My First Close-up Look At the “Butter Church”

I had a couple of jobs to do Friday morning, the first of which was hitching up our utility trailer and taking what I hope is our last load of yard clippings to the municipal waste station.  On the way home, I drove back through the Cowichan Bay Indian Reserve and noticed, as I usually do, the old, abandoned stone church up on a hill.  I thought it was about time I walked up and had a closer look at it.

The Stone Church or, the “Butter Church”, on top of Comiaken Hill on the Reserve

The Stone Church on top of Comiaken Hill can be seen from most of Cowichan Bay. It was built in 1870, by Father Peter Rondeault, for the Cowichan Indians located at the bottom of the hill. It has been told that Father Rondeault biked up the Saanich Peninsula from Victoria where he hired a native guide to take him across to Cowichan Bay (then referred to as Comiaken). He arrived in 1885 with not much more than a sack of flour.

There were never any pews in the church as floor mats and straw were preferred

Before long, Father Rondeault had built a house, cleared the land and established a grist mill and a small farm. So, naturally he wanted to build a church. The small farm produced a lot of butter, which was sold to finance the new church. This led to the church also being named the "Butter Church". The walls of the stone church were built of limestone quarried right from Comiaken Hill. 

The view through the windows offers a striking view of Cowichan Bay

Unfortunately, the “Butter Church” was hardly ever used, as the local Catholic Diocese ordered construction of a larger, wooden church just down the road.  It appears, that even in those days, politics were involved. But the old stone church, though desolate, has managed to survive to this day and is still an interesting place to visit.

The slate stone walkway heading up the hill to the “Butter Church”

One of the great things I’ve experienced with writing a daily blog is the fact that I’ve learned about, and visited, more local places in the past 6 months than I have in the past 10 years!  Without having to think about a blog topic for today, I would have driven right by the old stone church just as I have for over 20 years now.