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Architectural Conservancy of Ontario – Port Hope Branch Newsletter – June 2014
President's Report
Respectfully submitted,Charles Wickett
As I put pen to paper – or should I say
fingers to keyboard – to write my first re-port as your Branch President, I can think of the many items I would like to touch on – especially given we are now in our 50th year! Firstly, I would like to thank all our Board and Members for all of the efforts put forth to meet the ACO’s mission of "supporting the preservation of buildings, structures of architectural merit and places of natural beauty". A special thanks to Trish Doney for her strong leadership as our President over the past two years. A lot has happened since the last Newsletter: our AGM was held on February 27th with the informative and touching Testimonial to Peter John Stokes by Tom Cruickshank and Phil Goldsmith; work has commenced on restoration work at 146 Walton Street and of course the highly successful Antiques and Artifacts Auction was held on April 27th. Huge thanks are due to the Auction Committee headed by Joan Tooke for their tireless work over the past year as well as to all volunteers and donors. We have more exciting events over the next few months so I suggest you grab and update your diary: June 11th is our annual Bus Tour, this year to Lindsay and Sturgeon Point; on June 14th our next “Evening Outing” – The Masseys at Home – will include a visit to Batter-wood and Durham House, and our 50th Anniversary Pic-nic is to be held on August 10th. As well as these special events, you will see lots of scaffolding going up in town over the summer as our Branch has committed financial assistance to at least three more restoration projects in the Heritage Districts! As if all that were not enough, we’ll also get a bit of a ‘new look’! The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario has approved a new Brand to strengthen our presence around the Province whilst also recognising the impor-tance of each branch’s identity. The next issue of ACO Matters will feature an article – with pictures - on this new look, so if you want to see it in colour subscribe now to receive your newsletter by email rather than Post. Well, if you couldn’t tell, I’m proud of all of our ac-complishments and excited with the initiatives underway. I am honoured to be a member of the ACO and your Branch President.
Big Plans Are in Full Swing to Commemorate ACO Port Hope’s 50th Anniversary This Summer!
We are celebrating a half-century of restoration and preservation of our town’s heritage buildings and properties. Here are some highlights of what’s in store:
It’s Time to Celebrate and Everyone’s Invited!“Olde Tyme Picnic”Sunday, August 10th, 2014, Noon to 4 pmMemorial Park Bring a blanket, lawn chair and celebrate the day with your family and friends. Enjoy great live entertainment, arts & crafts demos, animal balloons, wagon rides, tug-of-war contest, face-painting, delicious food, fun-filled children’s games and activities and super prizes for best costumes and more!
Self-Guided Tours of Our Heritage Properties Building Stories is an exciting interactive website for heritage properties. The system is designed to inventory historic buildings, structures and sites across Canada. Self-guided tours of the important streets and areas of Port Hope have been created and can be accessed via the mobile phone and the Building Stories app. We have created tours of Dorset St. W., King St., Augusta St. and English Town and coming soon, the Port Hope Heritage District. Please visit the online system at www.buildingstories.co. Enjoy the tour!
“The History of ACO-Port Hope Over the Last 50 Years” A wonderful souvenir book has been created by archi-tect, Phil Carter. The historical text provides an extensive review of ACO Port Hope’s accomplishments over the past half-century, as well as pictorial depictions of saved and re-stored buildings and properties through contributions made by the ACO. Details to come!
