The aisles nearest the nave extended the full length of the fabric,
while the exterior ones only ran east of the transepts. This, added to
their apsidal form, gave, and gives, the church the appearance of a
miniature cathedral in plan. Pieces of the original outside walls could,
till the recent reconstruction, be seen _in situ_ in corners of the
transept. The original windows were removed to the new outer walls and
the mural monuments were taken down and replaced on the new walls, a
process which had to be repeated in 1910. When some of the old walls
were pulled down many massive beams of timber were found embedded in the
masonry, placed in several directions. Some of them were ten or fifteen
feet long, many inches in diameter and of bully-wood in perfectly sound
condition. Some, including Messiter the architect, thought that these
were put in to strengthen the walls in case of a repetition of the Port
Royal earthquake of a few years before: and they certainly suggest the
method of construction adopted by the Spaniards for that purpose and
described in Long’s history. At the same time, when the foundation of
the east wall was underpinned, a large vault under the altar was opened;
and in it was found a coffin—covered with the remains of velvet and gilt
ornaments, apparently of a most expensive character—thought to have been
Admiral Benbow’s.
The oldest dated Communion plate is of the year 1707. Two patens were
the gift of Mrs. Ann Plowman; and two other pieces, a chalice and
flagon, were given by Mr. Elias Nezerau in that year. Mrs. Elizabeth
Sillers gave in 1721 a flagon identical with that given by Mr. Nezerau
fourteen years earlier. Both flagons bear the maker’s mark.
The clock dates from 1801, the organ from 1878, the lectern from 1886,
the bell from 1890, the pulpit (of white stone, with marble columns)
from 1891, when it was erected in memory of a former rector, Archdeacon
Campbell, his brother Dr. Charles Campbell, and the doctor’s partner,
Dr. Bowerbank.
The rose window in the north transept, representing the Good Samaritan,
with medallions of St. John, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Andrew as
deacon, and St. Stephen as martyr, was put up in 1888 to the memory of
the Hon. H. F. Colthirst, a churchwarden, and his children. The
corresponding window, of 1887, in the south transept, representing, in
the centre, the Angel at the Sepulchre, surrounded by cherubs, is a
memorial to Mr. C. A. Robinson and children. These two windows gave a
good illustration of the manner in which concrete, even before the
earthquake of 1907, was made to do duty for stone in Jamaica. Portions
of the glass from these windows have, in the recent reconstruction, been
scattered throughout various window openings. The window at the east end
of the north aisle, heraldic and geometric in character, was erected to
the Hon. Dr. Hamilton, District Grand Master of the Freemasons in
Jamaica. The east window was erected in 1914 in memory of Archdeacon
Downer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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