St. Paul's Church, Landour

St. Paul's is an Anglican church in Landour, India. The church was built in 1839 and first consecrated on 1 May 1840, by Bishop Daniel Wilson of Calcutta.[1] From 1840 to 1947, the church was run by military chaplains for the cantonment used primarily by the British residents of Landour and the British Military Hospital during the British Raj.

St. Paul's Church, Landour
Front view of the St. Paul's Church
Map
LocationLandour, Uttarakhand
CountryIndia
DenominationAnglican
MembershipChurch of North India
History
Founded1839
DedicationSt. Paul
Consecrated1 May 1840

19th century

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St. Paul's was built in 1840 by Bishop Daniel Wilson who saw the need for the construction of a church in Landour, which would become the main station of the Anglican church in the Dehradun district.[2] Upon its opening, St. Paul's was government owned and could seat 250 people. It was created for the particular use of the British troops based at the Landour convalescent depot.[1]

The year 1857 marked the Indian Rebellion of 1857, an event the church record refers to, from the British perspective, as the "insurrection" of 1857. Rev. W.J.Jay was the chaplain during this period (1856—1857) and regular services were held uninterrupted.[2]

 
Interior of the newly restored church, 2010

Present day

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In 2005, the Pastorate Committee proposed the restoration of the church roof, due to leaking. Some money to fund the repairs was raised by the congregation but it was not enough to pay for the restoration work. At this point, some former students of Woodstock School stepped forward to help fund a complete restoration of the building. The works were completed in November 2008.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Raj Bahadur Sharma (1988). Christian missions in north India, 1813-1913: a case study of Meerut Division and Dehra Dun District. Mittal Publications. p. 113. ISBN 978-81-7099-083-3.
  2. ^ a b Raj Bahadur Sharma (2005). History of Christian missions: North India perspective (2 ed.). Mittal Publications. p. 90. ISBN 978-81-7099-083-3.
  3. ^ Chopra, Jaskiran (22 October 2009). "Landour's Clock Tower to regain lost glory soon". The Pioneer. Retrieved 24 August 2010.