Marmion the Little Corner that Time Forgot

The signs of 'yesteryears'

Not far from the Bruce-Grey county road is the remembrance of a village that was ... Marmion.

On each of the four corners, there was once a cider mill, a post office, a general store and St. Paul's Lutheran Church built in 1921.  Today, all that remains is the yellow brick building that was once the general store but that is now an apartment building, albeit surrounded by beautiful gardens and green space.

Behind the building still stands a small weathered grey barn that now hosts a variety of signs from a bygone era ... Buckingham Cigarettes, Purity Flour, Orange Crush and others ... all now gone the way of the village itself.

A Bed of Straw and a Hidden Story

Adjacent to the brick building is what appears to be simply a bed of straw but what it covers is revealing.  St. Paul's Lutheran Church stood on the plot of land from 1921 - 1984 but, when the foundation and the church began to sink, a decision was made that the church would stay forever where it was ... and the entire structure was buried.
 

(next column)

All that remains of St. Paul's Lutheran Church

A long-time tenant, explains that she had decided to turn the land into a small garden and to conserve moisture had covered it with the straw.  She also said, that each year, a 90-year-old lady comes and lays roses on the memorial that stands in solitary recognition today.  She doesn't know who the lady is or where she comes from but, she has never never missed a year.

Marmion ... the little corner that time forgot

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Marmion is the name of an epic poem by Sir Walter Scott written in 1808 about the battle of Flodden in Northumberland in 1513, which was the largest battle ever fought between England and Scotland.  It ended in a bitter and bloody defeat for the Scots.  Could this tiny lost village be a faint echo of that distant time