The Beaches
Story: Heavenly Cemetery: St. John\\\'s the Baptist Norway-Martina
St. John\'s Cemetery covers around 35 acres on the northwest side of Kingston Road and Woodbine Avenue. Back in 1853, Charles Coxwell Small deeded three acres of his land to the Rt. Reverend John Strachan, Lord Bishop of Toronto, for the construction of an Anglican church and churchyard to serve the rapidly growing community of Norway, and subsequently east Toronto. The church was built in 1893 and the cemetery grounds expanded over the years until reaching its current size in 1925. In 1977 the church was designated a National Heritage Site.
The cemetery’s location and character has made it a popular location for film shoots, giving the living neighbours front-row views of the action.
I love the park-like setting of the cemetery. Its huge, majestic maple and oak trees, its hilly location complete with a ravine, and the old and weathered gravestones are the pillars of its charm. At dawn and at dusk the low-lying sun produces the most beautiful light through the trees and between the stone tombstones. And on a bright, early winter’s morning after a fresh overnight snowfall I find it a stunning location for stomping through the deep, glinting snow and leaving the first set of footprints.
Summer turns the cemetery into an oasis of lush green, filled with a plethora of birds from tiny songbirds, downy woodpeckers, and bright red Northern cardinals, to kestrels, hawk, and even an elusive owl.
Truly a heavenly place right in the city!
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