This of course does not include the stipends of rector and curate, which
were paid by the Government.
N. B. Dennys, who was here in 1861, writing in “An Account of the Cruise
of the _St. George_” (1862), miscalls the church St. Andrews and
describes it as a “small building, whose only point of interest seemed
to be its extreme old age.”
Of the fabric of the church wrecked by the earthquake of 1907 nothing
much need be said. It was a simple brick structure with concrete pillars
and round-headed arches and window openings. Cruciform in shape, in
accordance with English custom it was oriented with its altar at the
east end. The pulpit and reading-desk originally stood, as was the case
at Halfway Tree, Port Royal and Montego Bay, at the transept, almost in
the centre of the building.
The present building was erected from a design by Mr. B. A. Raves at a
cost of £6000, in reinforced concrete on the old foundations, and as
nearly as possible similar in design, with the omission of the tower.
The window openings differ from those of the old building; two of them
being decidedly original in design. The new building was consecrated on
January 17, 1911, by the Archbishop of the West Indies, assisted by the
Bishops of St. Albans, North Carolina, Honduras and Antigua, the
Coadjutor Bishop of Jamaica, and the Assistant Bishop of Toronto.
About the beginning of the nineteenth century, as “Monk Lewis” mentions,
the church was extended in length and the renaissance baldachin, which
was not replaced after the recent rebuilding, an unusual addition to an
Anglican church, was, it is said, added by the then rector, the Rev.
Isaac Mann. Some thought they saw in the floral device immediately
beneath the crown over the centre of the baldachin, the monogram W.M.,
which they took to stand for William and Mary, but there are no grounds
for the supposition, and the structure was probably of later date.
In Duperly’s view taken in about 1844 the old sash windows appear; and
the old curved lead gargoyles, most of which were removed later, are
very evident.
In 1883–85, during the incumbency of Archdeacon Downer, who held the
living for thirty-five years and took part in the recent consecration
service, the church, which in 1873 consisted of nave and transepts
without side aisles, was considerably enlarged by G. Messiter, by the
addition of two side aisles on each side, giving extra accommodation for
500 persons, making the building available for 1300 in all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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