Christ Church Cathedral - Victoria, British Columbia. - Cathedrals on Waymarking.com

This Anglican Gothic style of thirteenth century church is located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Address: 930 Burdett Ave, Victoria, BC V8V 3G8

According to Wikipedia, "Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, British Columbia is the cathedral church of the Diocese of British Columbia of the Anglican Church of Canada.

The third Christ Church (1929 –)

The wooden structure built in 1872 became inadequate for the size of the congregation. In 1891, through an international design competition, architect J.C.M. Keith of Victoria was commissioned to design a larger and more enduring edifice. He produced a design in 13th century gothic style, inspired by Durham Cathedral in England, with transepts and a great central lantern tower, of concrete and stone with brick vaulting. The congregation made a good start on a building fund, but it was not adequate to begin construction.

Bishop Charles Schofield, elected in 1916, had the judgement, tact, courage, perseverance and business sense to lead the project. He had recently overseen the rebuilding of Christ Church Cathedral, Fredericton, which was ignited by lightning in 1911 during his tenure there as Dean.

In 1919, a new Cathedral Buildings Campaign for $250 000 was authorized. Bishop Schofield had Memorial Hall built first; its cornerstone was laid on October 1, 1923. A service for breaking ground on the new Cathedral took place on May 20, 1926. The cornerstone was laid on September 9, 1926 by the Rt. Rev. and Rt. Hon. A.F. Winnington-Ingram, the Lord Bishop of London. Fortunately, Mr. Keith was still available to supervise construction.

Winston Churchill visited the site on September 9, 1929, and was quick to help when the superintendent asked him to lay a stone on the north tower.

Funds were just sufficient to construct the nave, narthex and the lower portions of the northwest and southwest towers only. The east end of the nave was closed with a temporary wooden wall, and this much was consecrated on September 28, 1929. The contractors were The Parfitt Brothers, a firm of five brothers from England who had a construction yard in the Fernwood neighborhood of Victoria.
The temporary wooden east wall of 1929 was replaced by a windowed wall in 1986.
Interior view facing east, toward the main altar and the windowed wall which replaced the temporary wooden wall of 1929

During construction, a robin nested atop scaffolding next to the top of one of the main pillars of the nave. Work in that area was deferred until the end of nesting season. R.W. Marsh, who was responsible for production of the many cast stone elements of the interior pillars and arches, suggested that a sculpture of the robin on its nest be placed atop the pillar, and offered to cast one in stone, given a model. Reginald Dove, the architect's assistant, sculpted the bird and nest in clay, and a stone casting of his model was made and installed on the capital of the pillar.[6]

In 1957, the western towers were completed and the arch over the rose window was built. To reduce costs, the towers were built twelve feet shorter than specified.

In the 1970s, the high altar which had been brought from the second cathedral and installed against the east wall was replaced by a detached altar and moved to the Lady Chapel. The lectern is that donated by Mrs. Hills in 1872.

By the 1980s, the wooden east wall had become unsound. Completion of the original design was abandoned, and a stone-clad addition containing a chapel, vestries, a chapter room, washrooms and other ancillary spaces was constructed to replace the wall. Even so, Christ Church is one of the larger churches in Canada, with a nave of 93' by 140', and towers of 122'.

Annunciation scene windows in the south corridor by artists Ed Schaefer and Tom Mercer were dedicated on 8 November 2009 by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in the presence of Rt. Rev. James Cowan.

The Cathedral, its Memorial Hall, the Synod office and related buildings occupy the city block bounded by Quadra Street, Burdett Avenue, Vancouver Street and Rockland Avenue. The postal address of the Cathedral is 930 Burdett Avenue, Victoria, B.C. V8V 3G8, that of the former deanery where the cathedral offices are located.

The Institute for stained glass in Canada has documented the stained glass at Christ Church Cathedral.

The Bell Tower and Change Ringing

The north west tower had been built only to the level of the bell chamber floor in the original construction. In 1936, through the generosity of two local donors, Mrs. Mozley and Mrs. Matson, a peal of eight bells for change ringing was purchased and installed atop this floor. The bells were made by Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel, London and were shipped via the Panama Canal. They are of the same design as the peal at Westminster Abbey.

The eight tons of steel girders and seven and a half tons of bells were hoisted the seventy feet onto the tower and installed by Yarrows Shipyard of Victoria under the direction of Edward W. Izard in just six working days. As the tower was incomplete, a wooden shed was built over the bells to protect them from the elements. The bells were first rung on July 12, 1936, and the tower was completed in 1957 when construction on the cathedral resumed. The bells are rung by the Ringers' Guild for Sunday services, festivals, funerals, weekly rehearsals, and by arrangement for weddings.

Two smaller bells were added in 1983 and were dedicated on March 8, 1983 in the presence of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh before being hung in the tower. The Treble is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Izard, who led the ringing in the tower for nearly forty years, and the Second to the Queen's grandson Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. The Queen attended service at the cathedral again in 2002, when in Victoria as part of her Golden Jubilee royal tour of Canada".

Source: Wikipedia & so on

Address: Address: 930 Burdett Ave, Victoria, BC V8V 3G8 Religious affiliation: Anglican Date founded or constructed: 9/9/1926 Web site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
1.Describe your visit, including the date, with as much detail as possible
2.Provide at least one original photograph – no need to include your GPS in the picture

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/01/2022 stinger503 visited it 12/05/2018 BWJM visited it 10/22/2017 Lynx Humble visited it 01/02/2017 The A-Team visited it 11/16/2016 Castor007 visited it 08/11/2016 Kladings visited it 07/27/2016 M_et_M_Orchids_Lot visited it

View all visits/logs