inSPIREd Sunday

July 2017 - Toronto ON

I hadn't planned on visiting this church but was pleased to see the doors were open as I walked by.  It is open Monday to Friday from noon to 3 PM.

There are three churches in this area.
St. Michael's Cathedral Catholic
Metropolitan United Church - outside
St. James Anglican Cathedral - I covered this church before but got some different photos this time.

St James' Anglican Cathedral is located at 65 Church Street (at King). There have been four Anglican churches on this site.

Church Street is named for this town's first church, at the corner of King since 1807: St James' (or, as some have it, St James's). This small temple of wood set in woods, oriented east-west and later painted blue, was Church of England but not state established. They paid good money for pews: one gent got his at auction for 35 pounds, his heirs holding it for two pounds rent per a year.


The first outside shot was taken last year as I entered by the side door this time.

The tower--the highest church tower in Canada and second highest in North America next to New York's St Patrick's--was not completed until 1875. This tower today holds a peal of 12 bells unique in all of North America.

Torontonians will recognize many of the family names listed below as streets around Toronto. Simcoe, Strachan, Jarvis to name a few.

In 1793, when Sir John Graves Simcoe established the Town of York, the first Anglican service was held here, attended by the Queen's Rangers stationed at Fort York. The first wooden church was built in 1807 with the help of the garrison. The church was used as a hospital during the War of 1812 and was damaged and robbed by American soldiers. In 1828, it was dedicated to St James the Apostle.

In 1831, the wooden church was replaced with a larger stone structure, which opened in 1832, but burned down in 1839. St James' church was made a cathedral in 1839 when the Reverend John Strachan became the first Bishop of Toronto. In April 1849, St James' Cathedral was completely destroyed by fire, the second time in just ten years.

12″ x 12″ – RaKu fired ceramic – 2014
This is the permanent mounting of the fourteen (14) stations of the Cross. They were mounted at eye level so that that the viewer would have a closer connection with the expressions.

This window may be the work of Tiffany disciples Calvert & Kimberly of New York.

The accompanying plaque informs that the window is dedicated to the memory of William Jarvis, his grandson, William Dummer Powell Jarvis, and the latter’s widow, Diana.

The organ has 5000 pipes and includes the original gallery organ from 1853 over the main south entrance at the rear of the cathedral. Trumpet pipes have since been added to the gallery organ. The front chancel and aisle pipes were added in 1916.

Dr. John Strachan, Toronto’s first bishop, appointed in 1839, was buried under the chancel in 1867. Today, the brass plaque over his resting place reflects the light from the chancel windows. When the churchyard beside the church was closed, gravestones in the cemetery were cemented into the walls of the entranceway. Included is the stone of John Ridout, who died in the last pistol duel fought in the town of York, fought near Yonge and Grosvenor on July 12, 1817. Another interesting stone cemented into the entranceway is that of 27-year-old William Butcher of Walpole in Sussex. On October 31, 1839, he fell from a height of seventy feet, while labouring on the spire of the tower of the church that was on the site before the fire that occurred later in the year in which he perished. Today, in the interior of St. James are many commemorative brass plaques, including one to Col. Sir Casimir Gzowski (1818-98), aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria. It is on the east wall of the nave, and was donated by officers of the Toronto Garrison.

Close-up view of the windows in the St. George’s Chapel, depicting King George V and Queen Mary.

This staircase leads to the bells in the tower.

The high altar, above which rises the Ascension of Christ. The window is the work of Franz Mayer of Munich, Inc., a popular provider of stained glass to this city during the Victorian fashion to replace plain cathedral glass with prophets and parables and evangelists. The Mayer company, family owned and founded in the mid-1800s, is still in business today. According to Shirley Ann Brown’s pamphlet The Windows of St. James, the ascension window was unveiled in 1885 in memory of rector Henry James Grasett and cost the congregation $2,780.

City Walk on the Wild Siide

Photo Sunday   Six Word Saturday

July 2017 - Toronto ON

This week's theme is WILD

This week in St. James Park.

inSPIREd Sunday

July 2016 - Toronto ON

You may be interested in this Toronto church conversion condo for sale.

I thought I had featured St. James Cathedral from the outside before but can't find any mention of it.

I did mention it a couple of weeks ago in a post about Little Trinity Church. Little Trinity was established because people didn't want to pay the high pew prices at St. James a couple of blocks away.

I was very lucky this day as the church was open. This is a rarity in Toronto.

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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 during the War of 1812 as a hospital and 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. Upon reopening in December 1839, the church became a Cathedral.St. James Cemetery, the parish cemetery, was moved in the 1840s to St. James-the-Less at Parliament and Bloor, although there are still unmarked graves under the modern parking lot.

In 1849, the Cathedral was destroyed in the first Great Fire of Toronto.


Frederick William Cumberland and Thomas Ridout's Gothic Revival design placed first. Construction began on July 1, 1850, and the Ohio stone and brick Cathedral was opened to the public in 1853. The church's original organ was built in 1853 by Samuel Russell Warren.




However, it would not be until 1873-1874 when 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.




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.

St James dominated the social life of Toronto in the late 19th century, with its canopied pew for the governor general at the front of the nave. Bishop Strachan is buried in the chancel. There is a stained glass window made by Tiffany & Co of New York dedicated to William Jarvis. An earlier Jarvis, Samuel, was involved in a duel on 12 July 1817, in which he killed John Ridout. The latter's gravestone was removed from the old cemetery and now sits on the wall of the south porch.

West Porch - stained glass by Stuart Reid depicting the calling of St. James the Apostle.

Very modern Station of the Cross signs. 10th - Jesus is stripped of his clothes.

The Eagle lecttern - the eagle is a symbol of St. John.

Bapistry

Photos from the St. George's Chapel.

Later in the week we had a meeting on the 53 floor and I got this picture looking down on the church. You can see by the brown grass that we really need some rain!