Christ's Church Cathedral (Hamilton, Ontario)

Christ's Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Niagara, located at 252 James Street North, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The parish was established in 1835, with construction for the present building taking place from 1852 to 1873. The cathedral has gone through several expansions and renovations since its opening in 1876.

History

The parish was established by John Geddes, then the Dean of Niagara, in 1835. The parish's present building was built from 1852 to 1873.

In 1872, the original church facade was demolished for the building of a new cathedral. The new building was elevated to the status of cathedral and formally opened in 1876.

In 2003, Dean Peter Wall performed a wedding for a lesbian couple, whilst the national church was still in the process of debating the blessing of same-sex unions. The Diocesan Synod also had yet to reach any conclusion on the matter, with Bishop Ralph Spence expressing disapproval of the Dean’s decision to officiate the wedding. The Diocesan Synod approved the blessing of same-sex unions in 2004. Because of the event, the parish is regarded as queer-friendly by Anglican and Episcopalian LGBT+ advocacy organisation, Integrity.

Design

Originally a stuccoed wooden Palladian-Baroque structure designed by Robert Charles Wetherall, it was incrementally transformed into stone Decorated Gothic, initially to an 1848 design by William Thomas, with Thomas's chancel and the first two bays of his nave being added to Wetherall's existing wooden church, the resulting hybrid being dubbed "the humpback church." The stone gothic nave was completed to a further design by Henry Langley (the architect of some 70 Ontario churches) in 1876,http://www.waynecook.com/ahamilton-wentworth.html Historical Plaques of
Hamilton-Wentworth the original wooden portion having been demolished in 1872 to clear room for it and, ''inter alia'', the chancel extended in 1924–25.

Meanwhile, Thomas, in a state of indignation over the perverse use to which the Anglicans had put his design, took it to the Presbyterians, who built the still-standing St Paul's Church to Thomas's plan for Christ's Church.MacRae and Adamson, p.149.

Christ's Church has ornately carved west doors and fine stained glass windows.

Music and arts

The cathedral is a notable arts, concert, recital and recording venue in Hamilton. Its Gallery 252, operated by the cathedral's arts committee, mounts monthly exhibitions of oils, pastels, charcoal drawings, photography, silk screening and stitchery as a means of introducing to the public artists not yet sufficiently established for commercial galleries. Since 2008, the New Harbours Music Series has organized free public concerts which coincide with the monthly artcrawl on James street, including performances from Polmo Polpo, Orphx, Michael Snow, Slither, Steve Hauschildt, Dirty Beaches, Slim Twig, Gasoline Gathers Hands Gathers Friends, Sun Circle, and Jeremy Greenspan.

See also

* Dean of Niagara

References

External links

* {{official, http://cathedralhamilton.ca

"First-Rate Gothic: A Look at St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Hamilton" (''Raise the Hammer'', September 26, 2006) – discussion with photographs of church built to Thomas's plan for Christ's Church Cathedral, Hamilton

Anglican cathedrals in Ontario
Anglican church buildings in Ontario
19th-century Anglican church buildings in Canada
Churches in Hamilton, Ontario
Designated heritage properties in Ontario
Ontario Heritage Trust
Deans of Niagara
Churches completed in 1873