St. Michael and All Angels Church is a church that was constructed from 1888 to 1891 of

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

at the Blantyre Mission in

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. It is located on the original Scottish mission site, off Chileka Rd, and is in the

Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) is a Presbyterian denomination. It consists of five synods: one in Zambia ( Zambia Synod), one in Zimbabwe ( Harare Synod) and three in Malawi – Livingstonia Synod in the north of the country, N ...

’s Blantyre Synod. Since 1991, it has been partnered with Hiland Presbyterian Church in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. In 1885, Lieutenant H. E. O'Neil determined the

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

of Blantyre to be 2 hours 20 minutes 13.56 seconds east of Greenwich by means of a series of 365 sets of lunar observations, and a plaque installed in the side of the church commemorates this achievement. The church has been described as :''the first permanent Christian Church erected ... between the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

and the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

.'' – Rev. Alexander Hetherwick C.B.E., D.D., F.R.G.S.

Construction

The church was designed, and its construction managed, by Rev.

David Clement Scott David Clement Ruffelle Scott (23 April 1853 – 18 October 1907) was a Scottish born polymath who became a Church of Scotland missionary in Africa. He was the supervisor in Blantyre until he was relieved in 1898. He then went to Kenya in 1901 wher ...

, who had no formal architectural training. Labor was provided by local men without previous experience in this type of construction. All the bricks used were made on-site from local

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and fired in wood-fueled

kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...

s. It has been estimated that eighty-one different forms of bricks were used in the building. The most common bricks are 12 by 6 by 3 inches, laid up in

English bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called '' courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by s ...

. Scott made no detailed drawings before construction began. Instead, each detail was tested with dry bricks before final assembly. The dimensions are approximately 106 feet long, 30 feet wide from aisle wall to aisle wall, and 37 feet high to the crest of the roof. Scott described his plan thus: :''The form was a Latin cross with very short

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

s, (10 feet outside measurement). A short

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, (12 feet outside measurement), and a semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

of 8 feet radius. The aim was to make a comely

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

place of worship.'' Design and structural elements include arches, domes, and

flying buttress The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of a ramping arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, to convey to the ground the lateral forces that push a wall ou ...

es. The two towers are not identical. A

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

, domed bell tower, which contains a circular staircase, is built into the angle between the south-western tower and the wall of the south aisle. The interior consists of a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

of six

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es.

Modifications and renovations

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

was installed in the North transept in 1907, and electric light was installed in 1912. The organ was replaced in 1954. The church underwent renovations in the 1970s, but has changed little in appearance since it was built. A large crack was found and repaired with flitch plates and

turnbuckle A turnbuckle, stretching screw or bottlescrew is a device for adjusting the tension or length of ropes, cables, tie rods, and other tensioning systems. It normally consists of two threaded eye bolts, one screwed into each end of a small metal ...

Surroundings

The church building itself is accompanied by a

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

, about 30 yards to the north, and is surrounded by additional buildings that at one time housed a school, a hospital, a printing press, and a carpentry shop. The grounds now include both a modern multi-purpose hall and the Henry Henderson Institute, named in honour of the Scottish missionary Henry Henderson (1843–91).

Gallery

File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Back.jpg, East end with semi-circular apse File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Stained Glass.JPG, Stained glass in the apse as seen through door in facade File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Side Detail 2.JPG, North side detail File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Clock Tower.JPG, Clock tower File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Brick Detail.JPG, Brick detail File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Brick Detail 2.JPG, Brick detail File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Brick Detail 3.JPG, Brick detail File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Brick Detail 4.JPG, Brick detail File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Plaque 1.JPG, Plaque on clock tower File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Plaque 2.JPG, Plaque on clock tower File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Plaque 3.JPG, Plaque on clock tower File:St Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Plaque 4.JPG, Plaque on front

References

External links

Church of Central Africa Presbyterian’s Blantyre Synod
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael and All Angels Church, Blantyre, Malawi Churches in Malawi Churches completed in 1891 19th-century Presbyterian churches Buildings and structures in Blantyre