St. Mary's Anglican Church

St. Mary's Anglican Church. . , In 1846 the Village of Newboro was a thriving hamlet of about 80 inhabitants. The devout of Anglican faith held their first meetings in an upper room of Benjamin Tett's home at 1 Main Street in Newboro. A saddlebag preacher, the Reverend F. Tremayne, was their priest from 1839 to 1857. During 1849 to 1850 the St. Mary's congregation built their church here at this site. , Benjamin Tett purchased the land for the church and paid the wages of the workmen who built it. The stone was quarried on the Chamberlin farm near Little Rideau Lake and drawn to the building site by 40 teams of horses. Trees were felled and lumber sawn at Buce Bay on Devil Lake. Butternut logs were fashioned into the pew boxes. The contractors, the Stanton Brothers, were assisted by local masons and carpenters. When the last shingle was to be nailed to the roof, the carpenter called for John Poole Tett, Benjamin's son, to swing the hammer. Thus two generations of the Tett family worked on the church. , Built in simple Gothic Revival style, this church has high walls and a belfry with a short spire on a square tower. Beautiful stained glass adorns its windows. One features distinctive Tiffany glass. Inside there is a simple but beautiful altar with the communion rail circling two sides of it. To the left front is a rostrum pulpit; to the right the organ and choir stalls. There is a 2nd floor balcony above the front entrance, a rare feature for small churches from this period. Handsome woodwork attests to the craftsmanship of the builders and the care of its loyal congregation over the past many decades. , St. Mary's has been the Mother Church of other nearby communities since its construction:

1850 , Newboro, Newboyne, Leeds Rear, Lansdowne Rear, Delta , 1862 , Newboro, Newboyne, Leeds Rear - Set Apart: Lansdowne Rear, Delta , 1862 , Newboro, Newboyne, Portland - Set Apart: Leeds Rear , 1889 , Newboro, Portland, Elgin - Set Apart: Newboyne , 1965 , Newboro, Elgin, Westport, Bedford Mills - Set Apart: Portland

Today Newboro, Elgin, Westport, and Bedford Mills form the Parish of Lakes and Locks. , From the beginning St. Mary's had strong support from local women's organizations. In 1880 the Women's Auxiliary of the Diocese of Ontario held its inaugural meeting in Ottawa and included observers from Newboro. In 1885 there was a Ladies' Aid Society, and in 1890 there were both Junior and Senior Ladies' Guilds. In 1896 the Women's Missionary Society was formed and funding for overseas missionary work has been a St. Mary's priority that continues to this day., The congregation of St. Mary's celebrated the church's 170th anniversary in June of 2020.