St. Alban’s Anglican Church Adolphustown 10419 Highway 33 at the village of Adolphustown The cornerstone for the church was laid June 16^th, 1884 during the Loyalist Centennial celebration in Adolphustown, by His Honor, J.B. Robinson Esq., Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. The church officially opened in 1890. After the congregation disbanded in 2018, a small group of parishioners came together to form the “Friends of St. Alban’s,” a registered charity, now overseeing “St. Alban’s Centre.” Further information is available on their Website.

St. Alban’s Church, Adolphustown 2021

January 9 1884 Church Guardian

March 5 1884 Church Guardian

May 8 1884 Weekly British Whig

Mar 15 1890 Kingston Daily News

June 24 1890 Kingston Daily News

St. Alban’s 1892

Some Early Photos
Interior of St. Alban’s ca 1912	The Old Bell, now on display inside the church
St. Alban’s Interior 2019	The “Rose Window” 2019
Confirmation Certificate of Wilhelmina Fitchett St. Alban’s October 5, 1893	Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Thanksgiving Service June 20, 1897
The Memorial Church A Sketch by the Rev. R.S. Forneri Adolphustown, December 1888 The Centenary of the settlement of old Canada by the expatriated Loyalists, was, in the summer of 1884, celebrated in several parts of the Province of Ontario and nowhere more enthusiastically than in Adolphus township on the Bay of Quinte on the spot it is said, where the first detachment of the refuges landed. It was natural, at a time when Loyalist memories were being stirred to their depths, by the preparations for the Centennial demonstration, that the parishioners of the old Township of Adolphus, once “almost the centre of Canada,” proud of their ancestry, in requiring to build a new church, instead of their superannuated frame and plaster place of worship, should resolve to erect a Memorial Church to their brave grand-fathers. And having thus resolved, with commendable spirit, they determined to make it as worthy and complete a memorial as they could. A small, brick parish Church answering their modest requirements, would have cost but $3,000; they resolved to expend seven or eight thousand dollars on a Monumental Church of chaste design and finish, according to plans submitted to them by Kingston architects, Messrs. Power and Son. On the 16^th day of June, 1884, the Corner stone of the sacred edifice was laid. Autumn of the following year saw it completed externally (save the spire) at a cost of $5,000, every dollar of which was paid up in less than twelve months. The Church is of the early English Gothic style, solidly built of limestone from the Kingston quarries. At the south side is the main entrance porch; an elegant bell tower octagonal below and circular above, ascends at the junction of the nave and chancel. The chancel terminates in half a decagon, with a window in each face. The dimensions of the nave are 50 feet by 30 feet and of the chancel 24 feet by 30 feet, a fine arch separating these two parts of the church. It stands on a choice spot of land, the gift of one of the leading parishioners, J.J. Watson, Esq., P.M., and from a delightful elevation overlooks, at a short distance, the beautiful Bay of Quinte, an object of interest to travelers on the steamboats that in summer daily pass by. One feature of the unfinished interior must be specially mentioned, for it is that which more than any other will give it the character of a U.E.L. Memorial Church – the Mural Tablets. Just above the wainscoting, will run all round the walls of the Church a band of coloured tiles and in this band will be inserted polished purple and buff tablets, one foot square, placed diamond fashion angle to angle until the circle is completed. These tablets are to contain the names of the U.E. Loyalists. Thus, names, which are brightly historical will be preserved from the oblivion to which their unmarked graves and crumbling tombstones would consign them. There will they remain for the remembrance and honour of successive generations.
Plans for St. Alban’s Church, Adolphustown
Plaque at St. Alban’s unveiled in 1960

Further Information

The Memorial Church