Bolton is a village in the town of Caledon, located in the region of Peel just north of Toronto. The town itself, although receptive to new development has managed to retain its small town charm.

Bolton was named after James Bolton, who built a grist mill here for his brother George, an English immigrant who purchased 200 acres of land on the Humber River. Two years later in partnership with his uncle, James Bolton, one of Albion Township's earliest settlers, erected a grist-mill. This provided the nucleus around which a community known as Bolton's Mills was established by 1830. A post office named " Albion" was opened in 1832.

The area was originally inhabited by native peoples for over 10,000 years. Material left or lost by First Nations peoples who lived here from the ice age on have been unearthed. In fact when the first Treaty for the southern part of Peel was signed in 1805 a mile wide corridor was left out of the agreement, along the valley of the Credit River, to accommodate the movement of natives between Lakes Simcoe, Huron and Ontario. The second Treaty, which included what is now Bolton was signed in October 1818 by William Claus, representing the British Crown and four male native leaders, representing different 'clans' of the Mississaugas.

Although George was the founder of Bolton it was James' children that subsequently claimed that distinction, purchasing the Mill and other land from George in 1834 and becoming the prominent members of the community. The Boltons were educated and advocates of Government Reform. They supported William Lyon Mackenzie and helped elect him as their representative. James Bolton left the area for the United States soon after the Rebellion of 1837.

Today Bolton is an interesting mix of old and new. For the adventurous there are miles of hiking and biking trails. The Caledon Trailway and Etobicoke Creek Trail are multi-purpose (hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, equestrian) trails with a compacted aggregate surface. Other trails in the area consist of the Bruce Trail, the Humber Valley Heritage Trail, the Oak Ridges Trail, the Elora-Cataract Trail and the Trans Canada Trail.

There has been an Anglican congregation in Bolton from as early as 1832. This red brick church on Nancy Street was built in 1874, with bricks from the Bolton Brickyard on Meadowvale Court, beside the current clergy house.

Point of interest: We are undertaking a fundraising campaign this year, 2010, to get our brickwork repointed.

Curiosity: if you examine the bricks at the driveway side of the church, you can find kitten footprints in the actual bricks! Evidence of the kittens who were galloping through the brickyard in the late 18oo’s.

The building was constructed on land donated by James & Ellen Bolton and Samuel & Anne Sterne. Many of the early Christ Church parishioners traveled for some distance to come to worship together, so naturally the church lot included a stable for their horses. The first Parish Hall was built in 1938. By 1958 this hall was found to be inadequate and a new one was built in 1959 to provide better heating, kitchen and Sunday school facilities.

The interior of Christ Church is traditional Anglican style with a centre aisle leading to a raised chancel for the communion table/altar. In the early days, as was the custom, the altar was situated against the wall. In 1968 the altar was moved out from the wall, to allow the priest to face the congregation while celebrating communion. We continue to blend the old with the new by keeping our original altar, pulpit, chairs and font. In the renovation of 1984, the chancel/altar area of the old church was removed and replaced by the present chancel area which is much larger...for a circle for sharing communion around the altar, for our immersion baptism tub, for weddings, as a presentation area for community events, etc. Also, we have built an elevator to provide wheelchair access to the downstairs fellowship rooms and kitchen.

Most of our stained-glass windows are from the very early years of Christ Church. Notably, at the altar: the centre window shows Christ with his hand raised in blessing, and was given by the congregation in the 1880’s. It includes the words: ‘I loved you; continue ye in my love.’, the left window shows St. John, given in memory of a parishioner, Isabella Johnston, in 1868, and the right window illustrates St. Peter, also given in memory of a parishioner, Robert Johnston, who died in 1877.

However, the side window, a reproduction of Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World,was donated to us by the Diocesan ACW at the time of our 1984 renovation.