Huron Street

The Lych Gate 

The Lych Gate at the entrance to the Gardens was built by William Morrice of Stratford, likely based on a design that Thomas Orr adopted from a gate he saw in England. Lych is from an English or Scottish dialect that means  corpse; thus the Lych Gate is an entrance to a churchyard or burial ground, under which a coffin could be placed, out of the weather, until the arrival of the clergy and mourners. These gates were also often built at the entrance to a garden. The roof of the Lych Gate was originally thatched by a professional thatcher, who was likely trained overseas. These thatched roofs could last for decades, but when this one finally wore thin and had to be re-thatched, the Stratford authorities were reluctant to spend money for a professional thatcher. So the parks board had to depend on local farmers to supply straw and doing whatever they could in the way of thatching. In 1958, Cecil Meadows, from Downie Township, thatched the roof with bundles of specially prepared hay, and in 1968, Edwin Finch, from near Sebringville, (second photo), who had helped his dad thatch barn roofs in Worcester, England, had a go at it, using wheat straw. The parks board members advertised for a thatcher in 1973 with no success, so they gave up on the idea of thatching, and had stained cedar shingles put on.  By Stanford Dingman from Brian Wendy Reis

Knot-Garden

The stone sundial, in the Knot-Garden in the Shakespearean Gardens, was a gift to Thomas Orr from Sir Archibald Flower, a former mayor, of Stratford-on-Avon, England. A knot garden is a garden of formal design in a square frame, consisting of a variety of aromatic plants and culinary herbs. Most knot gardens now have edges made from box (Buxus sempervirens), whose leaves have a sweet smell when bruised. The paths between are usually laid with fine gravel and there is often a sundial in the middle. By Stanford Dingman from Brian Wendy Reis

Dutch Memorial Garden

The Dutch Memorial Garden is at the corner of Huron and William streets. It was a gift from the Netherlands after the Second World War, as a token of appreciation for Stratford's hospitality to 700 men of Dutch birth who came to Stratford to form a battalion. They came from Canada, Australia, South America, from wherever they were living in freedom at the time. After the occupation of Holland by Nazi armies, Canada invited the Netherlands to use Stratford for a military base to train medics. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands came four times to Stratford to visit the trainees. Their kaserne, or barracks, named Julianne Kaserne, was the former McLagan furniture factory on Trinity Street. Movie stars also visited the soldiers. For that reason, and participation of the Perth Regiment in the liberation of Holland in 1945, there is a close bond between our the Netherlands and Canada. The pair of hands, symbolizes Canada's support; the dove with broken wing is symbolic of the Netherlands. Holland sent red and white tulips to Stratford for the garden. Source: Nancy Musselman

Plaque reads:

Her royal Highness, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Prof. Pieter van Vollenhoven unveiled this plaque during their official visit to Canada in May 2017. 

The Statue of The Wounded Bird was gifted by the Dutch community of Stratford to the city in 1956.

It represents the Netherlands when it was occupied from 1940-1945, with two strong hands symbolizing Canada, who supported the Netherlands during its difficult period.

It is an important reminder of the shared history between Canada and the Netherlands.

Kelly McIntosh, General Manager 

Kelly McIntosh replaced John Kastner on  Nov. 20, 2023

Ms. McIntosh has spent some 30 years in arts and heritage administration, along with a very active theatre performance career. Kelly worked previously at the Museum for four years in the capacity of administrative and membership coordinator, engaging daily with Museum staff, members, key donors, volunteers, students and patrons.

Ms. McIntosh was recently pivotal in the writing and staging of the hit Kroehler Girls stage production,( see Water Street) as well as the previously successful Ladies Of The CNR, which toured southwestern Ontario. Most recently, Kelly has worked as audience development coordinator & artistic associate at Blythe Festival Theatre, with primary responsibilities for donor, sponsor and member relations.  Source: Stratford Perth Museum

The Very Best bread company

Long before there were large bread manufacturers, small-town operators delivered bread to residential customers, door to door, street by street. In 1909, Albert Henry Zurbrigg bought a bread-making business from Joseph Farr in St. Marys, Ont. He called his company TVB, as in Thames Valley Bread. In 1922 he began using trucks to make deliveries in St. Marys and the surrounding area. In April 1927 the company added a Stratford bakery at 56 Huron St., just above where the Lions pool is today. That outlet, too, was named TVB, but in that case the letters stood for The Very Best Bread.

In the photo to the right is a red wagon used for delivering TVB bread. 

Like every new business, the TVB Bread Co. had to engage in an advertising campaign to announce its arrival and convince Stratford customers it was selling bread and baked goods that were better than the competition, which in those days included the Keystone Bakery, Ontario Bakery, J. C. Richards, Stratford Bakery and Weitzel's Bakery. With the campaign came slogans such as "Just over the river," and at Christmas a cartoon character called Jimmie Jingle ( see below).

 Bruce Herbert Nickel, RCAF

Bruce Herbert Nickel was born in 1921, in Stratford, Ont. His father, William Fred Nickel, was a trust officer, who married Gertrude Elizabeth Yundt in July 1913, in Perth County. They lived at 153 Huron St. Bruce was an apprentice machinist at the Canadian National Railways repair shops in Stratford. He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force on May 17, 1941, and set off for England on March 20, 1942 for further training. At the end of June, 1942, he converted to Spitfires at No.53 Operational Training Unit, Royal Air Force, Heston.

On Dec. 4, 1942, 401 and 402 squadrons RCAF took part in Rodeo 115 – a large fighter sweep. They rendezvoused over Kenley Air Field and had reached 12,000 feet by the time they crossed the English coast at Dungeness. From there, they turned south and flew parallel to the French coast to gain more height, with time in hand. Enemy aircraft were reported inland, so they turned south of Boulogne, at 25,000 feet and climbed towards Audruicq. They had reached 28,000 feet when they caught sight of several German FW190 War Thunder Fighter planes and made a head-on attack from above. But the height advantage came with  brought its own dangers – as well as the perils of oxygen failure,. The 401 squadron found frost creeping over their windscreens and hampered their visibility with disastrous consequences.

Nickel's Spitfire dropped out of formation in a spin and was seen to hit the ground near Boulogne, France. It was assumed he could not withstand the failure of his oxygen system, and that caused his death on Dec. 4. He was posthumously promoted to flight sergeant in October 1944, in effect from Aug 27, 1942.  He was 21.

Bruce Herbert Nickel, having no known grave, is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial and the Stratford cenotaph Source: Kenley Reviva