New Pictures — St. Dunstan’s, Lansdowne

Eureka! There was only one photograph of St. Dunstan’s, Lansdowne in the diocesan archives, and I was having a difficult time imaging what this building looked like on the inside, given it was built to be the basement of the church. 

And then I had an email a few weeks ago from the Reverend Sheila  Boudreau (Sheila and I were at Trinity College together). Sheila grew up at St. Dunstan’s; in fact her grandparents were likely among the very first parishioners when the building was built in 1923. Sheila sent me a photograph of the altar. She has other photographs which are stored away at the moment, but I’m hoping at some point I’ll be able to add them to the blog.

And then a second eureka! A number of weeks ago I happened to be biking up Lansdowne past the former St. Dunstan’s, which is now the Ghandi Bhavan Hindu Temple and I noticed the doors were open. I stopped and spoke to a few folks, explaining my project and interest in the building. They were enormously gracious and invited me to come back at another time with my camera.

On a recent visit I did just that. First things first — eating! The congregation was just finishing the meal they have together after every service and I was invited to partake of a lovely rice dish with salad. I asked some questions about Hindu rituals, and was told that the offering of food to the deities is an important aspect of the service. It is part of welcoming the presence of the deities as guests. “Just like you’ve welcomed me as a guest”, I said. And yes, that is what it is. The offering of a meal is a vital part of hospitality. (And I’ve been invited to come back ‘any time’!) Here are some of the members of the Ghandi Bhavan Hindu Temple who fed and welcomed me so graciously.

The photographs below show the space as it looks today. The pews are from the building’s St. Dunstan’s era. I was having difficult imagining what the space was like inside because, from the street, it is only the height of an  ordinary residential building. However you step down eight steps upon entering, which means the space (originally intended only as the basemenet of a larger church) has plenty of height.

St. Dunstan’s, Lansdowne

When I first started looking carefully at the list of former Anglican churches in the Diocese of Toronto, I was surprised that there had been a parish on Lansdowne Avenue — St. Dunstan’s — which closed as recently as 1982. I’d never heard of it. A while back I set out to visit the site — on the west side of Lansdowne north of Bloor and south of Dupont. There I found the Ghandi Bhavan Hindu Temple.

At first I wasn’t sure whether or not this was the building of the former St. Dunstan’s, until I found this cornerstone.

St. Dunstan’s was a mission of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which was located on Westmoreland Avenue, just north of Bloor between Dufferin and Ossington. The site on Lansdowne was purchased in 1923 and St. Dunstan’s was set aside as a separate parish.

When I looked around the property I was puzzled because behind the facade there was only a building of ordinary residential height. It looked as if the top of the building had been lopped off

It was only when I found the picture below in the diocesan archives, a polaroid snapshot of St. Dunstan’s, that I realized that what the current building is, indeed, all that ever existed of St. Dunstan’s. 

The Vestry minutes from St. Dunstan’s filled in the rest of the story. When the parish was established in 1923, parishioners built what they could afford, which was the basement. The intention was, when funds permitted,to build the rest of the building. In 1929 there was a motion to extend and complete the basement, and the plans to complete the building were still alive. Not surprisingly, nothing was possible during the 1930s. Talk about finishing the building resumed in 1946 under the leadership of a new rector. The mortgage from the basement had been retired and work began on planning the long sought-after completion of the buildling. In 1948 there were plans for a new church which would seat 450 (the basement seating 250). By the 1950s, attendance and finances started to decline, and planning ended. By the late 1950s there was talk of closing the parish, something which came to pass in 1982. When the parish was disestablished, the memorials went principally to the parish of St. Mark & Calvary.  

So far I’ve been unsuccessful in contacting someone about seeing inside. I’m hoping that there may be someone out there who might have more information or pictures about St. Dunstan’s, Lansdowne.