Christ Church, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh India

It is the last place in all India at which it is necessary for the government to be put at the expense of building a church”, was what the British Governor-General of India, Lord Ellenborough ( 1842-1844) stated when the townspeople of Shimla approached him for funds to build a church.

The government finally did give a loan to be paid out of pew rents. The cornerstone of Christ Church was placed on 9 September 1844 and the building was opened by licence for divine service on 11 October 1846, but the church was consecrated only on 10 January 1857 by Bishop Wilson of Calcutta. The lettering on the cornerstone was legible till the early twentieth century when it became indistinguishable from the masonry. The church was built of stone and brick in lime mortar by Col. J.T. Boileau with neo-Gothic elements – and this was the first ‘proper’ church in Shimla. Till then, church services were held in a thatched building on the Northbrook Terrace, on the Mall near the Telegraph Office.

While the spire of Christ Church was up, it was a while before the other necessities as it were, came along. The stained glass windows over the altar and the clock were both placed in 1860. The chancel was built in 1864 and in the beginning, there were no pews and the congregation made do with rough benches or brought their own chairs along. The porch was added later and the organ was shipped in from England. Lockwood Kipling, father of the celebrated Rudyard, designed the original chancel window and had this executed by his students from the Mayo School of Art. Another gift was an elaborate screen, behind which the choir would emerge and then disappear. A young child took due note of this and asked her mother that ‘if the church was God’s house, was the bit behind the screen his bathroom?’


Heavy snows in 1961 caused extensive damage to the building and the pinnacles running along its length were dismantled. The structure has been repaired at various points and yet, the overall structure retains its essence and has a nave, chancel and tower. The floor has a centre aisle flanked by pews and two side aisles again flanked by pews.

Today, Christ Church still tells the story of a part of the town’s rich history – and its pews still mark the seats of the Viceroy, the Commander-in-Chief and the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, while the fascinating memorial tablets in brass and marble sound a roll call for some who shaped what was  the British Empire.