Cathedral of All Saints, Allahabad,UP, India

The Cathedral of All Saints, Albany

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The need for a place of worship

Makeshift arrangements are made

Laying the foundation

A generous endowment makes the dream a reality

From blueprint to reality

The Location

The Church stands in august company

The need for a place of worship

Much before the building of the Cathedral, the Holy Trinity Church was the only civil church in Allahabad and was at one end of the city. At the far North-East part of the city, a large population of Europeans and Anglo-Indians had sprung up around the Government offices and the Railway of a newly planned residential area known as Cannington. In 1864 Bishop Cotton of Calcutta visited Allahabad and was perturbed by the fact that the growing community of this important Capital of the North West Province had no adequate pastoral oversight.

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Makeshift arrangements are made

As a result, a Railway Chaplain was appointed and Divine Services were held in different quarters - at one time in what had formerly been a rum godown, and later in what became the All Saints’ District School. It was not until 1867, just 3 years after the Metropolitan’s visit, that a definite scheme for building a railway Church was launched and the Church Committee of Cannington, decided to build a really handsome Church in this quarter of the station. In 1869 Sir William Muir, Lieutenant governor of the North West Provinces granted the present site, and the well-known architect Mr. (later Knighted and so, Sir) William Emerson was instructed to draw up plans.

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Laying the foundation

Two years later the Bishop of Calcutta and the devoted church people of Allahabad saw the beginning in material form of what they had long striven for. On the 10th April, 1871, the foundation stone was laid by Lady Muir of what was then known as All Saints’ (Railway) Church. The initial proposal was to have a building to accommodate 400 people, with an open Ambulatory all round - an arrangement answering to the verandas so essential in hot climates to both private and public buildings. Then as money came in more plentifully and the idea of a diocese materialized, the early plans were considerably modified and enlarged, so as to prepare the way for the Cathedral Church of the Diocese. A building on a much larger and grander scale was now looked upon as essential

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A generous endowment makes the dream a reality

During this period a wealthy American, Mr. A. C. P. Dodge, came on a visit to India one cold winter, accompanied by his wife. While at Allahabad, she was taken dangerously ill with small-pox, and during her illness, which she succumbed to, was attended constantly by the Rev. W. H. Brennan, then Railway Chaplain at Allahabad. Stricken with grief and touched by the sympathy of Rev Brennan, who had allowed the body to remain in one of the schools previous to burial, Mr. Dodge on his return to America sent Bishop Johnson, of Calcutta a large sum of money as a memorial to his wife. Of the sum which Mr. Dodge gave to the Bishop of Calcutta, half was ear-marked for the Allahabad Cathedral building fund and half to form an endowment to provide grants towards the salaries of two clergymen, one to minister to Europeans and the other to Indians. That portion which was assigned to the building fund covered the cost of two transepts and the beautiful choir.

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From blueprint to reality

The Ambulatory was then thrown into the Cathedral as a Chancel aisle and the openings filled with glass. The remainder of the ambulatory which was to have gone round the whole building now become part of the Nave, thus giving a large and uninterrupted area so essential in modern town churches whether for congregational or for ritual purposes. The rearranged plan was for a building to accommodate 1000 persons, and this object was attained by the extension of the Nave. The whole building was brought into use and consecrated on 15th January, 1929 by the Most Rev. the Metropolitan Bishop Foss Westcott, 58 long years after the foundation stone was laid. While Sir William Emerson's full design was not completed and the two beautiful western towers are still to be built, this Cathedral is certainly the handsomest Anglican Church in India. (picture of original cathedral) Now I don’t think you need the pictures in the middle of the page. You could probably link them like the rest. They make a page heavy to download - OKAY (picture of completed cathedral)

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The Location

Visitors to Allahabad are stunned when they first set eyes on the Cathedral. It stands imposingly at a major crossroad of the city in a verdant compound which was originally set aside for a garden, but apparently was never used as such. It appeared then to the promoters of the scheme for building the Church that this was a very convenient place, and central. Moreover the erection of a Church would secure the original object of preserving this open area in the centre of the station, as a measure conducive to a clean and healthy environment. This foresight by the promoters must be applauded, as today with so many unplanned buildings coming up (as in most growing Indian cites), this stands out as an oasis, giving the residents in the area a clean and free area to stroll in. Although the sprawling grounds are difficult to maintain by the small community of Christians still left, every effort is made to maintain the gardens as best possible by the members of the Cathedral.

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The Church stands in august company

On such a site the building is seen to advantage. But of the many that pass that way and even enter the building it is most probable that the vast majority give only a cursory glance at the outside. Yet there is much of interest and instruction on the outside of the Cathedral. Grouped round it are various Church buildings: the Bishop's House originally built for a Clergy House: two houses for Cathedral Clergy; a School, appropriately named after Bishop Johnson; and a house which is the headquarters of the Women's Diocesan Association. Recently the office of the “Good Samaritans” has opened to help the Christian community with burials.

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