History of St. Saviours Anglican Church
During the early 19th century British settlers and officials bought farms south of the well-established suburbs of Groote Schuur, Newlands and Rondebosch, subdivided and turned them into country residences. Weltevreden estate was subdivided in 1822 and a portion of it was renamed Claremont. The 1840s and 1850s saw significant growth of Claremont Village and by 1864 the railway line had reached the suburb.
The Anglican Parish of St Saviour’s was formally established in 1854. The Anglican Church council had already bought properties in 1850 and 1854 from Mr Rice Jones who owned The Grove which had originally been part of Feldhausen estate.
Bishop Gray and his wife Sophie were instrumental in erecting a church building and rectory and established the graveyard. More land was bought between 1854 and 1870. Eventually the whole area between Main Road and Cavendish Street and Bowwood Road and Brook Streets formed part of the church grounds.
The History and Details of the Parish and Building
The original Parish of St Saviour’s, mother church of Good Shepherd, Protea, covered an enormous area. Besides Claremont, it included Newlands, part of Kenilworth and a large tract on the Cape Fats. Chapels had to be built and staffed by St Saviour’s to care for the increasing populations. Of six such daughter churches, only Good Shepherd, Protea has remained as a chapelry with St Saviour’s. Bishop Gray, who had arrived in South Africa in February 1848 and became the first Anglican Bishop of Cape Town, laid the foundation stone for St Saviour’s on 14 December 1850. By the middle of the 19th century the road surfaces in the Claremont region had improved and the services of horse-drawn omni-buses to Cape Town had become faster and more frequent.
But those who desired an Anglican service had to travel some distance north to St Paul’s in Rondebosch or south to St John’s in Wynberg. Robert Gray came out to South Africa with the firm intention of developing Anglican work throughout the country but did not neglect the area on his own doorstep. Within months he had rented a cottage on the corner of Main and Protea Roads, which served as a school on week days and a church on Sundays. Soon after it was decided to build a small church on ground adjacent to Main Road, donated by Rice Jones.
The Bishop’s wife, Sophie, an architect in her own right, designed a chancel to which a nave could be added when the congregation increased. Mrs Gray employed two Scottish stone masons from Bishop’s Court. Using Table Mountain sandstone, they put up a small chancel. Butterfield sent out from England the stone for the windows, the teak beams for the ceilings, ready carved to the right shape, and some basic furnishings. The church was first used on Easter Sunday in 1853 and Gray consecrated it as St Saviour’s on Easter Tuesday the next year. Services gradually became too crowded for the small chancel and so, in 1857, the seating capacity was increased to 270.
The Gray era ended in 1872. Sophie had died the previous year and the Bishop died on 1 September. He was buried at St Saviour’s with great pomp and ceremony. Nearly 2000 mourners attended the funeral! It was resolved to further enlarge St Saviour’s as a memorial to the Grays. Two final turrets for the nave, a northwest porch and a bell turret were dedicated by Bishop West Jones on 22 December 1880. However, the congregation continued to grow and more extensions, designed by Herbert baker were added. These included two transepts, a side chapel, two vestries and an organ chamber.
Work was delayed by the outbreak of the South African War, but on 5 April 1903 Bishop Alan Gibson, former rector of the parish was able to lay the foundation stone, with Archbishop West Jones consecrating the work on 17 April 1904. The last addition was the addition of the choir vestry in 1953.
St Saviour’s has enjoyed a history of distinguished rectors: Prior to the arrival of the first rector, Hopkins Badnall was priest-in-charge, a leading theologian and first vice-principal of Diocesan College (Bishops) founded by Gray. He was also archdeacon of Cape Town. Alfred Wilshere had served as an army chaplain in the Crimean War where he worked with Florence Nightingale. After serving at St Saviour’s he became chaplain of Good Shepherd on Robben Island. Richard Brooke was principal of Bishops from 1887 to 1900 after establishing St Saviour’s School at Feldhausen, now The Grove School which became the Diocesan College School with junior boys there till 1900 when they transferred to the Woodlands premises in Rondebosch. Saul Solomon had the shortest incumbency – just three years! His father was the owner of the Argus newspaper and he himself had careers in law, the church (Anglican and Roman Catholic) and finally judge in the Transvaal.
Eustace Wade who later became Bishop of Natal, was the father of Virginia Wade, and John Aubrey went on to become principal of St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown. Alan Gibson is mentioned above and Michael Gibbs became Dean of Cape Town and, later, Dean of Chester in England.
