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Holy Cross ChurchIf you travel to the east of the island of Barbados, you are likely to come across many hidden gems. One such gem is the beautiful Holy Cross Anglican Church. This church is set on Society Hill overlooking the parish of St. John and directly looking down on the theological college of Codrington College that bears the name of its benefactor, Christopher Codrington.
Christopher Codrington, in his will, left his estates to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) and they set about carrying out his past wishes in 1712 by ministering to the people who resided on the estates. As a result many people were baptized and in 1819 a small wooden chapel was built on the site that is now home to the Holy Cross Church. Throughout the island of Barbados, this chapel was known as the Society Chapel.
This chapel, like many on the island of Barbados at the time, was destroyed by hurricane but it was quickly rebuilt and on 3rd June, 1821, this new stone structure was opened. However, like its predecessor, this chapel too was destroyed by the great hurricane of August, 1831. These set backs only served to strengthen the resolve of the church officials and in July of 1833 the present church was opened and consecrated by the then Bishop William Hart Coleridge.
This chapel's congregation continued to grow throughout the years and this is reflected in the physical 'growth' of the chapel itself. In 1864 the north aisle, the sanctuary and the south transept were added. These additions were designed by the principal of Codington College, Bishop Richard Rawle who was also the chaplain of the chapel. Incidentally quite a lot of the carvings done throughout the chapel were done by the bishop with one of his students, Benjamin Thorne, completing the work on the pulpit itself.
Holy Cross was yet again to be affected by the hurricanes that are a feature of island life in Barbados and throughout the Caribbean, and in 1898, the chapel sustained severe damage. Incidentally, all of the stained glass windows were destroyed in this hurricane, all but the central window which is still in place today.
Again repairs were required for this stately religious building and in 1954 these were carried out with the installation of the new coral stone altars. The side altar dedicated to Our Lady and St. Christopher and the High Altar to the Holy Cross. The name of the chapel was then duly changed to the Chapel of Holy Cross and subsequently when the first Priest-in-Charge was appointed in 1974, Holy Cross was made a full Ecclesiastical parish and has since been known as the Holy Cross Church.
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