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St George's Church | |
---|---|
54°08′58″N4°29′01″W / 54.149384°N 4.483710°W | |
Location | Upper Church Street, Douglas, Isle of Man. |
Country | Isle of Man |
Denomination | Church of England |
Tradition | Conservative evangelical |
Website | Church website |
History | |
Status | Parish church |
Founded | 1761 |
Dedication | Saint George |
Consecrated | 29 September 1781 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | Active |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Groundbreaking | 1761 |
Completed | 1781 |
Construction cost | Approximately £1,500 |
Specifications | |
Capacity | 1,300 |
Administration | |
Diocese | Diocese of Sodor and Man |
Parish | St George and All Saints |
Clergy | |
Vicar(s) | Rev Andrew Brown |
St George's Church is an Anglican church in Douglas, Isle of Man and falls within the Diocese of Sodor and Man. It was formerly one of two worship centres in association with All Saints Church, Douglas.
In the early 1700s the population of Douglas was approximately 800 people, and at this time the first St Matthew's Church served as the centre of worship for the population. However with the rise in population attributed to the Isle of Man's smuggling trade (known on the Island as the Running Trade) the prosperity of the town began to increase dramatically.
By the mid part of the 18th Century the population of the town had swelled to over 3,000 which in turn led to calls for a new church in order to meet demand, St Matthew's proving to be inadequate for purpose.
Land was sourced on the outskirts of the town, high on a hill overlooking Douglas Harbour, which at the time was situated in the Parish of Braddan. The town's gentry (some of whom had profited from the running trade) met the initial cost, raising the necessary money by public subscription. By 1761 the amount raised totalled £712 (£139,000 in 2024), but after four years money had run out and worked subsequently stopped. [1]
Nothing more happened until 1776, when with further money raised work recommenced. An additional sum of £800 (£136,000 in 2024) had been raised enabling work to be completed with the church being consecrated on 29 September 1781. In order to pay off the further debts a charge of 25 guineas was made for a first-class pew and 15 guineas for a second-class pew.
The completed church could accommodate 1,300 worshipers. Donations of fine embellishments from various benefactors including a silver communion service, made by a London silversmith which was donated by John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, with a later addition of a stained glass window funded by Henry Noble.
Numerous people of local society were buried in the churchyard, including Sir William Hillary and Nelly Brennan. The top side of the churchyard is an open grassed area, marked with a solitary cross, used for the mass burial of cholera victims during 1832 and 1833.
St George's church organ was the first to be installed in any church on the Isle of Man. Made in 1741 by Harris & Byfield, [2] it was acquired from the Dublin Assembly Hall in 1778 by one of the St George's Trustees for the sum of £100 (£16,000 in 2024). [2]
It is the organ on which George Frideric Handel conducted the first performance of the messiah which took place in Dublin in 1742. [2]
One of the first people to play the organ was Charles Barrow, grandfather of Charles Dickens. The organ was refurbished in 1950 by Jardine's of Manchester at a cost of £3,985 (£172,000 in 2024). [2]
St Mary's Isle is a partially submerged reef in Douglas Bay on the Isle of Man. Prior to 1832 the rock was the property of the Quane family until John Quane, Attorney General of the Isle of Man, presented the rock to Sir William Hillary, in his capacity as President of the Isle of Man District of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to build the Tower of Refuge. Since then the custody of St Mary's Isle has been held by each president of the local lifeboat association.
Douglas is the capital city and largest settlement of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021) and an area of 10.5 km2. It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and on a sweeping bay of two miles. The River Douglas forms part of the city's harbour and main commercial port.
Castletown is a town in the Isle of Man, geographically within the historical parish of Malew but administered separately. Lying at the south of the island, it was the Manx capital until 1869. The centre of town is dominated by Castle Rushen, a well-preserved medieval castle, originally built for a Viking king.
The Cathedral Church of Saint German or Peel Cathedral, renamed Cathedral Isle of Man, is located in Peel, Isle of Man. The cathedral is also one of the parish churches in the parish of the West Coast, which includes the town of Peel. Built in 1879–84, it was made the cathedral by Act of Tynwald in 1980.
Ballasalla is a village in the parish of Malew in the south-east of the Isle of Man. The village is situated close to the Isle of Man Airport and 2 miles (3 km) north-east of the town of Castletown.
The Tower of Refuge from Shipwreck, referred to as the Tower of Refuge, is a stone-built castellated structure which was erected on St Mary's Isle in Douglas Bay, Isle of Man, in order to afford shelter to mariners wrecked on the rock. The tower was constructed through the endeavours of Sir William Hillary, who had been instrumental in several rescues of sailors stranded on the rock, and which culminated in the heroic rescue of the crew of the Saint George Steam Packet Company steamer RMS St George, when it foundered on the rock in the early hours of 20 November 1830. Sir William personally contributed a high proportion of the costs and secured a substantial number of public contributions for funding the structure.
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Sir William Hillary, 1st Baronet was a British militia officer, author and philanthropist, best known as the founder, in 1824, of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
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The St Mary of the Isle Cathedral, also referred to as the Cathedral of St Mary of the Isle, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Douglas, Isle of Man. It is part of the Roman Catholic Pastoral Area of St Maughold within the Archdiocese of Liverpool. It is one of two cathedrals on the Island, and one of six Catholic churches. It is referred to locally as St. Mary's. In September 2023, St Mary of the Isle was granted co-cathedral status.
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