Delaware & the west hamlets, in plain words
Delaware sits on the Thames along Longwoods Road, just west of London. It's an old place by Ontario standards. In 1814 there was a British garrison here, and when an American raiding force came within about 24 km of it that March, the troops sent out from Delaware fought them at the Battle of Longwoods near present-day Wardsville. Some of the village's oldest buildings date from the next few decades: a brick house the Tiffany family built in 1842 on the north brow of Wellington Street, and Belvoir Manor, built by Dean Tiffany in 1859. Tiffany Park on Gideon Drive carries a heritage plaque and a barn quilt in the family's name.
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On 1 January 1998 the townships of Delaware, Lobo and London came together as the Municipality of Middlesex Centre. Coldstream sat at the centre of the old Lobo Township.
Coldstream is where the municipality keeps its office today, sharing a building with the Coldstream library and community centre on Ilderton Road. The hamlet has old roots: its Friends' (Quaker) Meeting House was established in 1850, and the conservation area's road is Quaker Lane. Poplar Hill is its neighbour, and the municipal plan treats the two as one settlement. Poplar Hill has held its community picnic since 1867. Lobo and Vanneck are crossroads hamlets in the farm country between.
Who lives out here? People who want a house with space around it, a village where the speedway, the Lions and the picnic set the calendar, and London within a short drive. The municipality plans these communities for gentle growth, and that's a big part of their appeal.
- $827,500median sale price, January to September
- 24homes sold in September
- 18,928people, up 9.7% since 2016
- 10.5%of homes built since 2016
Stop 1 · Getting thereGetting around
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Delaware is on Longwoods Road, and the municipality describes the speedway, on Gideon Drive in the village, as just west of London. The hamlets are reached by county and concession roads; Coldstream and the municipal office are on Ilderton Road.
- Delawareon the Thames, along Longwoods Road
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Bus. Middlesex County Connect Route 4 (London, Komoka, Mount Brydges, Strathroy, Sarnia) runs seven days a week with a stop at the Komoka Wellness Centre, and transit riders can park there free during the day. Fares run $5 to $20 by distance.
Train. VIA Rail's staffed station is downtown London at 205 York Street, and there's a VIA shelter in Strathroy off Metcalfe Street West.
The drive. Out here the car does the daily work, and winter roads matter. Ask who plows the road a property is on before you buy it.
Stop 2 · What a home costsThe market right now
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Middlesex Centre, September 2026
- 24homes sold in September
- 165for sale at month end
- $827,500median sale price, January to September
LSTAR's figures for the whole municipality. One month can mislead, and a village lot and a farm can sell in the same month ten times apart, so read these as the weather, not the forecast. The median is the middle sale, not an average. What your street does is a different question, and I'll show you the sales behind the answer. London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR), members' statistics package, September 2026.
- The Lions run a lot of the fun.Lions Park's rink in Delaware, the accessible swing, the tree sale and the Santa parade in Poplar Hill all carry the Lions' name.
Stop 3 · The homesHomes in Delaware & the west hamlets
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Middlesex Centre · 2021 Census
- 18,928people, up 9.7% since 2016
- 6,845homes
- 90.6%single detached
- 10.5%built 2016–2021
- 43.6median age
- 2.8people per household
Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population, Census Profile (Catalogue 98-316-X2021001), whole municipality. The 2026 Census housing results aren't out until 2027.
Delaware is a community settlement area in the Official Plan, meant to offer an alternative to city or subdivision living, with a lower intensity of development than Komoka or Ilderton. Homes there are on municipal water with private septic systems, and the municipality says it intends to bring full municipal sewer and water to Delaware within the plan's 25-year horizon.
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Coldstream, Poplar Hill and Lobo are hamlets. The plan lets them grow only by infill inside their existing boundaries, usually one new lot at a time by severance, and they're on fully private services: a well and a septic system. Out here you're buying a hamlet lot, an older country house or a property with acreage.
That makes the checks different from a subdivision purchase. The six things I give every rural buyer (water, septic, access, heat, internet and drainage) are on our rural checklist, and they apply here exactly as they do in Southwest Middlesex.
What's being built
Council Watch
Our reading of the published council agendas follows Strathroy-Caradoc and London today. For Middlesex Centre, the planning file lives with the municipality and Middlesex County; the links are under Who runs it.
