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| St.Mary's Church,Madras.drawn by J.W.Gantz,Vepery. 1841.credit:livestories.com |
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| ST.Mary's church,Chennai static panoramio.com |
Construction was started on 25 March 1678 - Lady Day, whereby the church acquired its name and the work was completed in the course of two years. The church was consecrated on the 28th of October, 1680 by the chaplain Rev. Richard Portman.
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St.Mary's church,Ft.St.George,Chennai.www.blogs.zeenor.com.  |
The
tombstones in its graveyard are the oldest English or British
tombstones in India and
many
of them were brought here from
other sites.This is the reason why the church has a large number of Roman Catholic grave-stones,
inscribed in Latin and Portuguese.
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| St.Mary's church,Chennai.baptism since 1680' credit:bp.blogspot.com |
This
ancient prayer house solemnised the marriages of Robert Clive,
the man who was responsible for start of the British Empire in India
and Governor Elihu
Yale,
who later became the first benefactor of Yale University
in the U.S. That time Yale was the governor of Fort St. George, and a vestryman
and treasurer of St Marys Church. His later gift of money earned in India to Cotton Mather
helped in the foundation of Yale University
in the U.S.
A unique feature of this old church was it was designed with a bomb-proof roof about four feet thick and rounded in the manner of a wagon's roof, so as to cause cannonballs to ricochet. Here it refers to seventeenth century cannonballs. The internal dimensions of the building are 86 feet by 56 feet, with the outside walls 4 feet thick and the walls separating the nave from the aisles, 3 feet thick. The extraordinary thickness of the walls was meant to safeguard the building from external attacks and violent storms.In the mid 1700s the church served as granary and garrison for a very short period - when the French and Hyder Ali invaded this place.If occasion demanded the church would serve as a bomb shelter for the soldiers for safety.
On 6th October, 1968, the 250th anniversary of the naming of Yale College for Elihu Yale, the classmates of Chester Bowels, then the American Ambassador to India, donated money for lasting improvements to the church and erected a plaque to commemorate the occasion. The church is popularly known as the 'Westminster Abbey of the East.' By the bye Chester Bowels was one of the best US ambassadors to India
A unique feature of this old church was it was designed with a bomb-proof roof about four feet thick and rounded in the manner of a wagon's roof, so as to cause cannonballs to ricochet. Here it refers to seventeenth century cannonballs. The internal dimensions of the building are 86 feet by 56 feet, with the outside walls 4 feet thick and the walls separating the nave from the aisles, 3 feet thick. The extraordinary thickness of the walls was meant to safeguard the building from external attacks and violent storms.In the mid 1700s the church served as granary and garrison for a very short period - when the French and Hyder Ali invaded this place.If occasion demanded the church would serve as a bomb shelter for the soldiers for safety.
On 6th October, 1968, the 250th anniversary of the naming of Yale College for Elihu Yale, the classmates of Chester Bowels, then the American Ambassador to India, donated money for lasting improvements to the church and erected a plaque to commemorate the occasion. The church is popularly known as the 'Westminster Abbey of the East.' By the bye Chester Bowels was one of the best US ambassadors to India
and had a close relationship with the then Indian Government led by Pundit Nehru. He was also an great admirer of India and its democratic tradition
Ref:
Ref:
"Madras
1922 Hand Book", Indian Science Congress, Madras Diocesan Press,
Madras, 1921
"The Church in the Fort", St. Mary's Church, Church of South India, 2002
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