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One of Toronto's if not Canada's grandest and most beautiful pieces of gothic architecture is the imposing Trinity College and chapel. The original structure used to reside on Queen St. West near Ossington and was built by "Toronto John" -- Bishop John Strachan -- who was a curious hero of the War of 1812 between America and Britain (Canada) as well as the absolute pillar of the infamous Family Compact.
These buildings on Hoskin, however, date from between the 1920s through the 1950s. The original structure is long gone and only its imposing gates remain; but does its benefactor haunt this place or even "his" cathedral, The Church of St. James? Apparently not. He seems to prefer the "new" buildings on Hoskin.
Trinity Chappel - Photo by M. Didier
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There is a portrait of Bishop Strachan that hangs in the Provost's Office, and the eyes of that portrait do seem to follow one about the room. Also, reports say that on the anniversary of his death, his apparition walks the halls of this not-so-ancient-as-it-appears building. Oddly enough, this anniversary follows close after Halloween, November 1st!
Trinity College - Photo by M. Didier
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The following was sent to us by a Trinity alumni...
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am a student residing at St Hilda's College, the female residence of Trinity College. I was reading your article on Trinity College ghosts and have a few stories of my own to share about the residence.
There are steam tunnels underneath the college connecting St Hilda's and the Buttery (the fast food cafeteria)to Trinity. There is even talk that there's a secret passage that leads up to Victoria College although no one I know has found it.
The tunnels are warm, in some places dark, eerie, and it is easy for anyone to get lost down there. There is talk that somewhere in the tunnels is an old crumbling, brick and mortar wall. No one knows where it leads to. Legend has it that a man was bricked up behind the walls. His spirit sometimes wanders the tunnels. If he finds someone, he will drag them back behind the walls. With each person he takes, a piece of the wall crumbles. When he finds enough people, the whole wall will crumble and he is free to wander the tunnels at anytime.
I always use the tunnels as a warm way of getting to the guys residence and I must say there is an uncomfortable feeling down there sometimes but I have never seen anything unusual.
There is also talk of a ghost of a young war pilot wandering the "Trin" chapel. Apparently, he was a student in Trinity and he died during one of the wars. Somehow, his body was buried beneath the chapel and he haunts it ever since.
We'd like to thank the author for this wonderful addition.
There may be another tale of Trinity as well... This was submitted just before Halloween 2000...
A friend on a walking tour I gave told me that a friend of his experienced an unexplained happening in Trinity College at U of T.
This person was sitting in the sanctuary there one day, when a distressed older woman came and set next to him. They got to chatting for a few minutes. There was nothing unusual about this woman, other than the fact that she was clearly anxious and upset. She said that she was going to go into the Lady Chapel to pray. The chapel is more or less an alcove off to the side, from and into which there is only the one entrance.
The person relating the story watched her go in. When he was about to leave, he walked over to the chapel to say goodbye and check up on her. When he walked into the chapel, he was surprised to find it empty. No one was in the chapel and the woman couldn't have left any other way.
UPADTE Sept. 20th, 2001
The following update was sent in by a U of T student...
Personally, I know that spot in the steam tunnels, and I think it's a load of hogwash; there is an odd area that is bricked up in a kind of uneven way, but I doubt that there's anyone behind there. It's just in a weird location, as it's right around a corner in a darkened area of the tunnels.
There *is* a ghost in the Chapel, no question. I have heard a report about a person who was playing the organ one night up in the choir loft and kept seeing movement in the front of the chapel out of the corner of their eye.
From what I was told, it seemed like there was something crawling about on the floor at the front of the chapel, but it was really too dark to make it out. It was also said that there was someone peeking out behind the front pew of the chapel, looking back up at the person playing the organ, but when they turned their head to look, the figure would
slink behind the pew and vanish.
This person was upset enough by this that they finally went downstairs (quickly enough so that had anyone been in the chapel, they would have seen them leave), and had the porter call Campus Police. They came and searched the chapel, and found nothing.
Seeley Hall is also haunted. When the college was moved to this location in the twenties, there wasn't enough money to build a proper chapel at that time, so the room that was meant to be the library, Seeley Hall, was used as a chapel for many years. As a result, the room seems redolent of a strange eerieness. Many people in college avoid it at night, and I know several people who've had weird experiences there.
One person who was walking down the stairway past the entrance to Seeley one evening, and heard a string quartet rehearsing. The door was slightly ajar, but only enough so that they could see a small crack of light. When they opened the door to see who was rehearsing they found that there was no one there.
And finally, there is a friendly ghost in the college, who goes by the nickname of "Windy Lindy". His first name is actually Linden. He was a professor who lived in what is currently the Dean of Men's apartment.
He passed away many years ago, but he knocks on doors on a paticular floor, and opens locked doors all the time. He's nice enough at least to not open them when any people have gone any further than the washroom (I don't think he wants to have belongings stolen).
One of the the people on the floor that Lindy frequents was actually changing when he thought it would be funny to open the door right then.
So yeah, the whole front facade of Trinity College is haunted for the most part, with a number of different ghosts.
UPDATE - Mar 2003: R.F.C. of Muddy York Walking Tours has supplied us an indepth look at Trinity. Please, click here to read it.
If you have anything to add or another tale from "Trin", please e-mail us at submissions@torontoghosts.org.
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