Built at a cost of $9,000.00 in 1906. Over the years, four beautiful memorial windows have been installed in memory of Rev. George Sutherland and Peter Stevenson by the congregation and in memory of Mrs. Nancy Munroe Cameron by members of her family. In 2006, a beautiful memorial window was donated by William and Joan McLandress in memory of William C. and Vera E. McLandress and John H. and Ida Lazenby. The present pulpit is the one used in the old church.
Fingal is a village of about 300 inhabitants. It is located some 10 kilometers west
of St. Thomas, in the county of Elgin, which borders the north shore of Lake Erie.
Knox is one of Fingal’s two churches.
A village merchant, Robert Blackwood, determined that the church must have a
bell. On a business trip to Montreal, he laid the case of the church bell before his
commercial friends, with the result that a bell worth $600.00 and weighing 525
pounds was hung in the belfry. There, for more than 50 years, it rang the call to
worship, until it became cracked and was ultimately replaced. The present bell
is the only church bell in the Township of Southwold and is rung every Sunday to
welcome the village to the morning worship service. On a clear day it can be
heard for several miles.
Over the years the church sanctuary has remained the same as it was completed
in 1906. It was noted by a recent visitor, who grew up in the church. He recalled
his Sunday school days and was pleased to see that the sanctuary remained as
he had remembered as a child and it brought back pleasant memories of that
period.
In 1978 it was decided to add an addition to the rear or the building to include an
enlarged kitchen with a parlour on the second floor and was completed in 1979. In order to make the building easily accessible an elevator was installed in 2006.
The furnaces installed in the 1980’s were in need of replacement, and in 2009 they were replaced with high efficiency units. Air conditioning was also installed.
To complete the renovations to the basement, new lighting was installed as well
as a new floor. This brings the building up to date.
Memories: During 1866-1902, Rev. Dr. Sutherland was the minister. He presided over 162 Baptisms and married 204 couples. It is interesting to note that a number of brides and grooms were born in England, Ireland or Scotland. A few were from the United States, including Michigan and New York. There were two from Nova Scotia. It was a time when new families moved into the area, married and settled down to raise their families. Very few of the names remain in this area.