Contents:President's Report ..............................................................1Big Plans to Commemorate ACO Port Hope’s 50th Anniversary This Summer! ...............................................1Downtown Task Force: Your Money Well Spent, Part I ...2Evenings with the ACO & Friends: The Masseys at Home ..3Report on Antiques & Artifacts 2014 ................................3Perrytown Church, 100 Years Young .................................4The Lee Higginson AGM Roundup ..................................6Cobourg and Port Hope ACO Branches Bus Tour 2014 ...7
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ACO Matters June 2014
Downtown Task Force: Your Money Well Spent, Part I
Currently, the Port Hope ACO’s Downtown Task Force is about two years through its three-year plan to spend $250,000 on restoration projects in the down-
town core. So now’s as good a time as any to sum up our progress thus far. To date, we have spent or committed about $107,000 in grants and $65,000 in loans to fi ve owners of three down-town buildings. Our inaugural project in the summer of 2012 was a smash hit: the removal of tired baby-blue paint
from the Tempest Block, which revealed the origi-nal patina of its yellow brick. The transforma-tion of this landmark commercial building at Walton and Ontario
streets set the tone for 2013, when we donated to the restoration of the façade of the venerable YMCA/Or-ange Hall on John Street. And still
under scaffolding is our third project: a handsome Geor-gian-style commercial/residential building further up the Walton Street hill: it was this close to a structural failure. None of these projects would have been feasible without the participation of the ACO. And with the momentum building and money still in the coffers, we’re pleased to announce the summer of 2014 promises more good news. At this writing, the details are still under wraps but watch this space in the next ACO Matters for new develop-ments we are very close to confi rming several proj-ects. Or just walk down-town and look for the scaffolding. The Downtown Task Force is Port Hope ACO’s single most ambitious proj-ect and receives the lion’s share of the proceeds from the house tour, the auction, other ACO activities and of course, your donations. Any inquiries or comments can go to Task Force chair Tom Cruickshank at [email protected].
ACO Executive & Offi cers for 2014
Executive Committee Vice President .............................Trish DoneyPresident ......................................Charles WickettVice President .............................Phil GoldsmithSecretary .....................................Susan CarmichaelTreasurer .....................................Dennis Hogarth
Directors Patsy Beeson Sebastian HannaPeggy Bennett Peter KedwellMatt Desbarbieux Jo Anne Mathew
Committee Chairs Auction ........................................ Joan TookeBus Tour, Newsletter, Evenings ..Patsy BeesonGarden Tour ................................Mary Shaw-RimmingtonGovernance .................................Charles WickettHouse Tour ..................................Blaise Gaetz Anna GrayMedia .......................................... Jo Anne MathewMembership ................................Peggy BennettPier Group ...................................Phil GoldsmithProjects/Downtown Task Force ..Tom CruickshankProperty & HPH Rep. .................Ed PamenterScholarship ..................................Trish DoneySocial ...........................................Peter KedwellWebsite ........................................Sebastian Hanna
The ACO was incorporated in 1933 for the preservation of the best examples of architecture in the province and for the preservation of its places of natural beauty.
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Evenings with the ACO & Friends: The Masseys at HomeSaturday, June 14th, 1 o'clockStarting at St. Mark’s Church, King Street
Vincent Massey was Canada’s fi rst Canadian-born Governor General. In 1918 he bought a property, Batterwood, –
now 400 acres – on the Ganaraska River at Canton, where he built a handsome Georgian-style house, initially as his country home but later his permanent residence. There he entertained extensively, including, in 1959, the Queen and
Prince Philip whom he escorted to St. Mark’s Church in Port Hope during their visit.
Originally also on the Batterwood estate was Durham House, a delight-ful country abode, which was occupied
for many years by Vincent’s sons, fi rst Lionel, and later Hart and his wife Melodie. We will meet fi rst at St. Mark’s Church on King Street, which contains various legacies of the Royal visit, and where Massey himself is buried. We will then drive to Bat-terwood, now owned by Ian and Daphne Angus, where we will have a tour, recalling the house as it was in Massey’s time, and then enjoy afternoon tea in the drawing room. Following this we will drive to nearby Durham House, owned today by Will and Jenny Ryan, where we will also have a tour, followed by wine and refreshments. Numbers are limited to 30 due to touring constraints. Car-sharing will be organized and maps provided. $20.00 members, $25.00 non-members, including all refreshments. To book, make out cheque to 'ACO Port Hope, Masseys'. And mail/deliver to 8 King St., Port Hope, L1A 2R4 (include your e-mail and tel. no.).
