Churches and Places of Worship
St. Andrew's United Church, Cantley

In 1876 James McClelland gave land on the northwest corner of his farm for a Presbyterian Church whose first minister was William Findlay. The church building was finished the next year and was administered from St. Andrew’s Church in Ottawa. The pulpit was crafted by Louis Lavasseur of St-Pierre-de-Wakefield. Present pews were bought in 1908 with money raised from sewing by the Ladies’ Aid. The interior plaster walls were replaced by tongue and groove v-joint around 1950. In 1925, without a vote of the congregation, St. Andrew’s became part of the newly created United Church of Canada.
As the church attendance declined, the church was sold in 2015 and the building was torn down in 2020.




From an historical sketch by Eirene McClelland:
St. Andrew's United Church
When the first settler, David Blackburn, came to Cantley in 1827, a Methodist chapel was being built cne mile east of the town limits of Aylmer in South Eull. From this mission chapel of 1827 ten churches were to be founded in the surrounding districts. One of them was a little log church built by the Protestant community on land donated by the original settler, William Thompson, in 1877, including one acre for a burying ground. During this first period, apparently the ministers of the Anglican, Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches visited the area in the early years, but very soon Methodists were the first to organize the people living in the Hamilton Neighbourhood, which was named in 1857 CANTLEY.
In the fall of 1899, the little log church, which served also as a school, was destroyed by fire. At that time, Cantley was already ministered to by St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church of Ottawa, whose ministers visited the whole Gatineau area. On April 7th, 1876, the deed of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Cantley, in the county of Ottawa, was registered. The land was donated by James McClelland on the north-west corner of his farm. David Blackburn and John Storey were the first elders. The actual church was built in 1877. Rev. David Findlay was the first residing minister, living with his family in the house of Mr. Herbert Smith. At first the church was plastered inside but around 1950 Mr. Henry Easy superintended the covering of the plastered walls and ceiling of the V-joint it now has. The pulpit was made by a Roman Catholic craftsman from St. Pierre de Wakefield, Louis Lavasseur. The present pews were bought for about $250.00 around 1908, most of the money being raised by the Ladies Aid, the women meeting in the afterncons in their homes to sew articles for sale. Rev. Miller (1913-1914) had studied architecture and it was he who drew the plans for S.D. McClelland's house, now owned hy Gérard Bourgeois.
In In 1925, St. Andrew's of Cantley entered the United Church of Canada without a vote being taken. 1940 and '4l saw a great many young men, and some women, in uniform, and the women were working along with their neighbours of St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Church in the Red Cross. In 1946, Chelsea, Cantley and Poltimore were brought together as the Chelsea Pastoral Charge. Because Chelsea was the largest, and because of its location, it was decided to buy a house there to serve as a Manse. During those years, Pcltimore had service in the morning, Cantley in the afternoon and Chelsea in the evening. No wonder that most of the ministers were young men serving their first pastorate... with the inconvenience of not being in charge for a long time. In 1955, the old Manse was sold and the purchase of a new and larger Manse was completed.
Additional resources:
- Cantley 1889 articles
- St. Andrew’s Pulpit and Pew – donation in memory of Cantley’s past
- Cantley's St. Andrew's United Church ~ built with faith, dedication and love
- "A tragic day for Cantley's heritage - Cantley's St. Andrew's United Church..."
- Low Down Articles articles
List of Gatineau Valley Churches.
- St. Andrew’s Pulpit and Pew – donation in memory of Cantley’s past