Kanpur Memorial Church,, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh India

 Kanpur Memorial Church, popularly known as All Soul's Cathedral is an impressive architectural edifice that was constructed in 1875 to commemorate the courage and valor of the British troops who surrendered their lives in the tumultuous Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Walter Granville, an erstwhile architect of East Bengal Railway, was responsible for the exquisite Lombardy Gothic architecture of the church. The building is made up of vibrant red bricks adorned in multi-colored hues. The interior of the church houses the heartbreaking memorial tables, epitaphs and monuments that pay a tribute to those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country. They also narrate the shattered hopes and dreams of the young whose life ended even before it had properly taken off.

The Kanpur Memorial Church recounts the unfortunate massacre of the Kanpur Barracks and the betrayal of patriotic Nana Sahib, nicknamed " The Butcher of Cawnpore". A separate enclosure in the eastern extremity of the church contains the memorial garden and separated from the main building by an exquisitely carved and striking in appearance Gothic screen. At the center of the church stands a beautiful figurine of an angel, designed by the eminent Baron Carlo Marochetti. Post - independence statue and the screen have been relocated here from Kanpur's famous Municipal Gardens near the Bibighar well. Some of the ancient graves are intriguing with interesting inscriptions.

The Kanpur Memorial Church that is named All Soul's Cathedral was actually built in 1875, in honor of the British who lost their lives in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The church is now popularly referred as the Kanpur Church. Walter Granville, architect of the east Bengal Railway, designed the Church. The Church has been erected in Lombardy gothic style. Furthermore, it has been handsomely executed in bright red brick, with polychrome dressings. The interior contains monuments to the mutiny, including several memorial tablets. The memoirs related to this church are truly heart wrenching.

It happened so that the mutineers from the Kanpur Barrack laid siege to the barrack residential quarter that housed European officers and their family. The whole plan was masterminded by non other than Nana Sahib who was, till mutiny broke, a trusted ally of British. The siege was resisted by handful of officers who were low on arsenals but high on valor. In fact, their Enfield riffles were no match to the canon balls pounded by the British 6-pounders and 8-pounders used by the mutineers. Nevertheless, against all odds, British officers were largely successful in saving the life of innocent womenfolk and children who got stuck there. But all came to end when Nana Sahib came to his cunning self. He faked a siege fire and entered the fort somehow. The result was one of the deadliest massacres in the modern Indian history. Nana ordered every white-skin to be chopped in order to frighten and slug the steps of the reinforcement that was on the way to fight them. The order led to gang rapes and mutilation of women and children. The incident has been well chronicled in history and particularly in the novel "Cawnpore" that was based on the incident. Nana Sahib was notoriously bestowed with the title of " The Butcher of Cawnpore".

The Kanpur Memorial Church that is named All Soul's Cathedral was actually built in 1875, in honor of the British who lost their lives in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The church is now popularly referred as the Kanpur Church. Walter Granville, architect of the east Bengal Railway, designed the Church. The Church has been erected in Lombardy gothic style. Furthermore, it has been handsomely executed in bright red brick, with polychrome dressings. The interior contains monuments to the mutiny, including several memorial tablets. The memoirs related to this church are truly heart wrenching.

The Kanpur Memorial Church built in 1875. It was designed by Walter Granville. This Memorial Church is popularly known as All Soul's Cathedral. This Gothic style building has fine discolored glass windows and interesting memorials. There is a Memorial Garden on the eastern side. There is an engraved gothic screen, designed by Henry Yule and in the center there is a beautifully carved figure of an angel by Baron Carlo Marochetti, representing the 'symbol of peace'. The Cemetery has a number of graves from the late 19th century. The interiors of the church are decorated with the monuments to the mutiny, including several memorial tablets. In the part enclosure to the east of the church is the Memorial Garden, approached through two gateways. The Memorials were relocated here after independence in 1948.

The Military Cemetery on the edge of the cantonment contains a number of exciting graves from the late 19th century. Kanpur is a favorite centre of activities of stalwarts like Nanarao Peshwa, Sardar Bhagat Signh, Tantiya Tope and Chandrashekhar Azad among others. Kanpur is also the birth place of Shyamlal Gupta 'Parshad', composer of the famous patriotic dittsy 'Vijayee' Great Hindi leterateurs like Acharya Mahavir Parasad Dwivedi, Pratap Narain Mishra, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, Acharya Gaya Prasad Shukla 'Sanehi' and Balkrishna Sharma 'Navin' are having hailed from here. A visit to the attractive Kanpur Memorial Church brings visitors the gloomy truth of India's struggle for Independence.

Kanpur Memorial Church was built by the British Government in India in 1875 to commemorate the death of the English people during the historic Siege of Cawnpur as the city was called during those times.

The grand church, earlier known as the All Souls Cathedral, sprawls in the centre of Kanpur Cantonment on Albert Lane close to Cawnpur Club. The red brick Lombardic structure of the church was conceived and designed in Gothic style by Walter Granville, a British architect of the East Bengal Railway. It is flanked on one side by a cemetery which contains the graves of the British people and soldiers.

The church also has a Memorial garden on its eastern wing, which can be reached through two gates. It has a carved screen, and a statue of an angel in its centre with its arms crossed and holding pylons symbolizing peace for the world. It was built by a sculptor called Baron Carlo Marochetti.

It happened so that the mutineers from the Kanpur Barrack laid siege to the barrack residential quarter that housed European officers and their family. The whole plan was masterminded by non other than Nana Sahib who was, till mutiny broke, a trusted ally of British. The siege was resisted by handful of officers who were low on arsenals but high on valor. In fact, their Enfield riffles were no match to the canon balls pounded by the British 6-pounders and 8-pounders used by the mutineers. Nevertheless, against all odds, British officers were largely successful in saving the life of innocent womenfolk and children who got stuck there. But all came to end when Nana Sahib came to his cunning self. He faked a siege fire and entered the fort somehow. The result was one of the deadliest massacres in the modern Indian history. Nana ordered every white-skin to be chopped in order to frighten and slug the steps of the reinforcement that was on the way to fight them. The order led to gang rapes and mutilation of women and children. The incident has been well chronicled in history and particularly in the novel "Cawnpore" that was based on the incident. Nana Sahib was notoriously bestowed with the title of " The Butcher of Cawnpore".

In the east of the Church is a separate enclosure. It houses the memorial garden that can be approached through two gateways. This is separated from the main building through a handsome carved gothic screen that has been designed by one Henry Yule. Its center is occupied by the beautiful carved figure of an angle by Baron Carlo Marochetti, with crossed arms, holding pylons, symbol of peace. The Military Cemetery on the edge of the cantonment contains a number of graves with interesting epitaphs from the late 19th century. Within the city the king Edward VII memorial hall is noteworthy and so is The Christ Church building, built in 1840.