. Improvements were made later costing CAN$6,000, and the church was reopened on 14 July 1878. Further improvements were made in 1887, when Power and Son of Kingston were responsible for widening the church. The stone building is "plain Gothic" in style. It has tall and narrow windows decorated with tracery. Pairs of lancet openings fill the belfry stage of the tower. The tower has many pinnacles, which used to end in leafy finials, since lost. They punctuate the intricate battlements that surround the narrow spire.