A historic small church outside of Morden now has protection, and the work will soon begin to fix up the building.
Community volunteers got the RM of Thompson to declare the Dunston United Church a municipal heritage site, and they are now working to establish a committee to oversee the property and take on some needed improvements.
Volunteers are working to fix up the Dunston United Church building, which has been declared a municipal heritage site. The building, located northwest of Morden, has been a community gathering space for over a century
“We’ve realized we are going to need a bunch more repairs done on the church, and we knew it was beyond the funding that we could come up with,” said Grant Spencer.
“This is going to allow us to apply for government grants that will help cover the cost,” he said. “We’ve gotten quotes, and we know this is going to be an expensive job … this is just the start with getting funding.
“We want to have a public meeting so that we can talk about what the future is for the Dunston community.”
In 1895, after the Nelson Methodist Church had moved to Morden, a new Methodist Church was built on the John Duncan farm. The land was later sold to the church for $1 in 1905.
The area that was once Nelson and in the stages of changing to Nelsonville moved to follow the railroad to Morden. The community name was then changed to Dunston after the Duncan and Stevenson families. In 1925, the church became the Dunston United Church.
The Dunston Church is still home to an annual community picnic that has been going on for over 80 years. It also still serves as a venue for family celebrations such as weddings and anniversaries.
Spencer noted how the church’s ladies auxiliary was very active in the past with making quilts and serving lunches at funerals and visiting care homes, while the mens group would form work bees to perform needed repairs.
The community has done a good job of keeping the building maintained with a new cedar shingle roof and exterior paint jobs, but significant work—including a new foundation—is needed.
The field stone and concrete foundation is crumbling, and the building must be moved so the fieldstone can be replaced and a new foundation installed that meets current code requirements.
As well, the old paint will have to be scraped off by hand in preparation for a new paint job.
“Now with having to redo the foundation, this could easily be here for another 100 years,” said Spencer. “You have to keep up with all of these things, and sometimes it more expensive than other times.”
Spencer said the site is important to many people in the community, as there are many families that have a history here and have deep connections to the church.
“My family had farmed here for about 125 years,” he noted. “The Boulton family I think had been here since something like 1872. There’s some really deep family roots all around here … and there’s lots of history here in the area.
“We have a regular following. Our Dunston picnics every year have anywhere from 80 to 120 people who come and do a potluck lunch and play games,” he noted. “It gets everybody together. It’s nice to have the community all together.
“There’s lots of people who have come and gone through here … and there’s lots of memories around this community. It’s just a great place for people to meet and stop in.”
A public meeting is planned for Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. at the Dunston Church, which is located a quarter mile north of the Nelsonville cairn at Road 18N and Road 32.
“We hope to get people to come to the meeting so that we can show and explain to them what needs to be done to keep this functioning as a heritage site and keep the status of the building,” said Spencer. “We need funding. We definitely ways to come up with funds for it. We’re looking for input from people.”
