St. John's Anglican Cathedral, (Chinese: 聖約翰座堂), is officially The Cathedral Church of St. John the Evangelist. It is located at 4 Garden Road, Central on Hong Kong Island. PLAN
2. SATELLITE VIEW
The Cathedral is basically cruciform in shape with its main axis a little skewed from east - west. We shall follow our convention of using liturgical directions, using East (with a capital E) to describe the sanctuary end. The Cathedral has a bell tower at the West end, and a chapel and other add-ons to the East of the transepts.
3. EAST WALL
St John’s faces onto busy Garden Road and is surrounded by high rise, making photography difficult! The East wall contains a fine five-lancet stained glass window. Notice too the foundation stone below.
4. CROSSES
The Cathedral is adorned with two interesting crosses. At the apex of the East gable is a cross with a circle at its intersection carrying a modified Maltese cross. Then on the ridge stands a square slab with a further artistic cross with flared ends cut from it.
5. SOUTH WALL
The Cathedral’s architectural style is a plain, unadorned adaptation of 13th century English and Decorated Gothic, which was the popular revivalist style for churches at the time. The wall surface is golden-yellow roughcast, there are brown shutters at the windows, and the columns are set off with dramatic white geometric decoration.
6. SOUTH TRANSEPT
The Cathedral building is designed for Hong Kong’s tropical climate with open doors and windows. The palms add a further tropical touch. A small amount of light enters the Cathedral through the high rounded triangular windows. Technically known as ‘Reuleau traingles’, it surprises me that these are not found more often in Gothic architecture.
7. WESTERN TOWER
St. John's Cathedral is the oldest surviving Western ecclesiastical building in Hong Kong, and the oldest Anglican church in the Far East, having had its first Sunday service on Sunday, 11 March 1849. The bell tower is impressive, but are there any bells?
8. SOUTH TOWER ENTRANCE
The entrance to St John’s is via an open covered area beneath the tower. Above the South door is the coat of arms of former Governor of Hong Kong, Sir George Bonham, 1848 – 1854.
9. WEST ENTRY
This is an enticing view of St John’s! Above this door is a crest with the letters VR (Victoria Regina), commemorating the the foundation of the Cathedral in 1847 during the reign of Queen Victoria.
10. NORTH TOWER ENTRANCE
The Cathedral can also be entered from the North side of the tower. I am tempted to investigate the smaller door to the left: surely a spiral staircase ... for little people?
11. NORTH ENTRY CREST
Above the North door of the tower is a further crest: the coat of arms of former Governor of Hong Kong, Sir John Davis, 1844 – 1848.
12. NORTH WALL
The path on this side of the Cathedral leads past the North transept, and then back to Garden Road. The ever present looming skyscrapers are evident here. St John’s is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong has two other Anglican Cathedrals and a Roman Catholic Cathedral.
13. NORTH TRANSEPT PLAQUE
We notice that there is a plaque at the base of the North transept.
14. PLAQUE
Rather surprisingly, this plaque has nothing to do with the foundation of the Cathedral, but is in memory of Captain William Thornton Bate R.N. who died fighting in Canton. Interestingly, the site of St. John's Cathedral is the only freehold land in Hong Kong. All other land tenure in Hong Kong is leasehold in nature.
15. THE NORTH EAST
As we continue our walk around St John’s, the attractive styling continues. The Cathedral was declared a monument of Hong Kong in 1996.
16. RETURN TO THE EAST WALL
This completes our circuit of the Cathedral, and we are back to the East wall. Below the window is another item of interest.
17. FOUNDATION STONE
According to ‘Imperial to International : A History of St. John's Cathedral Hong Kong’ by Stuart Wolfendale, the east chancery was added as an extension to the original building. The foundation stone of the extension was laid on 16th November 1869 by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and work was ‘completed towards the end of 1872’.
18. GRAVE AND CROSS
Near the tower is a large Memorial Cross, unveiled in 1921 in memory of the soldiers killed in the First World War. During the Japanese occupation the cross was reduced to a straight granite column. In 1952 it was replaced by a Celtic cross, with an inscription added to commemorate those who had died in both World Wars. The original bronze tablet with the names of the First World War dead is held inside the cathedral, in the Chapel of St. Michael. Beside the Memorial Cross is a tombstone covering the remains of Pte. R.D. Maxwell, who was killed in Wan Chai three days before the ceasefire. The only grave within the cathedral precinct, it is registered by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
19. PLAN AND SIGN
Also near the tower is this Cathedral sign and plan, configured on stainless steel.
