It will be the end of an era in Minto with the closure of its last pioneer country churches.
Cotswold (Zion) United Church will hold its final service on April 19, 2009 at 2:30pm. The service brings to a close over a century of worship in Minto.
Church member Anne South said Cotswold Church has undergone many changes in its history. There were once 10 full time country churches in Minto Township, and up until now, Cotswold was the only functioning church remaining.
The church also was the only remaining landmark of the once bustling community of Cotswold (between Harriston and Teviotdale).
All members, former members, adherents, and friends of Cotswold United Church are invited to the closing worship service in conjunction with Bruce Presbytery. A special choir, comprised of some of the former church choir members will provide special music for the day, along with accompanist Jill Dann, the current pianist for the congregation.
Many memories will be shared before and after this final service. All are welcome. When the walls come down it will be the end of another era for the community, said South.
The property will be absorbed into the adjacent farm property. An auction will be held at a later date for anyone interested in purchasing mementoes from the building.
About Cotswold
Wikipedia states the name Cotswold is English, after a range of hills in the Midlands renowned for sheep grazing. The name does not reflect the backgrounds of the early settlers in the district, most of whom where Scottish and Irish; legend says that a settler imported sheep from Cotswold hills and borrowed the name for the post office.
The community did have a couple stores, one of which also functioned as the post office The early settlement had a sawmill, cobbler, gristmill, log schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, and cheese factory.
The Cotswold Cheese factory (Minto and Arthur Cheese and Butter Manufacturing Company Limited) opened in 1881 and was successful in its 30 years of business, but was still only a marginal operation. Records show a change in ownership of various businesses. The community declined as the roads to Palmerston and Harriston improved. The post office, the last holdout, closed in 1914. After 50 years of settlement, most of Cotswold’s pioneers were gone.
Some family names of the Cotswold pioneers included, Adams, Calder, Campbell, Conquest, Darroch, Greenwood, William Hughes, Lawless, Mckenzie, Reid, Robertson, and Wilson.
A bit of church history
In February of 1868, three-quarters of an acre of land were purchased from the Crown to build a church on the property under the Weslyan Methodist banner.
In 1873, the building and property was purchased by the Presbyterians and a new Methodist church built in Teviotdale. As a result, Zion Church, Cotswold, was organized into a mission station under the charge of the Guelph Presbytery. Students came from Knox College and served seven months of each year. However weekly prayer meetings were held throughout the year, most often held in homes.
The first ordained minister was Rev. Cameron, of Harriston, who served the full year.
In 1896, Zion Church was joined with the Rothsay charge having Rev. Edmonson as minister. In 1910, a church shed was built to tie up the horses. In 1950, the shed was sold as it was no longer needed. Some may remember that in the 1930s, the shed was also used as a skating rink.
In 1925, Zion Presbyterian Church entered union with the Methodists and Congregationalists congregations across Canada and so became the Zion United Church of Canada, Cotswold. Over the years, the Cotswold congregation hosted an active Sunday school, a choir, Women’s Missionary Society, U.C.W. and young people’s group.
