"As time wore on and Hamilton increased in population and importance it was found inconvenient to have no Church within town limits, and the Parish Church, moreover, was unequal to the wants of the Church. An agitation began … The subscriptions were general and liberal…The Legislature came forward to supplement private liberality." Thomas S. Reid, Trinity Church, Bermuda, a Sketch of its History, 1886.

"On Ascension Day I consecrated the Nave of a very beautiful church, the Chancel and Transepts of which I consecrated on the same Holy-day seventeen years ago." Extract from a letter by Bishop Field, written at Bermuda, 1872.

In this column, one tries to eschew politics and religion: involvement in the former might result in the loss of one's head, while dalliance with the latter reminds one that the third of the traditional three visits to church might be nearer than a directive from Hamilton. Be that as it may on this day in blessed Bermuda, one does love the architecture of our churches, even, yea, the transition of the Sandys Parish institution from a morbid grey to a delightful pastel green. Those with a more ecclesiastical bent probably know that the oldest wooden church in the world resides in the county of Essex in the mouthful of a name, the village of Greensted-juxta-Ongar. Possibly the oldest standing wooden building in Europe, no less, it is thought by some to be a stave church, as made famous from surviving examples in Norway, which has all that are left, bar one in neighbouring Sweden.

Aside from its timber frame construction, the plan of the stave church, in comparison with cathedrals, is its squareness, lacking the long naves of those monumental stone buildings. Rather than the elongated extension of a cathedral, usually to the west, the nave of a stave church is its centre, with a small choir appended and aisles roundabout. Chubby, you might say, compared to the long-legged elegance of a cathedral, including our own Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity in the City of Hamilton, not to be confused Holy Trinity, the church of Hamilton Parish.

Having grown up with the elegant Most Holy Trinity, one can imagine one's surprise, and perhaps that of others, when a vision of the church appeared in the wonderful new book by J.A. Mark Emmerson, entitled Historic Photographs of Bermuda, Volume 1, or rather an image of its predecessor, another church called Holy Trinity. Thus like the noun itself, there have been three Holy Trinity churches in Bermuda, the Cathedral as "Most" perhaps being more holy than the other two, or more elevated socially.

The surprise in the Emmerson photograph comes from the shape of the first Trinity on Church Street, for it is a compact, stubby building, compared to its successor. Reproduced here in that image from 1858, it appears that the construction of the building in 1845 began at the east, or chancel end, and progressed to the west. However, in 1858 there was only the stub of what one presumed should have been a long nave and the edifice lacked a spire. As historian Thomas Reid noted: "One bay of the Nave was built and the West end boarded up, presenting a rather old appearance, reminding one of a Norwegian church of the 14th Century." That is to say, a Stave Church, images of which you can find on the Internet: Norwegian is what the first Anglican "cathedral" in Bermuda looked like for almost 25 years!

The origins of the truncated church began in 1844, by which time the Parish Church of Pembroke, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, was considered not up to par by the denizens of the nearby City of Hamilton, or to "the wants of the Church". Bigger and presumably better was demanded and the course set to erect a major edifice on Third (later Church) Street at a public meeting on Thursday 28 March 1844. A cornerstone was laid "opposite the Presbyterian Kirk, now occupied by Vallis's Saw Mill" (possibly the corner where the HSBC Church Street Branch stands) on July 1 that year.

That site proved unsuitably and so a new one was obtained where the Cathedral presides over the town today. Work began shortly thereafter and in due course the tower was roofed with a "dwarf finish", under a design by James Cranston, architect at Oxford. Difficulties ensued, despite obtaining the services of George Grove who had been engaged on the building of Gibbs Hill Lighthouse, and the famous architect William Hay of Edinburgh was brought in to assist. In his report "we fear, still applicable in a measure", Hay noted: "It is difficult in a Colony like this to form an estimate that can be regarded as anything beyond a mere approximation to the actual cost, where the labour is the chief expense and the habits of the workmen so variable and unsettled" (original italics). Some building today might fear that such a remark is still applicable in large measure!

The first service was held in the "Norwegian" church, made of the "native limestone", on May 7, 1855 and the building remained in that truncated form until 1862, when construction of the nave recommenced. Work continued, if not entirely afoot, and Trinity Church was consecrated on Ascension Day, May 6, 1869, "this beautiful Church" remaining in service for the next fifteen years, as exemplified by the photograph shown here from 1880.

On January 27, 1884, thought to be arson, the wooden components of Holy Trinity burned to the ground, leaving the walls standing. An entirely new structure, the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity replaced it in the Early English style, and was dedicated by Bishop Llewelyn Jones in 1911. That is the building shown here in images of 1905 and 1915, and presumably has proved "up to the wants of the Church" and the "convenience" of the congregation.

Edward Cecil Harris, MBE, JP, PHD, FSA is Executive Director of the National Museum of Bermuda, incorporating the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Comments may be made to drharris@logic.bm or 704-5480.