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| St. John's Church Kolkata 1786-88 Etching by Daniel Thomas photography.wordpress.com |
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| St.John's Kolkata photography.wordpress.com |
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| St John's church Kolkata indianvagabond.com |
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| St John's church Kolkata indianvagabond.com |
The Graveyard: A Study in Monumental Styles
The choice of materials was dictated by the harsh environmental divide between the humid, monsoon-prone churchyard and the protected interior.
Outdoor Mausoleums: These are large, architectural "rooms" for the dead. Structures like the Charnock Mausoleum or the Rohilla Memorial are designed to be walked around or even entered. They occupy significant physical space and were designed to dominate the landscape as "permanent" statements of British presence.
Interior Plaques: Wall memorials, such as the plaque for James Achilles Kirkpatrick, are "mural monuments." They are designed to integrate with the church's internal Palladian architecture. They use the vertical space of the walls to commemorate individuals without infringing on the congregational space.
Mausoleum Materials: Outdoor monuments primarily use brick and Charnockite (a dark, weather-resistant granite) or lime-plastered brick known as chunam. This was necessary because soft marble would quickly erode or turn black in the tropical rain and pollution.
Plaque Materials: Interior memorials are almost exclusively made of fine white marble or alabaster. Protected from the elements, these materials allowed for high-relief carving and delicate textures that would be impossible to maintain outdoors.
The churchyard contains some of the most diverse architectural specimens in Kolkata, ranging from heavy, defensive structures to delicate, ornamental pavilions.
Originally built on an old graveyard, there are tombs and memorials, but only a few dating back to the date of construction of the church.they are: Job Charnock’s Tomb, Black Hole Monumen, Rohilla War Memorial, Lady Canning Memorial, Francis (Begum) Johnson’s grave
Early Colonial/Indo-Saracenic Hybrid (Charnock Mausoleum): The Charnock Mausoleum (c. 1695) is a unique architectural outlier. While intended to be a British monument, it reflects the "Moorish" or Indo-Islamic influences of the time. It is an octagonal, two-storied structure with a low-slung dome. The thick walls and small openings suggest a defensive, sturdy aesthetic meant to survive the harsh early years of the settlement.
Pure Neoclassicism (The Rohilla Memorial): The Rohilla Cenotaph (1794) is the graveyard's most sophisticated architectural achievement. It is a circular "Rotunda" or "Monopteros" style pavilion.
Doric Order: It utilizes twelve fluted Doric columns, which were considered the most "masculine" and appropriate for military memorials.
Entablature Details: The frieze is adorned with triglyphs (three-grooved tablets) and bucrania (ox skulls), classic motifs derived from ancient Greek temples.
The Obelisk (Black Hole Memorial): The Black Hole Memorial is a 50-foot obelisk, a form borrowed from ancient Egypt that became immensely popular in the 19th century as a symbol of eternity and commemoration. Its slender, tapering form provides a sharp vertical contrast to the rounded domes of the nearby mausoleums.
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| Black-hole memorial Kolkata .dreamstime.com |
The British erected a 15-metre 50` high obelisk in the graveyard of Anglican St. John`s Church, Calcutta. Holwell had erected a tablet on the site of the `Black Hole` to commemorate the victims but, at some point the precise date is uncertain, Memorial to those who died in the notorious and much-disputed Black Hole of Calcutta episode of 1756. About the clearly visible distinct inscription in the base it was put up by Viceroy Lord Curzon, unveiled in 1902, and moved here in 1940. It was erected in 1901 at the corner of Dalhousie Square now B. B. D. Bagh, which is said to be the site of the `Black Hole
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| Black-hole memorial, inscription put up by lord Curzon commons.wikimedia.org |
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| Job Charnock tomb and epitech St.John's church, image. R. Datta Kolkata upload.wikimedia.org |
Above image:The octagonal Moorish style tomb was erected by Charnock's son in law Charles Ayer. Built of Hypersthene granite (pink Granite) brought all the way from Pallavaram near Chennai, which later came out to be known as Charnockite rock.........
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| St.John's church,Kolkata photography.wordpress.com |
Above image: Top: Job Charnock'smausoleum.Bottom right: Vice Adm. Charles Whatson's
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| Decoration at top Rohilla war II memorial tutorialathome.in |
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| Second Rohilla War memorial. upload.wikimedia.org |
https://hekint.org/2023/12/14/medical-monuments-in-st-johns-church-kolkata
https://double-dolphin.blogspot.com/2014/02/st-johns-church.html
K. N. Jayaraman
