St George's Cathedral -- A brief history of a national monument by Ms Joyce Sinclair Guyana Chronicle December 6, 1999 FRIDAY, November 26, 1999 was the Gift Day of St. George's Cathedral, one of our national monuments, the largest wooden building in the world. At least, we hope it still is. For the occasion of the Gift Day, I had been assisting with some of the administrative arrangements, and in perusing some of the literature on the subject, some very interesting facts were revealed which are appropriate for sharing on an occasion such as this. I owe credit to the Reverend Derek Goodrich, former Dean of the Cathedral, who has compiled much of the history of the Cathedral. As Guyanese, we need to know more about the history of our national monuments and historical buildings. Much of this needs, too, to be shared with our schools and history students at the University. How many of us know that between 1808 and the present, St. George's Cathedral has been completely rebuilt four times? It was not always St. George's Cathedral. But the dedication to St. George was used as early as 1808. In 1808, a chapel for divine worship was built on two lots of land donated by R.B. Daly, executor of the heirs of Joseph Bourda. St. George's School now stands on that bit of land. An early print of the building shows a church with a spire. It accommodated 300 persons. Very soon, the church was too small for its growing congregation, and efforts were made to obtain subscriptions from the public and a grant from the Court of Policy to enlarge the building. So public requests to build or extend the church date back many years. In 1818, 740 slaves were baptised in St. George's and in 1821, the vestry stressed the need for a larger church to accommodate all classes of the community. After Emancipation, after an alarm was raised that the church was falling, (one beam had partly broken and a pillar had given way) emergency repairs were hastily done. Plans were again formulated for a new church. The proposed new site was the Parade Ground. Parishioners objected strongly and it was finally agreed to build the church on the present site opposite Carmichael Street and visible from all parts of the Town. In 1814 St. Matthew's Parish, Providence purchased the old St. George's Church. So St. George's served as the Parish of East Bank of Demerara. The Church was built and opened for worship in 1842. It became the first St. George's Cathedral because the Bishop's cathedra (chair) was in the church. The Bishop at the time was William Piercy Austin. However, the building was a structural disaster and was considered unsafe. It had to be dismantled. In 1877 a temporary Pro-Cathedral, the third St. George's Cathedral, was erected at a cost of $10,000. This lasted for fifteen years until 1872, when action was begun for the erecting of a fourth building. The architect was Sir Arthur Bloomfield, who according to Rev. Goodrich, never visited Guyana, hence his complicated guttering system in the present building. By 1885, the princely sum of $42,000 had been raised for the new Cathedral. This reached $90,000 at the time of the laying of the foundation stone in 1889. By 1893, $120,000 was amassed. The Cathedral was consecrated in 1894. According the Reverend Goodrich "the Cathedral was free of debt". Today, just to keep the Cathedral open during one day, the cost is close to $12,000. The cost of repairs to the east wing alone is $1.5M. The Cathedral is full of history. There are lots of memorabilia and gifts, which fortunately or unfortunately, have to be kept away from the Cathedral, locked away in a safe place, so that tourists or even Parishioners do not ordinarily see them but can read about them. My history tells me that Ms. Stella Arno was the first woman on the Parish Vestry following a motion at Synod the previous year which ended male domination of vestries. She was soon followed by Mrs Evelyn Simon. In 1966 Canon Phillip Elder became the first Bishop of Stabroek. He was the first Guyanese-born Bishop. In 1971, the Reverend Canon Randolph O. George was the first Guyanese-born priest to hold the office of Dean. In a specific appeal in 1974, Dean George reminded all that St. George's Cathedral was a unique building, a national monument and the Mother church of the Diocese. He appealed for help to repair the ravages of time, weather and termites that threatened the structure. Let us treasure our national monuments. Let us preserve them. Let us give thanks for the generosity of all those who have gone before us who have contributed to the upkeep of the Cathedral both here in Guyana and overseas. Let us give thanks for those who are still with us and continue to give - gifts large and small. In all things give thanks! A © page from: Guyana: Land of Six Peoples