Doors Open 2024 #5: Visiting The Cathedral Church Of St James-Home To Toronto's Oldest Congregation!

On Saturday May 25th, Doors Open Toronto officially kicked off for the weekend. Our fifth and final stop for the day was The Cathedral Church Of St. James.
From Wikipedia:
The Cathedral Church of St. James is an Anglican cathedral in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the location of the oldest congregation in the city, with the parish being established in 1797. The church, with construction beginning in 1850 and opening for services on June 19, 1853, was one of the largest buildings in the city at that time. It was designed by Frederick William Cumberland and is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture.
The Anglican parish of St. James was established in 1797 in the then-town of York. In 1807, the first church was built of wood. It was used in 1813 as a hospital during the War of 1812, and it was subsequently robbed and damaged by the American troops. Shortly after, in 1818, the church was enlarged and a bell tower addition was completed. The bell was used as a fire bell for the town.
In 1833, the wooden structure was taken down and replaced by a stone structure in the Neoclassical style. In January 1839, the church burned down and was reconstructed. It reopened in December 1839, and the church became a cathedral in 1936. St. James Cemetery, the parish cemetery, was moved in the 1840s to St. James-the-Less at Parliament and Bloor streets, although there are still unmarked graves under the modern parking lot.
In 1849, the building was destroyed in the first Great Fire of Toronto. An international architectural competition was held to replace it, drawing eleven entries from Canada and the United States. The Gothic Revival design by Frederick William Cumberland and Thomas Ridout placed first, followed by the submissions of John Ostell and Kivas Tully respectively.
Construction began on July 1, 1850, and the Ohio stone and brick church was opened to the public in 1853. Its original organ was built in 1853 by Samuel Russell Warren. Upon his death in 1867, John Strachan, Toronto's first Anglican bishop, was buried in a vault beneath the high altar. Dean Henry James Grasett (1808-1882) was also buried here.
The current church building, c. 1890s
It was not until 1873-1874 that the tower and spire, the transepts, and the pinnacles and finials were completed by architect Henry Langley. The spire was the tallest structure in Canada upon completion and would remain so for another 25 years until the construction of Toronto's Old City Hall. The tower's clock was installed one year later.
In 1889, side galleries and aisles were removed, and the choir stalls and organ console were installed in the chancel. In 1936, St. George's Chapel was dedicated, and the organ was overhauled by Casavant Frères.
Major renovations were completed in 1982. The parish celebrated its bicentenary in 1997, when the peal of 12 change ringing bells was installed as the largest peal in North America. They are one of only nine peals of 12 bells outside the British Isles, and one of only two in North America, the other being located at Trinity Church in New York City.
To raise money to help pay for the rising costs of maintaining the cathedral, part of the grounds were planned to be sold to a condominium developer. Part of the land was to have been part of the original cemetery, and the developers planned to move the graves in order to clear the land. A public outcry ensued, and a deal was made to sell off a parking lot to the northwest of the cathedral for the SP!RE condominium development.
Join us as we take in the sights of The Cathedral Church Of St. James.
#toronto #doorsopen #doorsopentoronto #doorsopen2024 #cathedral #church #stjamescathedral #oldtoronto #cathedralchurchofsaintjames #historicbuildings