Who are members of the IN group?

   The Village of Springfield is located in the Belleisle Valley, close to the Bellisle Bay, a side-arm of the Saint John River.

    Trinity Church is the oldest standing church in this valley, being built in 1820, after an earlier Anglican church burnt down at Hatfield Point.

    The valley was originally settled by Loyalists, who were followed by Irish, Scottish, and English settlers, who arrived from their European homelands.  In the 20th Century, this population pattern was broadened by the arrival of people of French/Acadian, German, and Dutch ancestry, as was the case in neighboring areas.

    The valley still has a rural, agricultural appearance, but life skills and occupations are changing due to the highway improvements and socio-economic influences of modern time.

    The 1930's and 1940's brought hard times on the valley and church; neglect of building and cemetery set in.

    However, in the 1980's, the church was put on a concrete foundation.  In the 1990's, roof repairs were made and steeple and tower reinforced.  The year 2000 crowned all that with a fresh coat of paint, so that the church now is of good appearance, the more so, because the cemetery was completely over hauled and fallen gravestones re-erected.

    The building used to have a balcony, which was torn down however.

    A row of pictures of clergy, who served here, can  be found in the church, as well as a memorial board with memorials for the deceased, and two stained glass windows.

(Write-up submitted by Syd Sipkema, Warden, Trinity Church)

August 2002

Web Administrator: Anne Walling   email:  anne(at)annewalling.com