Claude Presbyterian Church History:  1843 – 2005

Our congregation was founded in 1843.  Worship services were first held in a barn on the Clark farm. It was located on the southwest corner of the Inglewood Sideroad.  The congregation’s first building was constructed on the west side of Hwy. 10 across from the present church.  Dedicated in 1850, it was a modest low frame building described by John Smith, M.P.P., as having a door at one end and three windows on either side.    During these years, a portion of a large tree trunk served as a pulpit and the congregation sat on primitive pews made from rough, hand-hewn planks of wood balanced on wooden blocks.  All the men sat on one side and the women and children sat on the other! 

As the years passed, the congregation of Claude grew and eventually, a larger church was needed.  In 1870, the site of the present church was purchased from James Campbell for $135.00.  Local architects, carpenters, and brickmen, designed and constructed the church for the total sum cost of $2,300.00 The building they created featured many characteristics of vernacular Gothic church architecture, including its polychromatic brickwork, Gothic style windows, a 120-foot tower and steeple, and it opened debt free! The steeple was originally clad of tin, but was reclad with copper in the summer of 1991. 

The original design of the church had a centre aisle down the middle however in the 1880's a decision was made to switch to two side aisles and to accommodate the change, it was necessary to add the two side porches that we still have today.  The original Sunday School for Claude was located across the road from the church.  It was destroyed by fire in 1914.  A year later, a new Sunday School / Church Hall was added to the rear of the church at a cost of $3,044.00.  This new addition was built by local craftsmen using the beautiful red bricks from Cheltenham Brickyard.

 A cast-iron coal oil lamp from the original church building can still be seen in our church today. It is hanging in the front entrance.  In 1907, brighter, brass, coal oil lamps were purchased.  Two of the original 1907 lamps hang in the front of the sanctuary. They were converted to electric lamps when electricity was installed in the church in the 1930’s.  

In 1992, extensive renovations were made to the interior of the church and at that time additional features from the early days were identified. The scrollwork that is displayed across the front of the church was discovered and restored. The inscription, taken from Habakkuk 2: 20 reads – “The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him.”  The scripture text is written in 12-inch letters highlighted by a shaded ribbon. Painted over for nearly forty years, it was restored by two members of the congregation. The wainscotting used in the front porches is local three-quarter inch pine.

Other restorations completed in 1992 included the stripping and refinishing of the floor, walls, wainscotting, ceiling and the pews. The wainscotting and the pews -- both date back to the 1880’s.  The vertical boards of the wainscotting are ash, while the trim is oak and the top plate is cherry wood.  The pews were built from ash, and have a concealed pull out section in the bottom of each pew, that pulls out into the aisles for children to sit on.

The three musical instruments at the front of the church include the pump organ that was purchased in October 1905 for the sum of $127.00; the Heintzman piano purchased for $265.00 in 1915; and the Cantor electronic organ that was given to Claude Church by Hennie and John Van Ewyk and dedicated during the service of worship on October 14, 2001.  The three instruments are tuned to the same pitch and are frequently played individually during worship services and all together on special occasions.  Also rededicated on October 14, 2001 were the pulpit by the choir pews and the Communion table.  They were moved to Claude from Knox Church, Caledon East. 

The wooden cross that hangs in the arch on the front wall was constructed in 1966 by Bert Van Wout, a Snelgrove house builder.  Illuminated 24 hours a day, it represents Jesus Christ as the “Light of the World.”    This same year the church and steeple would be floodlit for the first time.

The large Union Jack flag that stands in the corner at the front of the church was given to Claude Church in 1958 by veterans from the Earls Court Legion and Band, branch 5.  It is the actual flag these veterans carried with them during the Second World War. 

Other Interesting Notes on Claude Church

The church originally operated out of an inn in the small hamlet of Claude, once known as Craig's Corners.    The settlers of Craig's Corners, mainly Irish and Scottish immigrants, boasted a post office, general store, blacksmith's shop, a Conestoga wagon factory, a few simple homes and an Inn .  The Inn was on the west side of highway 10 and served the men who drove the wagons filled with grain and other frieght from Toronto (Muddy York) north to Owen Sound.  However, the bar room on the Inn wasn't the most ideal place for the women and children to worship!

There was no running water at Claude Church until 1963, when the well was drilled.  Water for cooking was brought into the church in milk cans.

Claude Church ran its first Vacation Bible School in 1963 with an enrolment of 75 children divided in four age groups.

The Church organ required extensive repairs in 1979 because it suffered massive damage from lightning during a storm.

The concrete platform and retaining wall in front of the church was constructed courtesy of Bell Telephone in 1984 to replace the lawn they tore up to lay telephone cables.  

Annual "Fowl Suppers" were held in the Sunday School room for almost 60 years.  The poultry was supplied by members of the congregation and the birds were carved in the basement.  There even developed a "take-out" section on the south lawn of the church where people brought their plates to be laden with food.  There were lights strung between the take-out booth and the church and local and professional talent entertained the crowds.