Christ Church in Mussoorie is one of the favourite destinations of locals as well as tourists. .Quite close to the Library (Gandhi ) Chowk while walking the Mall towards Jhoolaghar from the Library , this church has the distinction of being the oldest Himalayan church the beginnings of which go back as far as the year 1836. It is situated a little above Mall Road near the Kasmanda Palace and can be easily reached on foot. One can get wonderful views of the Doon valley and the encircling hills from the church campus.
Beautiful stained-glass windows adorn the church building, depicting the life story of Christ. The Deodar tree in the churchyard has a historic tale to tell us. In the year 1906, it was planted on March 4 by Her Royal Highness Mary of Teck (Princess of Wales), who visited Mussoorie as part of a grand tour of India with the Prince of Wales. In 1920, he became George V. This tree, planted on March 4 ,113 years ago, adds greatly to the beauty of the church. The plaque on the railing reminds us:
THIS TREE WAS PLANTED BY H.R.H., THE PRINCESS OF WALES. ON SUNDAY MARCH 4TH 1906 AFTER ATTENDING MORNING SERVICE AT CHRIST CHURCH.
By 1835 the European population in Mussoorie was large enough to warrant the building of a church. Soon, the residents settled for a site on a hump above Kulri. Mussoorie-based author and academician Ganesh Saili has given a detailed account of this in his book, “Mussoorie Medley” .
“Objections came from John. Mackinnon, the brewer, already a leading man in the hill-station owing to his energy and public spirit who felt that the Kulri Hill near Zephyr Hall would be too far a walk for his charges. He proposed that the new Church of England should be out to the west of the station. A compromise was affected between all the parties and the present site just above the Mall was chosen,” writes Saili.
“It will be the first church raised amidst the eternal snows of Upper India,” gushed the Lord Bishop of Calcutta and First Metropolitan of India, in 1836. In a book entitled The Life of the Right. Rev. Daniel Wilson, D.D., Late Lord Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India by Rev. Josiah Bateman, London, published by John Murray in 1860, we are told that there was neither chaplain nor church when the Bishop entered Mussoorie, but he was a man of firm belief who seldom left a place as he found it! His diary entries tell us that:
Tuesday, April 26th, 1836, 6.30 a.m.: “Very chilly morning, driven in from my walk by the wintry cold. Yesterday also was cold, with a cloudy sky and rain! I was sitting, about eleven o’clock, with two or three gentlemen who had called, amongst whom was Captain Blair, just returned along the hills from Simla, when the two leading persons at Meerut, Hamilton and Hutchinson, came to talk with me about the church of which I gave notice on Sunday. We soon warmed. Plans, sites, architects, means of supply, were arranged in about two hours”
Capt Rennie Taylor of the Bengal Engineers, Roorkee, built its tower and nave in 1836, the flat-roofed structure was consecrated by Rev. Wilson in April 1839. If you walk down the aisles, the grace of the eight tapering windows will take your breath away.
Mary of Teck became Queen Mary, consort of King George V. She was the mother of kings Edward VIII and George VI, and the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II. She was the only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck (a small principality in Germany), and Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a member of the British Royal Family.
At the age of 24, she became engaged to Prince Albert Victor (known as Eddy), the Prince of Wales and eldest son of Edward VII of Great Britain. The choice of Mary as his bride was influenced by Queen Victoria, who was very fond of her .Tragically, Albert died a few weeks before their wedding, during the influenza pandemic of 1891-92.
During her mourning period, Albert's brother, Prince George, Duke of York, became close to Mary, and in May, 1893, he proposed. They were married in July of that year and went on to have six children. As Duke and Duchess of York, George and Mary carried out their public duties, making several official tours of the British Empire. On May 6, 1910, George's father, Edward VII, died. George ascended the throne as George V, and Mary became Queen Consort.
During her visit to Mussoorie, among the souvenirs she took home with her were Landour Bazaar’s walking sticks for her father in law, King Edward V11, as he used to collect them.
