St. Mary's Anglican Church (Novar, Ont.) is part of the St. Mary's Anglican Parish (Novar, Ont.).
On April 8, 1889, the lot for St. Mary's was purchased by Rev. Rural Dean Llwyd on behalf of the Bishop. The church was started around 1890; by 1893 the church was still in need of work. At this time, Rev. H.C. Aylwin was ministering St. Mary's as part of his regular schedule, working out of Christ Anglican Church (Ilfracombe, Ont.). The East window and new steps were installed in June 1894. Shortly afterwards, on May 24, 1902, the church was struck by lightning and burned down.
The congregation and diocese moved quickly to rebuilt; opening service for the new church was held on December 17, 1902. Much of the work was done by D.A. McLennan from Huntsville. The bell was delivered from Tray, New York on October 19, 1905, and promptly installed.
The church held another opening service on July 20, 1930, having been cleaned up and renovated.
The church contains the historic altar from Rosseau, dating from the time of the Reverend William Newton and the baptismal font from St. Jude's Anglican Church (Hoodstown, Ont.) which no longer exists.
Those who have served St. Mary's include: Rev. H.C. Aylwin (1892-?)
Sources:
- "Ilfracombe Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 5, no. 7 (1893): 3-4. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_004_1893July.
- "Ilfracombe Mission", The Algoma Missionary News 6, no. 7 (1894): 3-4. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_004_1894July.
- "Novar new church opened" The Algoma Missionary News 15, no. 2 (1903): 8-9. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_001_006_1903Feb.
- "Novar", The Algoma Missionary News 26, no. 4 (1930): 18. Algoma University Archives, 2009-081_002_002_1930JulAug.
- "St. Mary's, Novar Locke Family's Home Church", The Algoma Anglican 9, no. 10 (1965): 4. Algoma University Archives, 2013-086_001_003_1965Nov.
- Gary Denniss, "A Brief History of the Churches in Muskoka", 1996, Synod of the Diocese of Algoma fonds, Algoma University Archives, 2009-156_002_009.