Aylesford, is a village situate in western Kings County in the

Annapolis Valley The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a Trough (geology), trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the B ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The settlement was named after the fourth Earl of Aylesford, Heneage Finch, who was Lord Of The Bedchamber to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

from 1772-1777. The community is located between the North and South Mountains, and is roughly a 15 minute drive to Canadian Forces Base Greenwood, and a 10 minute drive to its closest neighbour, the Town Of Berwick. Aylesford is located on the Evangeline Trail ( Trunk 1) scenic tourist route, which was named after the epic 1847 H.W. Longfellow poem entitled '' Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie''.

History

Aylesford is one of the oldest surviving settlements in Kings County, originally settled by Ulster Scots (Scots-Irish) during the early 1770s. Between 1772 and 1781, the population of Nova Scotia actually fell - from 19,000 to 12,000 - but by 1784, after the continued arrival of

United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North Ameri ...

s during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, the population had reached 32,000. A number of Loyalists, aka "The King’s Loyal Americans" put down roots in Aylesford and the surrounding area. Aylesford emerged as a major centre for packing, processing and exporting apples after the arrival of the Windsor and Annapolis Railway in 1869.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Aylesford had a population of 834 living in 399 of its 428 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 833. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Aylesford's economy relies primarily on the local agricultural industry. It is a service centre for the surrounding agricultural district. An important crop is cranberries cultivated on the extensive peat bogs.

Peat moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

harvesting operations are also active. Aylesford's largest tourist attraction, the Oaklawn Farm Zoo (located just outside the village in Millville), was home to Rutledge, the heaviest living

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

in captivity, as certified by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

in 1997. Rutledge died in February 2009, three months short of his 18th birthday. The

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

also has a variety of other animals including

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

dromedary camel The dromedary (''Camelus dromedarius''), also known as the dromedary camel, Arabian camel and one-humped camel, is a large camel of the genus ''Camelus'' with one hump on its back. It is the tallest of the three camel species; adult males stan ...

s, and a variety of

monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes. Thus monkeys, in that sense, co ...

. Other attractions in Aylesford include a public beach at Aylesford Lake, Crystal Falls hiking trail, and Clairemont Provincial park. A farm called Dempsey's Corner has a fee-based self-pick service for fruits and vegetables. They also have a petting zoo and educate their visitors on the history of farming. Many other area farms provide a self-pick service offering strawberries, apples, pears, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches and other produce. There is also an Elementary School, St. Mary's Elementary (grades from primary to 5), along with West Kings District High School (grades 9-12). The Middle School youth attend Pine Ridge Middle School in neighbouring Kingston. There is a thriving Scouting group in Aylesford, 1st Aylesford Scouting, which is about to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2024.

Notable residents

* Emma Maitland Stirling, philanthropist

References

{{coord, 45, 02, N, 64, 50, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Communities in Kings County, Nova Scotia Villages in Nova Scotia Designated places in Nova Scotia