Kirkella is an unincorporated hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Wallace-Woodworth. It is on the Trans-Canada Highway, northwest of Virden and close to the Saskatchewan border. It was founded as a railway point on the Canadian Pacific Railway Broadview Subdivision in 1898.
The community got its name from the farm of local pioneer Thomas Watson. Watson had derived the name from Kirk Ella, a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
St. John’s Anglican Church, built in 1906, was a small wood-framed building on a cement foundation. The glass in its windows was painted. Inside walls and ceiling were wood panelled. The pews were handmade. The church was heated by a wood-burning stove.
In its later years St. John’s Anglican church was only used occasionally.
It appeared to be in disuse when photographed in 1991. The church is now gone.
• Photographed in 1991.
• Published in Senior Scope, December 9, 2020.