St. Mary's Church is

Protestant church Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible sourc ...

located in the

Pune Cantonment Cantt, also known as Camp, is a military cantonment located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1817 for accommodating troops of the Indian Army. The cantonment houses many military establishments. It is also known for its shoppin ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

state, India. It is the oldest church in the

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

region and thus is known as the "mother church of the Deccan". The church was built to meet the spiritual needs of the British soldiers stationed in and around Pune. Inspired by the

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

Church in London, the church was designed by Lieutenant Nash of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

's Engineers. The foundations of the building were laid by Bishop

Reginald Heber Reginald Heber (21 April 1783 – 3 April 1826) was an English Anglicanism, Anglican bishop, a man of letters, and hymn-writer. After 16 years as a country parson, he served as Anglican Diocese of Calcutta, Bishop of Calcutta until his de ...

, the Bishop of Calcutta, in 1825. He described the church to be a large building but in bad architectural taste. A 1,500-member congregation worships there every Sunday, and the church currently is under the jurisdiction of the

Church of North India The Church of North India (CNI) is the dominant united and uniting churches, united Protestant church in northern India. It was established on 29 November 1970 by bringing together most of the Protestant churches working in northern India. It i ...

Burials and memorials

Being a garrison church, St. Mary's contains many memorials of the British soldiers who served in various wars and battles. The stones and plaques commemorate many figures; prominent amongst them is the memorial of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel and Major

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

of Fishleigh,

Hatherleigh Hatherleigh is a small market town in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1306. It hosts an arts festival in July, and a carnival in November featuring two flaming tar barrel runs. T ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, one of the few survivors from the

battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russian Empire, Russia's principal naval base on the Bl ...

. The church also houses the remains of

Sir Robert Grant Sir Robert Grant GCH (1779 – 9 July 1838) was an Anglo-Indian lawyer and politician. He was born in Bengal, India in 1779. His family relocated to England in 1790. He studied law at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and in 1807 passed the bar ...

, one of the queen's Most Honourable Privy Councillors and the Governor of Bombay. He was the author of a volume of sacred poems that contains some hymns which have found their way into modern hymnals. His most well-known hymn, "O Worship the King", based on

Psalm 104 Psalm 104 is the 104th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in Hebrew "ברכי נפשי" (barachi nafshi: "bless my soul"); in English in the King James Version: "Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great". In the slightly ...

, is regularly sung at the church and is an anthem during the church's anniversary. The church also houses the remains of Sir Edward West, the Chief Justice of Supreme Court at Bombay, which was established in 1823 by the East India Company. Beside the memorials and plaques, the colors of the 25th Bombay Infantry are laid to rest there.

References

Buildings and structures in Pune district Churches in Pune {{india-church-stub