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Opened in 1829 St. Thomas’s Church had offered Anglican traditions to residents of the Spring Brook and nearby communities for 150 years as of 2003" - This quote, from the
Anglican Parish of New London website, is somewhat misleading, in that it encourages the reader to believe, among other things, that the present church is also the first St. Thomas' Church of 1829. This is not the case, as after many years of neglect, the 1829 church had fallen into a state of dilapidation, forcing the construction of the present church.
First, the old building was moved south a couple of hundred feet to the corner, then construction on this building took place in the summer and fall of 1876. (After serving as a barn for several years, the old church was burned down.) The opening service took place on January 28, 1877 and consecration of the church was accomplished on May 29, 1877.
Through the years it has undergone several renovations and updates. The most important one may have been the removal of the church's spire in 1956, necessitated by continual deterioration over the years.
The home page of the
Anglican Parish of New London website shows a small photo of the church with only a hipped roof for a spire. The spire has been, at some time since that photo was taken, replaced, as today it sports an impressive stepped steeple with a second belfry topped with a tall, slender spire.
Following is a short history of St. Thomas' Anglican consisting of excerpts from a history of the New London Anglican Parish, by the Church History Committee, published in 2001.
A Brief History of
St. Thomas's Anglican Church
The frame of the first church was built in the summer of 1826 on the site of the present building, but it had a life of only a few weeks as it blew down in an autumn storm. [At this time St. Thomas's Cemetery did not yet exist.]That the congregation was not daunted by this poor start is clear from a report made by Archdeacon Willis, Bishop Inglis' commissary and successor as rector of St. Paul's, Halifax, who visited the Island in the summer of the following year, 1827. He wrote that in New London an excellent frame, with a gallery, had already been erected, with a small chancel to extend from the eastern end, and that the people had means in hand to proceed with the furnishing of the church.
In 1830, Rev. W. Walker wrote to the S.P.G.: "At New London...the Church is finished externally...and tho' the Church
is in the vicinity of a Presbyterian meeting house, a respectable and attentive congregation is always collected." [This church was consecrated October 4, 1833 by
Bishop John Inglis, the first bishop of Nova Scotia].
They also built a stone dyke around the churchyard. This was accomplished by setting up two separated rows of stone, broad at the base and tapering towards the top, and then filling in earth between the stone rows. Dykes of this kind were expensive to build, but they were permanent, and there could be no dispute about their location. Posts and wire could be added if desired. The St. Thomas dyke stood for a century and was removed only in 1958....
Beginning of the New Church
The old church was moved to the nearby corner where two roads met, and it continued to be used for worship while the new building was rising. It is still remembered by older members of the community when it served as a hall and a place to hold teas. Still later it was moved farther up in Ben Pillman's field and became a barn. It was burned down [years later].
Most of the work of construction was done in the summer and autumn of 1876, and the building was opened on a cold and stormy day, January 28, 1877, in the presence of a large congregation. The Reverend David Fitzgerald, Rector of St. Paul's, preached the sermon. All debts being paid, Bishop Binney consecrated the new St. Thomas's, May 29, 1877.
[In 1903-04] at St. Thomas's a new ceiling was built, a new east window and 'Communion Panel' were installed, — the gift of the Rector, — and new hangings were presented by the Rector's wife.
[In 1949] the 120th anniversary of the St. Thomas congregation was observed and the church building was improved in several ways.
In 1956 at St. Thomas's the spire had to be removed after standing for seventy years. A new foundation [was] placed under the church, the grounds and cemetery [were] levelled and the hall painted.
From Island Lives