Guild Park & Gardens offers a beautiful escape within the city with great views of nature, combined with stunning architectural fragments. It includes 88 acres of forest, shoreline, bluffs and formal gardens and a collection of architectural elements and sculptures. These features tell a unique tale about Toronto and the people whose dreams and talents created the park. Canadian author Pierre Berton wrote that a visit to the park was like "a walk through history."
Inside the Guild Park & Gardens lies the infamous Guild Inn. The Guild Inn was originally home to a military man who fought in South Africa during the Boer War. Colonel Harold C. Bickford built the house in 1914 with stables for his horses and garages for his cars. After being sold in 1921 to become a house for Roman Catholic Missionaries, the Guild Inn has had various owners and purposes throughout its lifetime.
Rosa and Spencer Clark turned the country estate into The Guild of All Arts during the depression. It was Canada's only operating artists' colony at that time, a space that provided artists with room to work and a place to showcase their art to the public. The couple converted the existing stables and garages into studios and cottages. People started to stay in the rooms of The Guild, which allowed the Clarks to turn the buildings into The Guild Inn.
During World War II, the Canadian Government used the Guild Inn as a training centre for the Women’s Royal Naval Service, then later as a military hospital. When the Guild Inn was returned to the Clarks in 1947, the couple acquired more land around the Inn, which became today’s Guildwood Village. In 1965, a 6 storey expansion was added to the East of the Inn.
The Clarks sold the Inn and its property to the Province of Ontario in 1978 and the City of Toronto manages the facilities. The Guild Inn was closed in 2001, but the land remains open to the public as a space for outdoor community activities as Guild Park & Gardens. The Guild is a popular destination for photography enthusiasts, video production, and local history buffs.
Photo: Michael Fiege