More recently, Merwyn Castle who became bishop of the False Bay Region and later Diocesan Bishop when the region was constituted a diocese and Garth Counsell who was consecrated Bishop Suffragan of Cape Town in July 2004. John Hanson is the recently retired Rector of the parish.
The Anglican Parish of St Saviour’s was formally established in 1854. The Anglican Church council had already bought properties in 1850 and 1854 from Mr Rice Jones who owned The Grove which had originally been part of Feldhausen estate.
Bishop Gray and his wife Sophie were instrumental in erecting a church building and rectory and established the graveyard. More land was bought between 1854 and 1870. Eventually the whole area between Main Road and Cavendish Street and Bowwood Road and Brook Streets formed part of the church grounds.
The History and Details of the Parish and Building
The original Parish of St Saviour’s, mother church of Good Shepherd, Protea, covered an enormous area. Besides Claremont, it included Newlands, part of Kenilworth and a large tract on the Cape Fats. Chapels had to be built and staffed by St Saviour’s to care for the increasing populations. Of six such daughter churches, only Good Shepherd, Protea has remained as a chapelry with St Saviour’s. Bishop Gray, who had arrived in South Africa in February 1848 and became the first Anglican Bishop of Cape Town, laid the foundation stone for St Saviour’s on 14 December 1850. By the middle of the 19th century the road surfaces in the Claremont region had improved and the services of horse-drawn omni-buses to Cape Town had become faster and more frequent.
But those who desired an Anglican service had to travel some distance north to St Paul’s in Rondebosch or south to St John’s in Wynberg. Robert Gray came out to South Africa with the firm intention of developing Anglican work throughout the country but did not neglect the area on his own doorstep. Within months he had rented a cottage on the corner of Main and Protea Roads, which served as a school on week days and a church on Sundays. Soon after it was decided to build a small church on ground adjacent to Main Road, donated by Rice Jones.
The Bishop’s wife, Sophie, an architect in her own right, designed a chancel to which a nave could be added when the congregation increased. Mrs Gray employed two Scottish stone masons from Bishop’s Court. Using Table Mountain sandstone, they put up a small chancel. Butterfield sent out from England the stone for the windows, the teak beams for the ceilings, ready carved to the right shape, and some basic furnishings. The church was first used on Easter Sunday in 1853 and Gray consecrated it as St Saviour’s on Easter Tuesday the next year. Services gradually became too crowded for the small chancel and so, in 1857, the seating capacity was increased to 270.
The Gray era ended in 1872. Sophie had died the previous year and the Bishop died on 1 September. He was buried at St Saviour’s with great pomp and ceremony. Nearly 2000 mourners attended the funeral! It was resolved to further enlarge St Saviour’s as a memorial to the Grays. Two final turrets for the nave, a northwest porch and a bell turret were dedicated by Bishop West Jones on 22 December 1880. However, the congregation continued to grow and more extensions, designed by Herbert baker were added. These included two transepts, a side chapel, two vestries and an organ chamber.
Work was delayed by the outbreak of the South African War, but on 5 April 1903 Bishop Alan Gibson, former rector of the parish was able to lay the foundation stone, with Archbishop West Jones consecrating the work on 17 April 1904. The last addition was the addition of the choir vestry in 1953.
St Saviour’s has enjoyed a history of distinguished rectors: Prior to the arrival of the first rector, Hopkins Badnall was priest-in-charge, a leading theologian and first vice-principal of Diocesan College (Bishops) founded by Gray. He was also archdeacon of Cape Town. Alfred Wilshere had served as an army chaplain in the Crimean War where he worked with Florence Nightingale. After serving at St Saviour’s he became chaplain of Good Shepherd on Robben Island. Richard Brooke was principal of Bishops from 1887 to 1900 after establishing St Saviour’s School at Feldhausen, now The Grove School which became the Diocesan College School with junior boys there till 1900 when they transferred to the Woodlands premises in Rondebosch. Saul Solomon had the shortest incumbency – just three years! His father was the owner of the Argus newspaper and he himself had careers in law, the church (Anglican and Roman Catholic) and finally judge in the Transvaal.
Eustace Wade who later became Bishop of Natal, was the father of Virginia Wade, and John Aubrey went on to become principal of St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown. Alan Gibson is mentioned above and Michael Gibbs became Dean of Cape Town and, later, Dean of Chester in England.
More recently, Merwyn Castle who became bishop of the False Bay Region and later Diocesan Bishop when the region was constituted a diocese and Garth Counsell who was consecrated Bishop Suffragan of Cape Town in July 2004. John Hanson is the recently retired Rector of the parish.