Christ Church, Lucknow: built after the 1857 siege as a memorial, not the church that endured it
Su Mahatma Gandhi Marg, nel quartiere di Hazratganj a Lucknow, in Uttar Pradesh, Christ Church – talvolta indicata come “Martyrs’ Memorial Church” – fu costruita tra il 1858 e il 1860 e consacrata il 26 novembre di quell’anno dal vescovo George Cotton, in stile gotico, a pianta cruciforme, con circa venti guglie e pinnacoli, realizzata dai Royal Engineers; il nome dell’architetto, indicato da alcune fonti turistiche come un non meglio precisato “generale Hutchinson”, non risulta confermato da una fonte primaria. Una prima chiesa era già sorta nel cantonment di Mariaon, con permesso concesso nel 1837 e completamento nel 1842, capace di novanta persone, sotto il cappellano Henry Polehampton: quell’edificio fu distrutto dai ribelli nel 1857, durante la rivolta indiana, e abbandonato. Va però corretta un’imprecisione diffusa online, ripresa anche da alcune voci enciclopediche: l’attuale Christ Church, completata nel 1860, fu costruita tre anni dopo l’assedio del 1857 e non può quindi essere l’edificio che lo subaccì in prima persona, come talvolta erroneamente riportato; l’edificio realmente assediato, oggi in rovina, con un cimitero di circa duemila sepolture tra cui quella di Sir Henry Lawrence, è la distinta chiesa di St Mary’s, presso la Residency di Lucknow. Il legame corretto e verificabile di Christ Church con gli eventi del 1857 è dunque quello di monumento commemorativo costruito successivamente in memoria dei caduti britannici della rivolta, come confermano le lapidi e le targhe commemorative conservate al suo interno. Lucknow non ospita una propria cattedrale anglicana: la sede della diocesi della Chiesa dell’India del Nord che comprende la città, la All Saints Cathedral, si trova a Prayagraj (Allahabad). Oggi Christ Church è sia una chiesa attiva, con una capienza di circa centotrenta persone, sia sede del Christ Church College, istituto scolastico affiliato al CISCE fondato nel 1878 da H. McConoghey, che conta oggi circa duemilacinquecento studenti.
About the Church
Christ Church, on Mahatma Gandhi Marg in Lucknow’s Hazratganj district, was built 1858–1860 and consecrated as a memorial to those killed in the 1857 uprising — distinct from the actual besieged church at the Residency, St Mary’s, now a ruin nearby.
Key facts
- 1837/1842: an earlier church at Mariaon cantonment, destroyed by rebels during the 1857 uprising
- 1858–1860: current Gothic-style Christ Church built as a memorial to the uprising’s British dead
- 26 November 1860: consecrated by Bishop George Cotton
- Not the church that endured the 1857 siege — that was St Mary’s, a separate, now-ruined church at the Residency
- 1878: Christ Church College founded on the same site by H. McConoghey
- Lucknow has no Anglican cathedral of its own; the diocesan cathedral, All Saints, is in Prayagraj
History
Built in the years immediately following the 1857 uprising to honor British dead of the conflict, Christ Church is often mistakenly described in tourist and even some encyclopedic sources as the church that survived the siege itself — a role that actually belongs to the nearby, now-ruined St Mary’s Church at the Lucknow Residency. Christ Church’s own predecessor, at Mariaon cantonment, was destroyed during the uprising, but the building standing today was constructed only after the fighting ended, as a purpose-built memorial.
What you see
A cream-plastered Gothic Revival church with a tall spire and roughly twenty pinnacled turrets, its cruciform plan and arched windows built by Royal Engineers in the years following the 1857 uprising.
Practical information
- Opening hours: generally open outside services; check current hours before visiting, as the site also functions as an active school campus
- Address: Christ Church College, Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Park Road), Hazratganj, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226001, India
Getting there
The church stands in Lucknow’s Hazratganj district. GPS: 26.8450°N, 80.9475°E.
Nearby
- The Residency, Lucknow — the ruined complex including St Mary’s Church, the building actually besieged in 1857, with its historic cemetery
Sources
- Wikipedia — “Christ Church, Lucknow,” “The Residency, Lucknow,” “Diocese of Lucknow (Church of North India)”
- Tornos India — “Christian Community & Churches of Lucknow”
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