The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels (formerly St. Michael's Parish Church), is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

church located on St. Michael's Row, two blocks east of

National Heroes Square National Heroes Square, formerly Trafalgar Square, is located in Bridgetown, the capital and principal commercial centre of the island-nation of Barbados. The square lies along Upper Broad Street and is on the northern shore of the Careenage ("C ...

; at the centre of

Bridgetown Bridgetown ( UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados. Formerly The Town of Saint Michael, the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael. Bridgetown is sometimes locally referred to as "The ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

. The

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

is the tallest of the

(

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

)'s houses of worship within Barbados.

History

Originally consecrated in 1665, and then rebuilt in 1789, it was elevated to Cathedral status in 1825 with the appointment of Bishop Coleridge to head the newly created Diocese of Barbados and the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea North Atlantic Ocean , co ...

. The first parish church to be built was St. Michael's Parish Church, which was located where St. Mary's Anglican Church now stands. The original St. Michael's Parish Church was a small wooden church constructed between 1660 and 1665. Destroyed by a hurricane in 1780, the church was rebuilt nine years later. The church was later damaged in the great hurricane of 1831 but not destroyed. When the Diocese of Barbados was established, St. Michael's Parish Church became St. Michael's Cathedral, with Bishop William Hart Coleridge as its first bishop in 1825. St. Michael Cathedral is made of coral stone with a beautiful tower and stunning stained glass windows. Inside the church is a marble baptismal font dating to the 17th century. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament was added in 1938 and features a roof covered in wallaba heartwood shingles and a Canterbury Cross on the northern wall. In May 1980, to commemorate the 300th Anniversary of the Font, the organist and choirmaster of the Cathedral, Dr. John George Fletcher (D.Mus., F.R.C.O. (C.H.M.), A.D.C.M., F.T.C.L., L.R.A.M., A.R.C.M., L.R.S.M.) wrote the Anthem "Nipson Anomēmata (Wash My Sins)". The text is a Greek palindromic inscription ( Νίψον ἀνομήματα, μὴ μόναν ὄψιν) which encircles the outer rim of the Font. St. Michael's Cathedral continues to be used as a place of regular worship. In the 21st century, it is working to raise funds to restore the building.

Graveyard

In the church's

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

are the graves of two of Barbados' most outstanding public figures: Sir

Grantley Adams Sir Grantley Herbert Adams, CMG, QC (28 April 1898 – 28 November 1971) was a Barbadian politician. He served as the inaugural premier of Barbados from 1953 to 1958 and then became the first and only prime minister of the West Indies Feder ...

(the first chief minister of Barbados and the first and only

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

of the

West Indies Federation The West Indies Federation, also known as the West Indies, the Federation of the West Indies or the West Indian Federation, was a short-lived political union that existed from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. Various islands in the Caribbean that ...

) and that of his son, Tom Adams, the island's second

. Also located there is the grave of William Brandford Griffith, former Governor of the Gold Coast colony of Africa.

Notes

References

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Bishop of Barbados The Diocese of Barbados is one of eight dioceses of the Anglican Communion that is part of the Province of the West Indies. History The diocese was established in 1824 as one of a pair, the other being the Diocese of Jamaica, which covered the ...

Anglican Church of Barbados The Diocese of Barbados is one of eight dioceses of the Anglican Communion that is part of the Province of the West Indies. History The diocese was established in 1824 as one of a pair, the other being the Diocese of Jamaica, which covered the ...

Anglican Diocese of the Windward Islands The Anglican Diocese of the Windward Islands is one of eight dioceses within the Province of the West Indies. The current bishop is Leopold Friday. History Source: The diocese was established on 8 November 1877 from the islands of St Vincent and ...

Church in the Province of the West Indies The Church in the Province of the West Indies is one of 40 member provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West Indies area. The present position of Archbishop and Primate of the ...

List of historic buildings in Bridgetown and Saint Ann's Garrison This is a list of buildings which have been listed as protected properties of UNESCO's World Heritage site within Historic Bridgetown, Barbados and its Garrison Historic Area, Garrison. List of buildings NoteUP IN ARMS References {{reflist Fur ...

External links

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The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels profile

Emporis Emporis GmbH was a real estate data mining company that was headquartered in Hamburg, Germany. The company collected data and photographs of buildings worldwide, which were published in an online database from 2000 to September 2022. On 12 Sept ...

St. Michael's Cathedral
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