Written By Bill Simpson
On one of my earliest explorations when I moved down to this area last year, I took the Burwell Road from Longwoods (a couple of kilometers west of the 402) down to the Thames River, where I found and stopped at a historical plaque (part of the Middlesex Heritage Trail) which marks the old Burwell Memorial Church and Cemetery.
The church is sadly long gone–demolished in 1939 after closing in 1930, but there is a fine granite marker at the top of the grassy rise which commemorates the family of Isaac Burwell, son of Colonel Burwell who surveyed this area back in early 1800’s.
Several items were rescued from the church, including a stained-glass window, which survives to this day.
In a letter of May 18th 1939 from H. Orlo Miller (LMHS Secretary in 1939) to Miss Agnes Burwell (grand-daughter to Isaac): “Through the kindness of Dr Edwin Seaborn, our vice-president, and His Lordship the Bishop of Huron, the window has been removed from the old church and is to be placed in Cornyn Hall”.
Other correspondence features the attendance of the Burwell descendants (of which Agnes Burwell, was the most prominent locally) at the re-dedication of the window in its new home, held on June 23rd 1939.
The window is now found in a chapel (located on the second floor of Cronyn Hall at the back) that was dedicated to services for children. The picture shows the cut-down pews, the small altar and the mural with the very 1950’s figures. It appears that this room is now to be used by the Diocese Archives.
The window depicts Jesus as the “Good Shepherd”. Also depicted are the Scales of Justice, the Compass and Square (more often seen as symbol of Freemasonry and presumably a nod to Isaac Burwell’s allegiance), the intertwined triangles for the Holy Trinity, and the crown, which symbolizes many aspects of Christianity, including the obvious one–Jesus’s Kingship.
I have not been able to trace the manufacturer.
At the bottom of the window is inscribed:
To the glory of God and in loving remembrance of Isaac Brock Burwell who died August 20th 1880 aged 67 years.
Removed from the Burwell Memorial Church Caradoc Township in 1939 by the London and Middlesex Historical Society.
To the glory of God and in loving remembrance of Colonel Mahlon Burwell who died Jan 25th 1840 aged 62 years.
While researching this story, I also came upon this little gem in the London Free Press, dated June 24th 1939.
“Margaret L. Smith (Mrs. Reywood Smith, Delaware), has written the following verses, which are of special interest now in view of the fact that a window in memory of Col Mahlon Burwell, great grandfather of the writer, was dedicated in Cronyn Hall, last evening. The window was brought from the Burwell Church, built by Isaac Brock Burwell, in Caradoc. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of the late Archbishop David Williams.
“Once upon a time,
On a sunny day in May,
I visited the church
Where the Burwells lay.
Around the lonely land,
The loveliest ever seen
Are gorgeous graceful trees,
The stately evergreen.
Behind the little church,
Embraced by lilacs white
Stands the Burwell plot
Hidden from man’s sight.
Giant cedars guard their dead
And on the ground beneath
The lilies of the valley
Make a fitting wreath.
And in and out the stones,
The periwinkle blue
Form a loverly carpet
Touched with morning dew.
Gone are the turbulent Burwells,
No more will the hillside ring
With the sound of their horses hooves
As they tilled the land in the spring.
Gone are the ancient Burwells
In death they are but clay,
Peace to their resting souls,
May they sleep till judgement day.”
It is unlikely that the writer went on to career in poetry after penning this, but it is so innocently done that it defies criticism. As for the “turbulent” and “ancient” Burwells, I believe that they are still very much in the picture, and I hope will continue to find a way to ensure the family memorials–and in particular this beautiful window–are preserved.