w w w . p o r t h o p e f r i e n d s o f m u s i c . c a
TSO BRASS ENSEMBLE
Port Hope United ChurchSaturday December 14, 2013, 7:30 PM
TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Port Hope United ChurchFriday February 7, 2014, 7:30 PM
NEW ORFORD STRING QUARTET
Port Hope United ChurchSunday March 30, 2014, 3:00 PM
TERESA WALTERS, piano
Cameco Capitol Arts Centre, Port HopeSunday May 18, 2014, 3:00 PM
MADAWASKA QUARTET
Cameco Capitol Arts Centre, Port HopeSunday November 17, 2013, 3:00 PM
BACH TO THE FUTURE, jazz quartet
Port Hope United ChurchSaturday May 31, 2014, 7:30 PM
STARS OF TOMORROW, with Iain Scott
St. Peter’s Anglican Church, CobourgSaturday March 29, 2014, 3:00 PM
w w w . p o r t h o p e f r i e n d s o f m u s i c . c a
TSO BRASS ENSEMBLE
Port Hope United ChurchSaturday December 14, 2013, 7:30 PM
TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
Port Hope United ChurchFriday February 7, 2014, 7:30 PM
NEW ORFORD STRING QUARTET
Port Hope United ChurchSunday March 30, 2014, 3:00 PM
TERESA WALTERS, piano
Cameco Capitol Arts Centre, Port HopeSunday May 18, 2014, 3:00 PM
MADAWASKA QUARTET
Cameco Capitol Arts Centre, Port HopeSunday November 17, 2013, 3:00 PM
BACH TO THE FUTURE, jazz quartet
Port Hope United ChurchSaturday May 31, 2014, 7:30 PM
STARS OF TOMORROW, with Iain Scott
St. Peter’s Anglican Church, CobourgSaturday March 29, 2014, 3:00 PM
Report on Antiques & Artifacts 2014April 27th, 2014
Antiques & Artifacts can be celebrated not only as the 10th annual Auction
and Tag Sale, but also as the most successful. How does one measure success? There are many indica-tors – a record number of donors, bidders and attendees; enthusiastic attendees who stayed until all 250 items were auctioned; com-puters that worked; appraisers and event volunteers who pro-fessionally fulfi lled their tasks; two auctioneers who obviously enjoyed working together; exceptional support from the staff of the Town Park Recreation Centre; movers who took pride in their work and even helped place the items; and a commit-tee that functioned brilliantly as a team. One could go on.
We aim to present a good event that attracts a cross-section of people and both entertains and provides op-
portunities to purchase previously loved items at many price points. The results indicate that we achieved this in 2014. The preliminary fi nancial results follow. The auction sales were $18,934; the tag and silent auction together raised $5,389, and the four ‘R Us areas totalled $3,231. Total revenues to date are a record $27,644. These will reach $28,000 as we have consigned one piece to Waddingtons in Toronto. Our net profi t will exceed $21,000. Expenses are higher than 2013 because of an increase in rent and moving charges due to the record number of donations. We also had costs as-sociated with establishing our own website. Those related to service to the computers and the software have been charged to the ABC Project fund. We have now started on Antiques & Artifacts 2015. Ap-proximately 15 would-be donors to the 2014 event were asked to wait, and their items will be shortly moved into the chapel. This project seems to have gained a life of its own!
Joan Tooke for the Antiques & Artifacts CommitteeFionna Barrington, Judith Copeland, Felicity Corelli, Olga
Cwiek, Mary Dodge-Bovaird, Carrol Levin, Ed and Lou Pamenter, Will Ryan, Shelagh Stewart, Mary Trevor
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ACO Matters June 2014
by Patsy Beeson
North of Port Hope, a mile short of Garden Hill, High-way 10 swings west at the 7th Concession, chases it briefly, then remembers itself and continues north.