What Council Watch covers →Stop 4 · SchoolsSchools in and around Delaware & the west hamlets
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- Delaware Central Public School, 14 Osborne Street, Delaware, a public elementary school.
- Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, 103 Wellington Street, Delaware, the Catholic elementary school in the village.
- Valleyview Public School, 10339 Ilderton Road, Kindergarten to Grade 8, on the same road as the municipal office.
The public schools are Thames Valley District School Board; the Catholic schools are London District Catholic School Board.
- SchoolsDelaware Central PS, Our Lady of Lourdes, Valleyview PS; Medway High School
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For high school, Medway High School at 14405 Medway Road in Arva lists Delaware and Valleyview among its feeder schools. Medway offers co-op and apprenticeship programs, dual credits, eLearning and a Specialist High Skills Major.
Rural school catchments cover a lot of ground, so look up the specific address before you buy. Thames Valley's school locator shows the attendance area, and the board says to call 519-452-2000 to confirm. For Catholic schools, contact the London District Catholic School Board.
Stop 5 · The hospitalHealth care
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- HospitalLondon (LHSC) or Strathroy Middlesex General
Delaware Pharmacy, 11569 Longwoods Road, offers flu shots, blister packs, MedsChecks and prescribing for common ailments like pink eye and urinary tract infections.
For emergencies, London has University Hospital (339 Windermere Road) and Victoria Hospital (800 Commissioners Road East, with the children's emergency department), run by London Health Sciences Centre. To the west, Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital, 395 Carrie Street, Strathroy, runs a 24-hour emergency department every day of the year.
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The Thames Valley Family Health Team's Middlesex Centre Family Medicine Clinic is at 36 Heritage Drive, Ilderton. If you need a family doctor, register with Ontario's Health Care Connect online or by calling 811. On a private well, the Middlesex-London Health Unit (519-663-5317) handles well-water questions and testing.
Stop 6 · Parks, arenas and the yearOut and about in Delaware & the west hamlets
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- Delaware Conservation Area, 2695 Gideon Drive: 3 hectares on the Thames with tallgrass prairie and mature trees, free, open year-round. It's a pickerel spot in season and an easy place to put in a canoe.
- Sharon Creek Conservation Area, 4212 Springer Road: 48.5 hectares of forest, ravines and wetland around Springer Lake, with bass, pike and walleye, paddling (no motors), picnic areas and what the conservation authority calls the largest publicly accessible tallgrass prairie in Middlesex County. Parking is $5.
- Coldstream Conservation Area, 327 Quaker Lane: two trails, one through a cedar swamp, which the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority calls a rare experience in Southwestern Ontario, and one north of Coldstream Road known for spring wildflowers and birds. No admission fee.
Three conservation areas sit within a few minutes of each other:
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- OutdoorsDelaware, Sharon Creek and Coldstream conservation areas
Delaware Speedway, 1640 Gideon Drive, opened in 1952 as a quarter-mile dirt track, was paved in 1960 and became the half-mile paved oval it is today in 1969. It's one of the oldest tracks in Canada. In 2026 the weekly series ran Friday nights from 8 May to 3 October.
In the village, Lions Park (48 York Street) has a ball diamond, three soccer fields, tennis and pickleball courts, an outdoor ball hockey rink built with the Delaware Lions, a skateboard park and the Delaware branch library (29 Young Street). Delaware Municipal Park next to the community centre has a lit diamond and a playground, and Pleasant Park is the soccer club's field. The Delaware Community Centre, 2652 Gideon Drive, has a hall for 385, an OPP community policing office and the Middlesex Centre Archives.
Poplar Hill Park, 24375 Poplar Hill Road, has a grandstand, two lit diamonds, a historic log house and a wheelchair-accessible swing that the Poplar Hill & District Lions championed and the community raised more than $80,000 to install. The Coldstream library is at 10227 Ilderton Road.
Also close: Twin Streams (public) and The Oaks (private) golf clubs in Delaware, Circle R Ranch on Carriage Road for trail rides and day camps, Rolling Ridge Maple Products' sugar shanty on Vanneck Road, and just west on Longwoods Road in Strathroy-Caradoc, the Longwoods Road Conservation Area with the Ska-Nah-Doht village and museum and about 10 km of trails.
The year in Delaware & the west hamlets
June: the Poplar Hill Picnic, usually the first weekend of the month, held since 1867.
July 1: Del-Ko-Brydge Canada Day, which moves between Delaware, Komoka and Mount Brydges. In 2026 it was in Mount Brydges, with fireworks at the Komoka Community Centre.
