St. Paul's is an Anglican church in Landour,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The church was built in 1839 and first consecrated on 1 May 1840, by Bishop Daniel Wilson of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. From 1840 to 1947, the church was run by

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

s for the

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a military quarters. In Bangladesh, India and other parts of South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British India, colonial-era). In military of the United States, United Stat ...

used primarily by the British residents of Landour and the

British Military Hospital British Military Hospitals were established and operated by the British Army, both at home and overseas during the 19th and 20th centuries, to treat service personnel (and others in certain circumstances). They varied in size, purpose and permanen ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

19th century

St. Paul's was built in 1840 by Bishop Daniel Wilson who saw the need for the construction of a church in Landour, which would become the main station of the Anglican church in the Dehradun district. Upon its opening, St. Paul's was government owned and could seat 250 people. It was created for the particular use of the British troops based at the Landour

convalescent Convalescence is the gradual recovery of health and strength after illness or injury. It refers to the later stage of an infectious disease or illness when the patient recovers and returns to previous health, but may continue to be a source of ...

depot. The year 1857 marked the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

, an event the church record refers to, from the British perspective, as the "insurrection" of 1857. Rev. W.J.Jay was the chaplain during this period (1856—1857) and regular services were held uninterrupted.

Present day

In 2005, the Pastorate Committee proposed the restoration of the church roof, due to leaking. Some money to fund the repairs was raised by the congregation but it was not enough to pay for the restoration work. At this point, some former students of

Woodstock School Woodstock School is an international coeducational residential school located in Landour, a small hill station contiguous with the town of Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Woodstock is one of the oldest resid ...

stepped forward to help fund a complete restoration of the building. The works were completed in November 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Pauls Church, Landour Churches completed in 1839 19th-century Anglican church buildings in India Church of North India church buildings Dehradun district Churches in Uttarakhand 1839 establishments in British India