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 St Margaret's Chapel, Cape Chin, Ontario Posted by:  Bon Echo
N 45° 03.852 W 081° 19.090
17T E 474951 N 4990131
This small yet historic church is now as much of a tourist attraction as it is a functioning church.
Waymark Code: WMTGXX
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 11/23/2016
Views: 6
St. Margaret's is a small scale replica of a traditional Anglican cathedral in Zaire, Africa and named after Margaret Hayes, a prior who was a devoted church worker. St. Margaret's is located at Cape Chin North on the East Road at the intersection once known as Hayes Corners. The church is constructed from local limestone quarried for the foundations and walls and joists and rafters from timber within the immediate district.
The church is located near the "village of Cape Chin, Ontario" which is not really a village at all. There are a few country homes along the road near the church. The nearest settlement is the community of Lion's Head, 14 kms away.
Services are held on Sundays at 7:30pm from July to Labour Day with special services Victoria Day Weekend, Thanksgiving Weekend and Epiphany.
This is an excellent location for a picnic (if you need a place to stop) as there are several tables sitting around (at least during the summer) and outhouses on the maintained property. The church is open to the public during the summer - just stop in but be respectful. The sign reads "Please go in an enjoy Look around but leave for others to enjoy in years to come"
 
St. Margaret’s, Cape Chin grew directly out of the ministry of the Rev. R.W. "Daddy" James, stationed at Lion's Head from 1911 to 1934, whose unassuming but heroic pastoral care of the people of the Bruce became legendary. W. Sherwood Fox knew him intimately and devotes an entire chapter to him in The Bruce Beckons. James served several mission stations throughout the Bruce, one of which was at Cape Chin, where the people, worshipping in McCallum's schoolhouse, wanted a church of their own. James found an architect in Walkerton, Major F.B. James, and as Fox tells us, said to him: “Cape Chin wants a church, and of course one built of stone, the stone of its own hills and valleys. Its plan and lines must be in keeping with the best Anglican tradition. There's no excuse for making a house of God in the wilderness as uncouth as the wilderness itself. Now won't you sketch me a plan of just such a church to crown the crest of a hill near Cape Chin? And don’t forget lancet windows!”
The Rector’s vision was fully realized. Major James patterned the Cape Chin church on one he had designed years before in Southern Rhodesia, even to the extent of duplicating its name. A priest and an architect each with the name of James would naturally incline to the saintly Margaret who was Queen of Scotland in the 11th century. Construction began in 1925. Parson James recruited donors and joined the workforce himself, employing considerable ingenuity. For example, the wood which was hewn from nearby woods was cut by a saw powered by the drive wheels of his propped-up Model “T” Ford. Harry Oswell, James’s stepson, masterminded the interior woodwork. Contributions of money and labour came from Roman Catholics as well as Anglicans. Only the furnishings came from outside the Bruce, as indicated by the following concise paragraph from an article by Phil McNichol:
“A wealthy widow in London, Ont., donated money for the oak pews which ere made in Owen Sound; the oak pulpit and prayer desk were made in Dundas and donated by two Wiarton Railway men, C.A. Slean and A.H. Williams; the communion table was handmade and donated by Principal C.C. Waller of Huron College; the lectern came from Homesville, donated by the local people there when their church was being closed; the church bell, of solid brass, had been an old engine bell from the Grand Trunk Railway and came from the Old Grand Trunk repair yard in Stratford; the stained glass windows were donated by William Davidson, manager of the Hobbs Glass Factory of London.”
St. Margaret’s sits in the northeast corner of the Peninsula, in open country at the edge of Cape Chin Village on Forty Hill Road. The combination of three factors, the neat grafting of an entrance and bell tower into the main structure, the outwardly sloping fall of the buttresses, and the bright textured surface of the dolomite limestone, give it an exquisite appearance. The interior is laid out in a well balanced fashion and to my eyes the most striking features are the wild flower renditions which have been recently incorporated into the original stained glass windows. The Bruce is renowned for its wild flowers, many of them rare, and so these renditions are most appropriate. I identified Trillium, Lady’s Slipper, Vetchling, Wild Columbine, Trout Lily, and with the help of Peterson’s Guide, I think, Dog Violet.
St. Margaret’s is currently the Chapel of the Anglican Parish of the Bruce Peninsula. Services are held Sunday evenings during the summer. The church is maintained and cared for with great devotion and occupies a treasured place in the hearts of many both on the Bruce Peninsula and in distant places. It is well worth a lingering visit.
Source: http://www.laamb.ca/stmargaret's.htm
Church Name: St Margaret's Chapel
Church In Use (even only just occassionally): yes
Date Church Built: 1927
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Visit Instructions:
Photo required...prefer photo with church and sign showing church name...if both in one photo terrific.
Pictures required:
1. Church picture
2. Church sign (schedule sign with Church name on it &/or gate with Church name, etc).
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