Executing this wriggle it passes a sturdy Anglican Church, St. Paul’s, on the left. This year, on June 24th, St. Paul’s celebrates its one hundredth birthday. It wasn’t the first church on the site. In 1842 a white clapboard church – a pocket-sized version of Port Hope’s St. Mark’s - was built here in the forest by the inhabitants of the hamlet of Perrytown. Perrytown got its name from one John Perry, known as “Saw Log Perry” for his carpentering skills and thought to have settled here around 1820. Then others arrived, mainly Northern Irish, and one hears of Wilsons, Nobles, Retallicks and Corbetts early on, names which recur over the years.Prior to the clapboard church’s construction, Perrytown’s Anglicans had walked every Sunday for three and a half hilly, wooded miles along the 7th Line to Francis Coates’s house at Highway 28 to worship. And to Mr. Coates’s also had trudged the Reverend Dr. Jonathon Shortt, for nine miles up Highway 28 from Port Hope, after finishing his service at St. John’s (later re-named St. Mark’s), to hold another service there. After the clapboard church was built, he continued to walk, now up Highway 10, to officiate there for eight more years. However, in 1853 one is gratified to see in the Parish account book, “balance on horse hire for the Rev. Jonathon Shortt - three shillings”; so in later years he occasionally rode. But good Dr. Shortt notwithstanding, a resident min-ister was essential. So at Shortt’s invitation the Reverend Vincentius Ferrerius Mayerhoffer arrived. Mayerhoffer was a remarkable figure born in 1784 in Hungary. Ordained a Franciscan priest, he became a military chaplain in a Hungarian regiment in Napoleon’s army during the Russian campaign, was taken prisoner, then freed, and later, after further military actions, he emigrated to the United States. Then he left the Catholic Church and travelled to ‘Little
York’ in Canada where he opened a drugstore, married, and joined the Episcopalian Church. After missionary work and the erection of three churches he retired, but came to Perrytown in 1853 at Dr. Shortt’s request, where he “raised a numerous and respectable congregation” before ill-health cut short his tenure. Meantime Perrytown was growing. Within ten years it was a post village (receiving mail on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays), with one general store, one carriage and wagon shop, one shoe shop, four churches (the godly had their priorities) and a ‘good school’. Only the school sur-vives today, now a home. But back in 1883, as Perrytown’s numbers grew, the deteriorating small wooden church no longer sufficed. Yet nothing was done until, in 1912, the Rev. Edward Morris arrived who determinedly put in process the building of a new church, modelled on an English one he knew. Building and Finance committees were formed (Wilsons and Nobles conspicuously represented), and the resolution made to “owe no man anything”, to which to their credit they adhered.Cecil Mercer from Elizabethville was appointed builder, and on June 24th, 1914, the Rev. Principal O’Meara of Wycliffe College laid the cornerstone. Incredibly, the church was up within five months. The entire congregation united behind the effort, affording labour, money or both. A Bazaar, fol-lowed by a Sale of Articles - even the old church tower, fetching the un-towering sum of $13! - and at least four ‘fowl suppers’ held in the huge Drive Shed, helped fund-raise. Forty-four men with teams of horses donated endless hours transporting stones to the site, and slowly the church rose up from the fields. The brothers Mark and Henry Noble vied fiercely as to which would offer more hours. From his farm’s position higher up the hill Mark would note Henry’s horses hauling stones churchwards and hasten to outdo him. The final tally: Mark 9 half-days; Henry 8 half-days. Even family buggies returning from shopping trips to Port Hope would gather stones. So when the church finally opened, nothing, certainly not the heavy downpour, could diminish the shared pride
PERRYTOWN CHURCH, 100 YEARS YOUNG on JUNE 24th, 2014
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Willowae, 7132 Campbell Road, Campbellcroft, ON L0A 1B0Ph: 905-797-2424 • Cell: 416-457-1205
