The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity (often referred to as the Bermuda Cathedral) 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 ...

(the state church, 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 ...

; which in Bermuda was renamed the Anglican Church of Bermuda in 1978, an extra-provincial diocese under the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

)

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 ...

located on Church Street in the City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

. The original ''Trinity Church'' was designed in the Early English style by James Cranston of Oxford in 1844 and was completed in 1869. Named ''Trinity Church'', it was designated a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...

for the then- Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda, whose Cathedral (the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist), was at St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

). In Bermuda, ''St. John's Church'' was already the parish church for Pembroke Parish, and remained so after Trinity Church was constructed. Trinity Church was destroyed by arson in 1884. Scottish architect William Hay, who had been consulted on the construction of the first building in 1848–1849 and again in 1862, was hired by Canon Mark James to design the current structure in 1885 in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. While Hay designed most of the structure, his partner George Henderson designed the eastern portion of the cathedral. The building committee was chaired by Llewellyn Jones, the Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda; the vice-chairman was Canon Mark James, although he died in office and was succeeded by the Hon. William H. Gosling. The bishop was generally elsewhere engaged, so the majority of the work fell upon the vice-chairman. The cathedral was constructed between 1886 and 1905, originally to serve, like its predecessor, as a chapel of ease for the ''Bishop of Newfoundland and Bermuda''. It became a cathedral when the

Bishop of Bermuda The Bishop of Bermuda is an episcopal title given to the ordinary of the Anglican Church of Bermuda, one of six extra-provincial Anglican churches within the Church of England overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The present Bishop is Nick ...

was established as separate from the ''Bishop of Newfoundland'' in 1919. The structure is primarily Bermuda limestone, with the exception of several decorative features made from carved

Caen stone Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...

that were brought in from France. In an unhappy co-incidence, in 1892 the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Newfoundland was destroyed, with much of the city of St. John's, in the

Great Fire of 1892 The Great Fire of 8 July 1892 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador is remembered as the worst disaster ever to befall that city. Previous "Great Fires" had occurred in St. John's, during 1819 and 1846. Timeline At approximately 4:45 in the ...

. It was reconstructed and also completed in 1905. It is one of two cathedrals in Bermuda, the other being the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

St. Theresa's, also in Hamilton. Composer S. Drummond Wolff was organist at the cathedral from 1959 to 1962. For a small fee, visitors to the cathedral can climb the tower for a view of Hamilton and its harbour.

Gallery

File:Trinity Church chapel-of-ease in City of Hamilton, Bermuda 1879.jpg, The original ''Trinity Church'' chapel-of-ease in 1879 File:Bishop of Newfoundland & Bermuda chapel of ease Trinity Church after fire 1884.jpg, Chapel-of-ease ''Trinity Church'' after the fire in 1884 File:Royal Navy and British Army Church Parade at Hamilton Bermuda ca1900.jpg, A Church Parade by the Royal Navy and British Army in front of the incomplete cathedral, circa 1900 File:Bermuda Cathedral, Interior.jpg, Interior File:Bermuda Cathedral, View from Tower.jpg, View from tower

References

{{Bermuda topics Buildings and structures in Hamilton, Bermuda Cathedrals in Bermuda Anglican church buildings in Bermuda Anglican Church of Bermuda