Municipal Heritage Site No. 89
Cromer is a community southwest of Virden in the Rural Municipality of Pipestone. It was Elm Valley in 1884 when a Post Office opened there. In 1911 it was Cromer Station. In 1915 it became Cromer.
It is generally accepted that Cromer was named after Sir Evelyn Baring, First Earl of Cromer, a British diplomat and financier. However, in 1958 at the Minnedosa Women’s Institute, it was reported by Cromer resident Malcolm Macdonald that Cromer was named after a town in England. But which Cromer was it? Cromer in Hertfordshire, or Cromer in Norfolk?
The wood frame Methodist Church was built thanks to a group of dedicated men and women. “The amount of $1300 was borrowed from the North of Scotland Canadian Mortgage Company and signed by Albert Grose, Norman Grose, Hanson Chandler, Alick Rowe and D. E. McGill. The church officially opened on December 5.” (Notice in the church)
In 1925 the Methodist Church became Cromer United when four Protestant denominations merged to form the United Church of Canada. The church was dedicated on June 11, 1995.
Cromer United Church is a small rectangular Gothic Revival building erected on an east-west axis. This architectural style originated in England in the 1740s. Some of its distinguishing features are the pointed arch and windows, pitched roof and ornamental tracery. This church has a tall tower on the northeast corner, a square brick chimney, and a truncated hip roof with short cross gables on three sides.
Inside, under a high ceiling in the bright open auditorium-like nave, the oak pews are arranged in three sections. The altar and oak pulpit are centred. The raised choir platform extends along most of the west wall.
Cromer United Church received $6,500 in matching funds from the Manitoba Prairie Churches Project for renovations that took place between 2003 and 2008.
The church and the lots it occupies were designated a Municipal Heritage Site on December 10, 1992.
• Photographed in 1996.
• Published in Senior Scope, April 10. 2020.