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Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar is the cathedral for the Church of England Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. It is sometimes referred to simply as Gibraltar Cathedral, although it should not be confused with the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned, which is Gibraltar's Roman Catholic cathedral. The Cathedral is particularly notable for its imitation of Moorish architecture (appropriate given the period of Moorish control in Gibraltar's history), particularly in its use of horseshoe arches.
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The church was originally built to meet the needs of Anglican worshippers among the civil population of Gibraltar, as the King's Chapel was primarily reserved for military use. John Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who had arrived as Governor of Gibraltar in 1820, persuaded the British Government to sell a derelict building and use the money to build a plain church on the land.
Building work began in 1825, and the church was completed in 1832. The architect is unknown; Colonel Pilkington of the Royal Engineers was in charge of the work. During the building process, the partially completed church had to be used for a short time as an emergency hospital during an epidemic of Yellow Fever.
The church was consecrated in 1838 by Archdeacon Edward Burrow. It became a cathedral in 1842, following the installation of George Tomlinson as the first Bishop of Gibraltar.
The Cathedral suffered no significant damage during the Second World War. After the war had come to an end, Bishop Harold Buxton made an appeal for the purpose of "Saying Thank You to Malta and Gibraltar", with the intention of raising funds to be spent on improvements for St. Paul's Pro Cathedral, Malta and the Cathedral in Gibraltar. In Gibraltar the money raised was used for the construction of new vestries and the creation of a second chapel in the south aisle of the Cathedral, to be dedicated to Saint George and in memory of all who lost their lives in the Mediterranean area during the war. A stone from Coventry Cathedral, which was ruined in the the blitz, is let into the wall.
The explosion of the RFA Bedenham on 27 April 1951 caused substantial damage to the Cathedral, lifting the roof and smashing the stained glass. The Cathedral required extensive repair work and was not in use until Christmas of that year.