as the Very Reverend James Fielding Sweeny, Bishop of Toronto, consecrated the building. It was the 14th Novem-ber, 1914, three months after the outbreak of the Great War. A place of prayer could not have been better timed. Over the years Strawberry Festivals and Fowl Suppers were customary ways of raising funds; happy events which united the parishioners. In her book, If Memory Serves, Ona Gardiner describes a 1936 supper in the Drive Shed. The men strewed the floor with sawdust and decorated the walls with evergreens, built a platform for the Port Hope Band and lit the place with coal oil lamps. A bee was held to kill, pluck and clean the chickens, after which they were roasted. All finally sat down to a feast of ham or stuffed chicken with gravy and pickles, followed by bread, buns, cakes, and pies with lashings of cream. A royal feast in a Depression Era. In the early days, graves were dug by the family, or, for $6, by fellow parishioners. Ona tells a tale of when Edwin Wilson and Albert Clarkson were excavating a grave for a burial next day. The soil was hard, a spade struck the adjacent grave, and a skull rolled out into their newly dug hole. Albert placed it on the side, to be reburied when they had finished their excavation. Suddenly to their horror they saw the newly deceased’s family advancing through the graveyard to inspect the site for next day’s burial – and there was Yorick in full view! Swiftly Albert swept off his large-brimmed hat and placed it over the skull. The family arrived grave-side, viewed it approvingly and shortly departed. When safely out of sight Albert lifted the brim of the hat, peeked under, and said “You can come out now - they’ve gone.” “In those days”, said Bobby Lesueur, a long-time pa-rishioner, “these people all cared for each other, they were very close-knit. And this remains so to this day.” Still, inexorably, over the years changes have occurred. Farmland was sold and by 2006 the now diverse congregation counted only two farmers. Life styles changed too. And modern gender-attitudes caught up with the church. Of thirty-eight incumbents at St. Paul’s, thirty-five were male, but three of the most recent have been women.
In 2003 St. Paul’s featured prominently in a film, which had a felicitous outcome for the church. A wartime romance called Closing the Ring, it was directed by Richard At-tenborough and starred Christopher Plummer and Shirley Maclean. So the church was temporarily transformed from a small Canadian Anglican church to a more elaborate American Roman Catholic one. One of the structures created for the film was a portico at the entrance. The parishioners loved it and, when filming ended, begged it might be left. But the film-makers ex-plained that the portico’s temporary nature wouldn’t survive a rain-storm. Instead, they provided the plans for it. Fortuitously, in the congregation was John Belle, a Cana-dian member of the ancient British guild, the Worshipful Company of Carpenters. So over two years he and George Billington built the new portico in John’s barn. The central post had an ugly knot in it. John started to chisel it and in the end had created a work of art - an angel ascending Jacob’s Ladder, now to be seen on the inside of the portico. The Reverend Lesley Barclay, St. Paul’s most recent incumbent, arrived in September, 2011, appointed as Priest-in-Charge, part-time. “When I was contemplating retirement,” she said, “I re-quested a part-time position as I enjoy preaching and teach-ing and the Bishop offered me this appointment. I met with the Wardens and it seemed like a good fit and it has turned out to be just that.” Her parishioners would entirely agree. There are seventy of them on the books, with a weekly at-tendance of 35 to 40. So what is planned for St. Paul’s 100th birthday on June 24th? “There is a celebration of the anniversary on Sunday, June 22 at 10:00am when Archbishop Colin Johnson of the Diocese of Toronto will be our Celebrant. A reception will follow, and there will be a power point presentation cover-ing the past few decades of the parish with some histori-cal artifacts on display. The public is welcome to come celebrate with us, and former members will receive an invitation to this celebration. And a Musical Event will be presented to which the public is invited.”
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ACO Matters June 2014
The Lee Higginson AGM Roundup
Trish Doney, Susan Carmichael and our 50th Anniversary Cake
John Davidson, Robert Sculthorpe, Chris Wallace
Matt Desbarbieux, Charles Wickett, Tom Cruickshank
Marielle Lambert, Marie Jones, David Haldenby
Barb Winfield and Josie Calip Phil Goldsmith, Irina Orlowski, Heather Patterson
Peter Kedwell, Judith Copeland
Carlos Goncalves, Brigitte & Dennis Hogarth
Ed Pamenter, Irina Orlowski, John Davidson
Members arrive for the AGM
New President Charles Wickett and Past-President Trish Doney
Peter Stokes
Catherine Lees, Ron Brown, Joanne Mathews
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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS If you have questions or comments, we would like to receive them and will pass them on to be answered by the appropriate member of the board.
