Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
The communion-table is covered with dark purple velvet, fringed
deeply with gold; and on either end lie cushions to match. The
communion-service plate is very handsome; the large salver,
measuring eighteen inches in diameter, was presented to the
church by John Otto Baijer, Esq., about the year 1724. It
displays a representation of the “Lord’s Supper,” the figures in
beautiful _basso-relievo_, and bears the following inscription:—
Donum Domini Johannis Otto Baijer
Ad Templum Divi Johannis Antigua.
The two smaller salvers and the cup are inscribed as follows:—
In usum Templi Divi Johannis in Antigua
Gulielmus Jones Parochialis hujus olim Rector
Donum Dedit.
Besides the communion-plate, the table supports a pair of tall
silver lamps, with ground-glass burners, bearing the inscription—
Donum Domini Petre Lee ad Templum Divi
Johannis in Antigua.
And on each side of the table stand quaint-looking chairs, for
the accommodation of the bishop and archdeacon, which have been
used for that purpose since the dismantling of the “Bishop’s
Pew.”
The pulpit and desk are of dark oak, as also the railings to the
stairs; and, like the communion-table, have each their drapery
and cushions of dark purple, with deep gold fringe and tassels,
and the “I. H. S.” encircled with its golden rays. Formerly the
pulpit, surmounted by a sounding-board, stood further down the
nave; but after being removed once or twice, the desk has been
separated from the pulpit, and they are placed at the entrance of
the chancel, on each side the aisle.
About the centre of the church is suspended a brass chandelier,
consisting of ten branches, which have been lately fitted up with
ground-glass burners; it was a gift (by will, 2nd May, 1740) to
the church, from Phillip Darby, an old inhabitant of Antigua, and
rector of St. John’s.
At the entrance of the church from the north vestibule stands a
small marble font, of a semi-spherical form, ornamented with four
heads of cherubs, and supported by a corniform pedestal. It is
intended to be placed at the extreme end of the middle aisle,
immediately before the west entrance, and opposite the altar—a
site far more applicable for it than where it now stands.
The church is lighted by fourteen windows: six in the north
aisle, six in the south aisle, and two in the east end of the
building. Formerly they were all fitted up with _jalousies_; but
within these last few years, the eight nearest the altar have
been reglazed with ground glass, arranged in a Gothic pattern.
These windows are divided into six compartments; and are so
contrived, that, by aid of a turnscrew, they can be opened to a
certain height. They certainly add to the _beauty_ of the
edifice, but deteriorate from its _comfort_ by rendering it
warmer than it otherwise would be: a circumstance not desirable
in this fervid climate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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