South West Oxford

Communities

The township includes the following communities within its boundaries:

Attractions

Demographics

Population trend:

Beachville Conservation Area

Zorra Line. 0.5 ha (1.25 acres) day use picnic area. Part of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.

Brownsville Community Centre

292238 Culloden Line. Plaque - the gateway into the park is a memorial. The Brownsville cenotaph has been dismantled due to vandalism.

Centreville Pond Park

584090 Beachville Road. A creek runs through the property. The dam is maintained by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority.

Dereham Wetlands Conservation Area

312731 and 312722 Dereham Line. 59 ha (145 acres) for passive recreation and hunting. Part of the Long Point Region Conservation Authority.

Lawson Tract

363685 McBeth Rd. The family of Dr. John Lawson of Ingersoll Ontario donated this 14.5 ha (36 acre) parcel of property to the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. Dr. Lawson was a member of the Ingersoll Nature Club who loved nature and hoped to preserve it for future generations. This property consists of 4 ha (10 acres) of designated wet lands and 10.5 ha (26 acres) of mixed vegetation. There is a variety of plant life which is interesting to observe as it changes with the seasons.

Foldens Reforested Area

374153 Foldens Line. This property, which is owned by the Township of South-West Oxford, contains 18.2 ha (45 acres) of reforested area.

Hawkins Tract

143659 Hawkins Rd. 40.5 ha (100 acres) of Carolinian Forest. Part of the Catfish Creek Conservation Authority.

Hughes Tract

243790, 243762, 243734, 243700, 243680 Airport Rd.61 ha (150 acres) for passive recreation and hunting. Part of the Long Point Region Conservation Authority.

Trillium Woods Provincial Natural Reserve

454419 Trillium Line. This 10 ha (25 acre) parcel of land is the County's only Provincial Park. Near the northern limit of the Carolinian forest region and supports a mature forest of sugar maple, white ash, black cherry, bitternut hickory, beech and butternut.

Beachville Cemetery

Located 584523 Beachville Road. One of the oldest cemeteries in Oxford County. First burial was 1817.

Ebenezer Grove Cemetery

Located 343606 Ebenezer Road. First burial was 1855.

Harris Street Cemetery

Located 334063 Plank Line. The present Harris Street cemetery was originally the burying ground for the Second Regular Baptist of West Oxford. The church was located on the site from 1832 until it was removed in 1870. A cemetery permit with regulations was granted in 1836. Gilbert Harris owned the farm property on which the cemetery was located at the time. Records indicate that the cemetery became a public cemetery on March 2, 1872.

Mount Elgin Cemetery

Located 324085 Mount Elgin Road. Created in 1847.

New Delmer Cemetery

Located 312242 Dereham Line. Created in 1910.

Old Delmer Cemetery

Located 163891 Brownsville Road. Established in 1846.

St. Charles' Anglican Cemetery

Located 224570 Ostrander Road. Established in 1857.

St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery

Located 584872 Beachville Road.

Sweaburg Union Cemetery

474433 Dodge Line. Opened in 1862.

Anglican Church

Located Richmond St, Culloden. Built in 1910.

Beachville Baptist Church

Located King St, Beachville. Built in 1948.

Beachville United Church

Located 4348089 Zorra Line, Beachville. Congregation was established in 1867, while the new building was constructed in 1891.

Brownsville Baptist Church

Located 292257 Culloden Line, Brownsville. Built in 1881.

Delmer United Church

Located 312281 Dereham Line. Built in 1905.

Foldens United Church

374097 Foldens Line. Congregation was established in 1866. The first building is now used as a community hall and the new church was built in 1911.

Hi-Way Pentecostal Church

Services began in the 1890s.

Mount Elgin United Church

Located 324105 Mount Elgin Rd. It was a Methodist church until 1925. Built in 1900.

Salford Old Reformed Church

Located 313719 Dereham Line. Built in 1921. Part of the Old-Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands. Formerly the Salford Baptist Church.

St. Charles Anglican Church

224570 Ostrander Road. Built in 1844.

Salford United Church

Located 333747 Plank Line. The building was used between 1849 and 1890 by a Methodist congregation. It joined the United Church in 1925. A plaque is present for Aimee Semple McPherson, 1890-1944, a celebrated evangelist and faith healer who was born on a farm west of Salford. She founded the Four Square Gospel Church and built the Angelus Temple in Los Angeles in 1923.

Sweaburg United Church

Located 474425 Dodge Line. Methodist congregation joined the United Church in 1925. Built in 1888.

Verschoyle United Church

Located 293218 Culloden Line. Built in 1929. Formerly St Andrew's Presbyterian Church.

West Oxford United Church

Located 354395 Church Line. Oxford County's oldest Protestant congregation, giving continuous service since its founding in 1804.

Beachville Cenotaph

434852 Zorra Line. Plaque - it is located at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 495.

Dereham School S.S. No. 6

323 Mount Elgin Rd. The Verschoyle Women's Institute erected this cairn in 1975 and the Verschoyle Community club in honour of the Verschoyle community who have worked for better education from pioneer days. The cairn contains the bell and bricks from the S.S. No. 6 Dereham School, 1876-1973.

John (Nick) Meathrell Bridge

Water Works Road bridge, west of Ingersoll, north from CR 9. Commemorates Oxford's first professional engineer who oversaw the development of the County Road System from 1928 to his retirement in 1968.

Public School S.S. No 5

324119 Mount Elgin Rd. Northeast corner of Plank Line and Mount Elgin Road. A cairn erected by the Mount Elgin Women's Institute in 1964 to commemorate the Public School S.S. No 5, 1872-1954.

Robert F. Gourlay, 1778-1863

333227 Plank Line. Southwest corner of Plank Line and Mount Elgin Road. Robert Gourlay was a radical Scot who crusaded for social reform in Britain and Upper Canada in the early 19th century.

Spike Caldwell Bridge

On northwest and southeast approaches on bridge on CR 45 north of Putnam. Commemorates the District Municipal Engineer who from 1939-1970 worked at the Provincial DHO London office in support of County Engineers in Oxford, Middlesex and Elgin.

S.S. No 2 Dereham School Area

383908 Salford Rd. The Salford Community Centre is located on the former S.S. No. 2 Dereham School Area (1958). There is a stone cairn with three plaques on the north side and a school bell on the top: Plaque 1 - To commemorate Salford School S.S. #2 Dereham 1877- 1958. Erected by Salford Women's Institute Centennial Project. Plaque 2 - Pioneer School Teacher Lydia Chase Ranney 1801-1901, Wife of Hiram Ranney, journeyed from Massachusetts, U.S.A. to Oxford County 1834. The first school teacher in Oxford County to receive a legislative grant. Building was located one block west. The first maker of cheddar cheese in Canada. Interred in the Harris Street Cemetery, West Oxford Township. Plaque 3 - Evangelist Aimee Kennedy Semple McPherson, Founder of Angelus Temple, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. Born Salford, Ontario/ 1890. Interred Glendale, California/ 1944. Daughter of James Morgan Kennedy. Interred Harris Street Cemetery, West Oxford Township.

Wesley Memorial Church Cairn

312918 Dereham Line, Dereham Centre. Northeast corner of Dereham Line and Prouse Line. This cairn erected to the glory of God and in memory of the pioneers of this community and those who worshipped and served in Wesley Memorial Church. The United Church of Canada, 1892-1972.

Zenda Gates

Zenda Line. The entrance to where the famous Zenda Garden Parties were held.