Moncrieff Church History

Moncrieff Church is a one storey, three-bay cruciform building, constructed of red-brick. The Church has a high hip roof with gable ends and a 60-foot tower with double-hung windows. Decorative stone work is used in quoins and voussoirs above the windows. The grand entrance is a focal point that boasts stone voussoirs, arched sidelights and a large glass transom.

Moncrieff Presbyterian Church started off with circuit ministers preaching in schoolhouses or homes. With enough pledged support, however, a church was quickly erected under the supervision of Rev. Watt in February of 1893.

The church, called Bethel, was a source of some discord for the Methodist Conference which decided that Bethel Church was too close to other appointments in the charge which included Henfryn, Whitfields, Roes, Ethel and Cranbrook. The Presbyterians who had helped to build the new church, however, refused to close it and bought it from the conference.

In 1902, the congregation linked up with Knox Presbyterian Church in Cranbrook with the Rev. D.B. McCrae serving as pastor until 1910. He would be at Bethel every other Sunday.

In 1910, the Moncrieff congregation wanted a service in their own community every Sunday so they requested such from the Presbytery. Two cornerstones were laid for the new church on land sold to the congregation from local blacksmith Robert Munn.

In 1976 the congregation sold the church and it has since been renovated into a residence.

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  • Character-Defining Elements

    1

    Cornerstone reading “Knox Church, Moncrieff, A.D. 1911"

  • 2

    Cornerstone reading “R.A. Lundy, Pastor”

  • 3

    One storey, red-brick construction

  • 4


    Cedar-shingle hip roof

  • 5


    60-foot tower

  • 6

    Double hung paired windows on the tower

  • 7


    Stone arched voussoirs

  • 8

    Keystones with a Scottish thistle emblem

  • 9


    Stone quoins and sills

Hamlet History

  • Jan. 2016

    Moncrieff is a small mill settlement in Huron County, first settled in the 1860s.

  • At its height, Moncrieff boasted two sawmills and a flour mill. The hamlet also boasted a store, post office, blacksmith shop, and boarding house for the mill hands. One of the sawmills was later expanded to include a feed mill and grain chopper.

  • Moncrieff was never large and contained an average population of about 50. One of the mills remained in operation until 1980.

  • Today, Moncrieff continues to support a small population. A number of early structures still stand and remain in use as private dwellings. These include the Knox Church and Mill. The schoolhouse has found a new use as a community centre.

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