If the subject is of general interest, we shall publish the question and answer.
Cobourg and Port Hope ACO Branches Bus Tour 2014Wed. June 11th, 2014
From the middle of the 19th century and for over one hundred years Lindsay was a bustling place. Situ-ated on the Scugog River between Lakes Sturgeon
and Scugog, its waters were once home to a wide variety of steamboats. To convey both passengers and cargo to and from these steamboats Lindsay had no less than four railway lines crisscrossing the town. Two of them went down major residential streets – nowadays the track loca-tions are handsome boulevards. All this industry resulted in a wealthy citizenry who built themselves substantial homes, churches and stores. We will get an overview of this as a local guide gives us a running commentary as our bus visits the handsome residential areas and we tour two of the homes. That will be in the afternoon.
However in the morning – and the reason that the tour is later this year than usual – is that we will be visit-ing one of Ontario’s fi rst cottage areas, Sturgeon Point, across the river from Lindsay. We have been lucky to secure a visit to Swannanoa, a splendid ‘cottage’ built by industrialist Sir Joseph Flavelle in 1907. Some eight years later his wife was instrumental in having built a unique octagonal church which serves all faiths and we will also visit that. On our way home we will see Manvers Hall, a handsome Victorian pile incorporating elements of Greek, Gothic and Queen Anne revival architecture – something for everyone! It is set in fi ve acres of land-scaped grounds. We will, as usual include lunch, tea, and our famous homeward-bound refreshments. Cost will be $80 for members, $85 for non-members. Please indicate your interest by emailing [email protected] and delivering your cheque, payable to ACO Cobourg, shortly thereafter to 184 Ontario St., Cobourg. (SE corner of Ontario at Albert). Receipt of your cheque will guarantee your place on the bus. If you are unable to come on the day we will, if we can, fi nd a replacement from the wait-ing list, but we regret we cannot otherwise make refunds.
Patrick + Dee McGeeSales Representatives
We Specialize in“Unique” Properties
Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage
[email protected] www.mcgees.ca
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ACO Matters June 2014
ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVANCY OF ONTARIOPORT HOPE BRANCH
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORMPlease enroll me as a member of the Port Hope Branch of the Architectural Conser-vancy of Ontario. I have indicated below my/our applicable membership category.
Name(s): ___________________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
Telephone: __________________________________________________
E-Mail: ____________________________________________________
Individual Member: $35 ___________
Household Membership: $40 ___________
Student: $12 ___________
Total Enclosed: ___________
House Tour Volunteer □ Receiving ACO Matters by email
□
Garden Tour Volunteer □ Antiques & Artifacts Volunteer □Web Site Design & Maintenance□ Publicity / Public Relations □Design & Mounting Displays / Outreach
□
Please fi ll out this form and mail it with your cheque to:
ACO–Port Hope BranchPO Box 563, Port Hope, Ont. L1A 3Z4
www.ACOPortHope.ca
905-396-731326 Bramley St N , Port Hope, ON L1A 1V3
www.etextimage.com [email protected]
Patricia McCawGrAPHiC & WeB DeSiGN; WeBSite HOStiNG
MAJOR UPCOMING EVENTSDOORS OPEN
Saturday & Sunday, June 7 & 8
BUS TOUR TO LINDSAYWednesday, June 11th (see p. 7)
EVENINGS: ‘AT HOME WITH THE MASSEYS’Saturday, June 14, 1pm. (see p. 3)
SUMMER 50th ANNIVERSARY PICNIC Sunday, August 10th (see p. 1)
ACO BOOTH AT AGRICULTURAL FAIRSept. 12-14
EVENINGS: LECTURESeptember (more details later)
48th ANNUAL ACO HOUSE TOURSaturday, Oct. 4th
The Advantages of E-mail!We were delighted to receive this letter from a member in response to our last issue, after she received her copy by e-mail:"I just opened the new online news letter,
and it is WONDERFUL! I love it, congratulations. The colour is a great addition, love the photos. I feel sorry for members who are not online. Perhaps this will convince them to try? WELL DONE!"
