St. Raphael’s Ruins National Historic Site, Williamstown

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St. Raphael’s Ruins National Historic Site is one of Eastern Ontario’s most beautiful architectural ruins. And I never even realized it was there, until I happened to follow a roadside historical marker one day.

Construction of this neo-Classical stone church began in 1821, to serve a population of Gaelic-speaking Scottish Catholics who had settled in the southeastern corner of Upper Canada (now Ontario).

Why such a grand structure for such a small, young community? The building would eventually serve, for a time, as the Roman Catholic Church’s administrative centre for all of Upper Canada. It was built with that possibility in mind.

The man behind the plan was one Alexander Macdonell, whose name pops up to this day on schools, buildings and roads all over the area. A few years after construction on the church began, he became the first Roman Catholic Bishop in Upper Canada.

The church stood for almost 150 years, until fire swept through it in 1970.

Today, only the walls and the charred, half-destroyed church bell remain of the once-grand edifice, along with some pioneer gravestones in the churchyard. Yet St. Raphael’s Ruins is a weirdly peaceful place to stroll around, with fantastic opportunities for photography. You can even rent it for weddings, and it’s occasionally used for concerts and other special events as well.

If you go to St. Raphael’s Ruins

St. Raphael’s Ruins National Historic Site is located at 19998 County Road 18, Williamstown. It’s 108km southeast of Parliament Hill.

The site is open to the public seven days a week. A curator is on site several days a week in the summer.

Looking for something else to see and do in the area? Here are a few options.

• Cooper Marsh Conservation Area, South Glengarry
• Glengarry Fine Cheese, Lancaster
• Priest’s Mill Arts Centre, Alexandria

You can also check the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry’s tourism website.

Looking for more tips on things to see and do in and around Ottawa? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter or order a copy of my book, Ottawa Road Trips: Your 100-km Getaway Guide.

As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.