May to October: Friday race nights at Delaware Speedway.
October and November: the Poplar Hill & District Lions' annual tree sale, then Remembrance Day services, including one in Delaware.
November and December: the Poplar Hill Santa Claus Parade (14 November in 2026, 5:30 p.m., with treats and photos with Santa at Poplar Hill Park after), and the Lions' Turkey and Ham Bingo at the Coldstream Community Centre (9 December in 2026).
Stop 7 · Who runs itWho runs Delaware & the west hamlets
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Municipality
Middlesex CentreMiddlesex CountyZoning, permits, taxes, water and sewer all follow the municipality, not the postal address.
- MunicipalityMiddlesex Centre (office in Coldstream, 10227 Ilderton Road)
- CountyMiddlesex County
- Water & sewerDelaware: municipal water, private septic. Coldstream, Poplar Hill, Lobo: well and septic
Delaware and the west hamlets are governed by the Municipality of Middlesex Centre, whose office is in Coldstream at 10227 Ilderton Road (Ilderton mailing address), 519-666-0190, middlesexcentre.ca. Council is a mayor and deputy mayor elected at large and five ward councillors. The municipal election is on 26 October 2026, and the new council sits from 15 November 2026 to 14 November 2030.
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Servicing. Delaware is on the Middlesex Centre Water System, with private septic systems; most of the municipality's water comes from Lake Huron. Coldstream, Poplar Hill and Lobo are on private wells and septic. Before you buy, get the well record and the septic details, and make water testing a condition of your offer.
Planning. Delaware is a community settlement area planned for modest growth; the hamlets take infill only. Severances, new buildings and anything near the river or a conservation area can involve the conservation authority as well as the municipality, so ask both before you plan a project.
Zoning, permits and the tax bill come from Middlesex Centre whatever the mailing address says.
Stop 8 · Over coffeeThings I'd tell you about Delaware & the west hamlets over coffee
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Three conservation areas, no admission at two of them.
- 01Delaware is a river village. The Thames, the conservation area and the speedway are all on Gideon Drive, and summer Friday nights belong to the races.
- 02The Lions run a lot of the fun. Lions Park's rink in Delaware, the accessible swing, the tree sale and the Santa parade in Poplar Hill all carry the Lions' name.
- 03Know your water and septic. Delaware has municipal water with private septic; the hamlets are well and septic. Both are easy to check before you offer, and the rural checklist covers it.
- 04You're close to the city's west side. Middlesex Centre describes the speedway as just west of London, and the county bus runs from nearby Komoka seven days a week.
- 05Three conservation areas, no admission at two of them. Delaware and Coldstream are free, and Sharon Creek is $5 to park. That's a lot of trail and water within a short drive of home.
Our listings in Delaware & the west hamlets right now
Nothing of ours is listed in Delaware & the west hamlets at the moment. Tell me what you're after and I'll watch for it, and if you own a place here and want to know what it's worth, send me the address. Everything we have listed →
Nearby
Questions people ask me
Is Delaware, Ontario on municipal sewer?
Delaware is on the Middlesex Centre Water System for water, with private septic systems for sewage. Middlesex Centre's Official Plan says the municipality intends to bring full municipal sewer and water to Delaware over the plan's 25-year horizon. Confirm the servicing for any specific property with the municipality.
Which municipality is Coldstream in?
Coldstream is in the Municipality of Middlesex Centre, and the municipal office is there, at 10227 Ilderton Road (Ilderton mailing address). Before 1998 Coldstream was in Lobo Township, one of the three townships that formed Middlesex Centre.
What schools serve Delaware?
Delaware Central Public School on Osborne Street (Thames Valley District School Board) and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School on Wellington Street (London District Catholic School Board) are both in the village. Medway High School in Arva lists Delaware among its feeder schools. Confirm the school for any address with the board.
When does Delaware Speedway race?
Delaware Speedway, 1640 Gideon Drive, runs a weekly Friday night series through the warm months; in 2026 it ran from 8 May to 3 October. It's a half-mile paved oval that opened in 1952 and is one of the oldest tracks in Canada.
What should I check before buying a rural property near Delaware?
Water (the well record, and quality and quantity testing as a condition), the septic system, road access and who plows it, the heat source, the internet the neighbours actually get, and any drainage or crop agreements that run with the land. The full list is on our rural checklist.