July 2015 - Toronto ON
I wasn't holding out much hope based on this sad facade.
But when I turned the corner I was delighted to find a garden.
With this lovely stained glass done by Rosalynd Wilson, an accomplished artist and familiar face around SGM.
This historic (1845) downtown church suffered a disastrous fire in 1955. All that survived was the church tower, the rectory, and the parish hall. The parish hall was converted to worship space, but this meant there was no social or ministry space for the church, so in 1985 we designed a two-story cloister with a Fellowship Room, church offices, and apartments. This wrapped around a garden where the nave of the old church used to be, so you can still see tokens of the external walls, vestigial columns to mark the old ones, and a ghost image of the roof line of the old church. A columbarium has been incorporated into the garden wall. This small quiet garden in the midst of the busy city has proved very popular - it has been said that it sees more use now than it had when it was the nave of the old church.
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In the middle of the city, a beautiful church !! Well done !
ReplyDeleteThis is seen at Inspire Sunday.
http://graciel-la.aminus3.com/
I have no idea where this is! It looks fabulous though!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great find!! John St between Mc Caul and Beverley.
DeleteRough neighborhood? Tom The Backroads Traveller
ReplyDeleteNot really, Tom, just right downtown.
DeleteSad, I thought it looked like a few places in the UK to start with but nice to see the church has a new lease of life
ReplyDeleteLovely garden. Sad history indeed. too bad for the graffiti mating the walls.
ReplyDeleteThe garden and other details redeem it- but I'm wondering what the interior would be like. If you hadn't listed its location above, I'd have a hard time finding it.
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