By Kathryne Owen
St. Mathias Anglican Church on Narrows Road has seen better days. It has stood its ground since 1889, and when the church closed its doors in the late 1960s, the building lost its caretakers. The little building has a very unique architecture, designed and built like the hull of a ship. Each stain glass window perfectly measured, assembled and shipped from England to find its place in this beautifully crafted structure. Almost 60 years later, a group of citizens throughout Stanstead Township decided that this building deserved to be restored and preserved. The Heritage Fitch Bay committee was formed as a means of seeing St. Mathias Church returned to its former glory, but also with the idea of inspiring the village to reclaim it by redeveloping the church and its grounds and creating a community hub.
For this week’s Friday File, we will meet Bill Marsden and Elsie Sullivan, two of the people who have driven the project. Both current residents of Fitch Bay, they share their passion for the town’s heritage.
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