St. Paul’s Cathedral
INTRODUCTION:
St. Paul’s Cathedral is a Anglican cathedral in Kolkata, West Bengal, India noted for its Gothic architecture. It is the seat of the Diocese of Calcutta. The cornerstone was laid in 1839; the building was completed in 1847. It is said to be the largest cathedral in Kolkata and the first Episcopal Church of Asia. It was also the first cathedral that was built in the overseas territory of the British Empire. The edifice stands on the Cathedral Road on the “island of attractions” to provide for more space for the growing population of the European community in Calcutta in the 1800s.
Following the 1897 earthquake and the subsequent massive earthquake of 1934 when Calcutta suffered substantial damage, the cathedral was reconstructed to a revised design. The architectural design of the cathedral is “Indo-Gothic”, a Gothic architectural style that was built to meet the climatic conditions of India. The cathedral complex has a library, built over the western porch. The cathedral has a display of many Plastic art forms and memorabilia.
Apart from Bishop Daniel Wilson, the founder of the cathedral, the other notable burial in the church is that of John Paxton Norman, an acting Chief Justice who was assassinated.
LOCATION:
The cathedral is in front of the Bishop’s Palace on Chowringhee Road, in direct line of vision of the edifice of the Victoria Memorial. It is to the east of the Victoria Memorial and at the southern extremity of the maidan, a park.
The building itself stands on the Cathedral Road, on the “island of attractions” in Kolkata, beside the Victoria Memorial, Nandan, Rabindra Sadan theater complex, and the Birla Planetarium.
HISTORY:
The cathedral was built to replace St. John’s Church, which had become too small for Calcutta’s growing European community; by 1810 there were 4000 British men and 300 women in Bengal.
In 1819, at the request of Marquess of Hastings, then Governor-General of Bengal, William Nairn Forbes produced a design for the proposed cathedral. was not accepted as it was very expensive to build. Bishop Middleton suggested as a site for the new cathedral the part of the city now known as “Fives Court” where the cathedral now stands. In 1762 the area had been described as a forest so wild that it harbored tigers, and, at first, it was regarded as “too far south” to serve as a location for the cathedral. In 1819 by Bishop Middleton had mooted the idea of building the cathedral but he died in 1822. The next three bishops, Heber, James andTurner, died after brief tenures, and it was not until 1832, under Bishop Daniel Wilson, that the project to build the cathedral was revived.
Following acquisition of 7 acres (2.8 ha) of land to build the cathedral, a Cathedral Committee was set up to build it. The military engineer, Major William Nairn Forbes (1796–1855) (who later became a Major General of the Bengal Engineers), on a request by Bishop Daniel Wilson, designed the cathedral with the assistance of architect C. K. Robinson, modelling the tower and spire upon theNorwich Cathedral. On 8 October 1839, construction was initiated by laying the cornerstone. The cathedral was completed after eight years and consecrated on 8 October 1847. The consecration ceremony was largely attended by Europeans and local people, when Queen Victoria had sent “ten pieces of silver-gilt plate” for the cathedral. The cathedral was built in Gothic revival style, but with modern construction elements, including an iron framework. It was built with the chancel, the sanctuary, the chapels and the 201 feet (61 m) tall spire; the cost of construction of the edifice was then Rs. 4,35,669. The cathedral can accommodate about 800 to 1,000 people.
In the 1897 earthquake the cathedral suffered damages and was refurbished. In a subsequent massive earthquake of 1934, when Calcutta was devastated, the cathedral’s steeple tower had collapsed. It was reconstructed to a revised design. Following the 1934 Calcutta earthquake the tower was rebuilt along the lines of the central Bell Harry tower of Canterbury Cathedral. On its completion, St Paul’s replaced St. John’s Church, Kolkata as the cathedral. The cathedral also has a statue of Bishop Heber (1783–1826), who was the Second Bishop of Calcutta; the statue was sculpted by Francis Leggatt Chantrey. The Bishop’s House across the street is also architecturally notable.
The cathedral is well maintained in a serene and peaceful atmosphere. People of all religious denominations can visit the church. Service is held regularly. Christmas is a special occasion when a large number of people assemble here to participate in the festivities.
FEATURES:
The Imperial Gazetteer defined the architectural design of the cathedral as “Indo-Gothic” to mean a Gothic architectural style built to meet the climatic conditions of India. It was then called a “spurious Gothic adapted to the exigencies of the Indian climate.” The cathedral’s design, otherwise known as Gothic Revival style, is built with stained glass windows and has two frescoes in Florentine Renaissance style; the West Window was designed in 1880 by Burne-Jones. The nave of the cathedral is very long at 247 feet (75 m) and its width is 81 feet (25 m). The nave is fitted with well crafted wooden pews and chairs. The central spire raises to a height of 201 feet (61 m) and the tower on which it stands is square in shape and was patterned on the lines of the 12th-century Canterbury Cathedral, England. The tower was fitted with five clocks, each of which weighed about three tons. The stained glass windows on the western side were the creation of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, a pre-Raphaelite master, which were fitted in half-sunk arches; these were designed in 1880 in memory of Lord Mayo who was assassinated in the Andaman Islands. When completed in 1847 the cathedral as a whole was compared to the Norwich Cathedral of England. The East window, which had original stained glass, was destroyed by a cyclone in 1964. This was substituted with a new one in 1968. The roof of the cathedral is in the shape of a “shallow curve” spanning (was the largest span when built) over iron trusses decorated with “Gothic tracery”. The hall of the cathedral is built spaciously without any aisles on its flanks. The materials used in the construction of the cathedral consisted of special bricks, light in weight and with good compression strength. The dressed stones used were Chunar stones. The external and internal surfaces of the cathedral were plastered with fine chunam (lime plaster) in the form of a stucco.
The cathedral’s interior has a display of many Plastic art forms and memorabilia. There is an “episcopal throne” on the southern flank of the altar and a decorative reredo or wall on its backside dated to 1879; it has carvings of episodes related to the life of St. Paul, annunciation, adoration of the Magi, and Flight into Egypt, all credited to Sir Arthur Blomfield. The parish hall within the premises of the cathedral is the venue for holding social functions. The eastern wall in the cathedral has paintings of the life of St. Paul, painted by Blomfield in 1886. Also notable is the font with the sculpture of Bishop Heber in a kneeling posture. The cathedral has an organ with 41 stops made by Joseph Willis and Sons of London, still in use.
The cathedral complex also has a library, built over the western porch, to dimensions of 61 by 22 feet (18.6 m × 6.7 m) with a height of 35 feet (11 m). It was built at the initiative of Bishop Wilson, who donated 8,000 of his books and manuscripts. Further donations of books to the library were from W. Gordon and Rev. J. Nath of the University of Oxford and the Calcutta Bible Society. The library also has a sculpture of Bishop Wilson made in marble.
Entry to the cathedral is from the north through a large gate made of wrought iron called the Sir William Prentice Memorial Gate, which is named after Sir William Prentice who was a member of cathedral’s congregation for many years. The cathedral is surrounded by a well tended garden. In 1847, sixty three species of trees had been planted in this garden.
