"Shades of yesteryear" (1825-1876)
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Original contents at the time of placing the cache, included a "Homemade Geo-caching T-shirt" and certificate for FTF, a log book with pencil, (3) TB's to start. The usual starter swag and Geo-caching manifest. Please remember to trade even or trade up. The cache container is a mid sized 4 x 6 x 1.5 deep lock "n" lock container. Any spoiler pics or logs will be removed by the cache owner. The fun is in the finding and so with that...Happy Caching to all who dare to have extreme fun.
As you drive up this little known road to the Crowe Bridge Conservation Authority’s Office, you pass through what seems like shades of the past. At N44 28.945’ W077 41.225’ the remains of a foundation and a wooden plaque are located about 1/2 km north of Highway #7, on the west bank of the Crowe River. It is located in the woods between the entrance road to the Conservation area and the riverbank. It is the first tell tale sign of a long forgotten story within the village of Marmora. It reads…
“THE RIVERSIDE CHEESE FACTORY”
The Riverside Cheese Factory was built on this site during the 1890's. Although only a two-man operation, production was in excess of 800 pounds per day. Only cheddar cheese was made. The cheese factory was torn down when it became economically unfeasible to continue operations.
Then as you continue north down the laneway on the left hand side, more remnants of days gone by abound as you see remains of yet more old foundations. As you come down the laneway at N44 29.170’ W077 41.343’ you will enter the parking lot and the remainder of your trip will be on foot. This is a beautiful walk, which will take you past the Crowe River dam. The trail is very wide (10-15 ft) but take extra care with small children, near the dam where the edge of the path has no barrier and the drop is about 30 feet. As you travel down the trail past the dam you will find the remaining portions are small child friendly and you can let go of their hand.This is a beautiful trail no matter the season, however we found it beautiful in the fall. As you continue down the trail, you will come up to the ruins of “Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church”, and is all that is left of the original church which was used from 1825 to 1876. Part of the old church still remains as a kind of a shrine, which was restored in 1964.
The first church to be built in Marmora was the Catholic Church, St. Matilda (later known as Sacred Heart). It was located on the west bank of the Crowe River, near the dam.
The Honourable Peter McGill of Montreal, who was the principal creditor of the Blairton Ironworks, gave two acres of land to Alexander Macdonell on which to build a church in Marmora. Alexander Macdonell was the first Catholic Bishop assigned to Upper Canada at the time. Anthony Monahan was the Ironworks Manager between the years of 1825 and 1830 and he had the task of organizing the community in an effort to raise the necessary funds, material and labour in which to build Marmora's first church. It is believed the job was made easier by the fact that the church was to be used by all of the approximately 150-200 inhabitants living in Marmora at the time. The church when finished, measured 25' in width by 43' in length. It was completely constructed from local limestone, which was quarried from a rock-pit also located on the west bank of Crowe River. Mounted at the peak of the gable roof was a cross made from pig iron. The local men working at the Ironworks manufactured the cross. (A plaque erected on the opposite side of the damn from here, tells of the Marmora Ironworks {1823} which is located 1/2 km N. of Highway #7 in Marmora on the east bank of the Crowe river near the dam.) It is in a park beyond the Wolf Station tourism center.
After the church was abandoned in the early 1870's, the cross was removed and placed on the roof of the one-room Sacred Heart School in Marmora. It was later removed from there and placed on the Separate School in Deloro. Eventually, it was brought to Marmora and bolted to the large white wooden cross which stands at the east end of Sacred Heart Cemetery. The original iron cross from the little church has been restored and is now mounted on the wall directly above the entrance vestibule as one enters Sacred Heart Church, Marmora. After years of neglect, the little church was slowly abandoned as other denominations erected their own churches closer to the heart and business section of the Village of Marmora.
As you proceed further on the trail you will discover a gravestone. At one time there were 30 individuals buried in this burial ground and there are still a few left, but none of them have stones. The graveyard and church were vandalized. Many stones were broken and because of this, several families had the remains of their loved ones taken to the newer Sacred Heart Church on Bursthall Street. Margret Hughes is not buried here. She was buried in the Common Cemetery (Marmora Protestant Cemetery) at the time of her death. Her older brother, wishing to have her interred in the Catholic (on Bursthall St.) burial ground, made a trip to Belleville and had the very large stone cut for her. Upon his arrival in Marmora, he had the stone placed in the Sacred Heart Church grounds. However, before he was able to make arrangements for her removal from the Common Cemetery to the new Sacred Heart Church graveyard, he died. The first priest of this newly-built Catholic Church, wanting to preserve some of the original church on the west bank of the Crowe River, had Margret's stone removed to this spot, in the late 1890's.
Recently in a local paper, the following article was written...
Crosses were removed, broken or burned
Monday September 18, 2006
Marmora and Lake - Saint Matilda’s Church (later known as Sacred Heart), an historical site located on the west bank of the Crowe River, was built in 1825 and until 1876 was used by worshippers of all denominations. The original stone foundation of Saint Matilda’s, the first Catholic church in Marmora, was restored in 1964 and recent upgrades in the form of repairing, repainting, and parging have taken place.
The historical site contains the burial grounds of early settlers, with 31 graves having been identified and marked with white crosses in preparation for the 2005 Doors Open Ontario tour.
Doug Lynch, Property Chairperson of Parish Council for Sacred Heart, said recently, “Efforts to maintain the historical site in its natural setting have struggled with senseless activities demonstrated by some individuals. All of the crosses that identified the graves have been removed, broken or burned.”
He urges residents of Marmora to “identify and report those involved in any activity which is undeserving of the historical site.”
On May 7th 2006, freshair4me, shaker962 and Kay_Kay had discovered this little gem while up here Scuba diving and we wanted to place a cache here for others to enjoy. Please see the before and after pictures we have included. This is a historical site that you will walk through, please enjoy and treat it with respect.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
10 zrgref bss gur genvy naq hc gur uvyy vf jurer lbh svaq vg vs lbh jvyy. Erzrzore gung, jura cynpvat vg onpx, gur pnpur vf jryy pnzb'q naq jr qba'g jnag vg gb ynpx. Gur pnpur vf fnsr naq vf abg ng n ybff rira jura gur nern vf fheebhaqrq va gerrf, qroevf, ebpxf naq zbff. Gubfr gung xrrc ivtvy va urer jvyy nterr, gbhtu vg vf abg, whfg ybbx naq lbh jvyy frr.