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Bradford West Gwillimbury Religion
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Church Street - looking south

View of Church Street looking south. To the right is Trinity Anglican Church, and further down is St. John's Presbyterian Church. St John's was demolished and relocated to 10th Sideroad in 2003, and the site became Trinity's parking lot and expansion area.

Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library

81 Frederick Street - The Anglican Church Manse

The former Anglican Church Manse is located at 81 Frederick St. (on the northeast corner of Church and Frederick Streets). The structure was built around 1880 in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. The two-storey, rectangular building has a medium-pitched, hip roof. The line at the front façade suggesting that the building originally had a full-width, front porch is another Regency Revival feature. The symmetrical window openings (with high floor to ceiling heights), a centre hall plan, and a wide entrance with sidelights and a transom are neoclassical features. Dichromatic brickwork at the quoins and window labels, as well as the ‘droopy’ label stops at the windows are Gothic Revival features. The house has solid, brick construction and a stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the existing porch and entrance motif are unsympathetic with the original design. It also notes that, unlike the originals, the replacement windows have no muntins. (1, 2, 3)

George Jackson

129 James Street - The Old Presbyterian Manse

The Old Presbyterian Manse is located at 129 James St. (on the northeast corner of James and Essa Streets). It was built around 1875 in the Neoclassical style. It was being used as a manse at the turn of the century and has since been converted into duplex units.
The two-storey, rectangular building has a symmetrical façade, a centre hall plan and a medium-pitched, gable roof. It has large window openings, high floor to ceiling heights, and large, 6/6, double-hung windows. The original entrance probably had sidelights and a transom. There appears to have been a broad verandah at the front entrance and identical chimneys at both ends of the gable roof at one time. The building has sculptured, curvilinear, soffit brackets, solid brick construction (Flemish bond), and an exposed, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the existing entrance and many windows and doors do not reflect the original design intent. It also notes that the existing duplex unit arrangement suggests major interior modifications. (1, 3)

George Jackson

81 John Street West - Bradford Presbyterian Church

The Bradford Presbyterian Church was once located at 81 John St. West (on the northwest corner of Church and John Streets). A Presbyterian church in Bradford dates back to 1856. The original frame building was built on this site and used until 1893. At that time it was sold to the Anglican Church and moved a short distance north to be used as the Parish Hall. The structure seen in this photo (from 1996) was designed in the Romanesque style by Siddell Baker Architects in Toronto. It was constructed in 1893 for $5,000 by local builder Dougald (George) MacDonald. George was able to do short-hand blueprints and he was also the Sunday school teacher. The church pipe organ was installed in 1915 (with a portion of it funded by the Carnegie Foundation). A seven-foot section of interior, cornice molding fell off and crashed through some front seating and the floor and landed in the basement in 1937. It was rediscovered years later in George MacDonald’s barn.
The 1½-storey building had a modified, cruciform plan with an apse, narthex, and square and polygonal entrance towers. There was a steeply-pitched, gable roof with pyramidal and polygonal roofs on the towers. This structure was a complex massing of heavy, simple forms, each of which had a clear function. The main entrance was through a large, round-arched doorway with a crescent-shaped transom light and a heavy, panelled, wood door. It was set into a high, square tower at the southeast corner of the church and it marked the site as a landmark within the town. Tall, narrow, window openings had thin windows with a vertical emphasis. Some secondary windows were set in rectangular openings (but with the same narrow proportions). Windows having round-arched openings of various sizes in groups, and as singles, lit the nave. The simplicity of this church and the lack of typical Romanesque Revival details such as heavy, stone stringcourses and lintels gave the church a Norman feel with its squared tower and massive walls. Square pinnacles topped the four corners of the entrance tower. The building had masonry construction with brick cladding and a cut-stone foundation. Len Saint, a local stone mason and brick layer, did the plastering for the church. There were metal panels on the steeple and tower roofs. According to the 2000 inventory, the church was in excellent condition with many original features.
The congregation moved to St. John’s Presbyterian Church which was located on the Middleton Sideroad (circa 2004). Trinity Anglican Church purchased the old Presbyterian Church building and land in 2004 and the building was demolished in 2005 to provide additional parking for the congregation of Trinity Anglican Church. (1, 3, 4, Trinity Anglican Church Bradford website)

George Jackson

Norman Coutt's Military Edition of "The Pocket Treasury"

"The Pocket Treasury" Military Edition. Bible verse book with gold cover that and black writing on cover, name and address information written on inside cover in pencil (presumably by Norman Coutts). Owned by Norman Coutts (1903-2002), husband of Isobel Watson Coutts. He did not go to war due to a heart murmur and was raised on Concession 4, Lot 7 in West Gwillimbury.

Karol Joyce

Carrotfest Closing Ceremonies

Article about a church service being held at Bradford Community Centre by Mapleview Community Church, marking the end of Carrotfest.

Bradford West Gwillimbury Times

Church Vestry Meeting

An article about a church vestry meeting for the churches: Christ Church (Middleton), Trinity Church (Bradford) and St. Paul's Church (Coulson's Hill).

Luanne Campbell Edwards

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