BENGALURU: Among the many beautiful churches that I like in Fraser Town and the surrounding areas is the Wesley English Church, located on Promenade Road in Cleveland Town. It was called St John’s Hill Church until 1953, in all probability as it is situated on St John’s Hill. This church was constructed due to the diligence of the Wesleyan Mission which set up a missionary chapel-cum-Sunday school at the opposite end of the ridge from St John’s Church.
The Wesleyan order traces its origin to John Wesley (1703-1791) and his brother Charles (1707-1788), a hymn composer and son of the Anglican clergyman and poet, Samuel Wesley. The Wesleyan mission in Bengaluru was started in 1821 for the British soldiers, their families and Eurasians with the arrival of Reverend Elijah Hoole and Reverend James Mowat.
Earlier, the only places of worship in this locality were meant for high ritualists or Romanists, so J D Jordan, Esq., was asked to secure a piece of land for a new chapel. Rev.William Taylor, who came from Chennai, held a meeting at Clarendon Hall, where a plot was selected on St John’s Hill and a cheap chapel was erected with Rev James Shaw in charge of the proceedings. The construction of the chapel was possible due to contributions from people of all ages and occupations donating for the cause whole-heartedly.
As the church population increased over the years, the need for a bigger and permanent structure was felt. The foundation stone for the church we see today was laid at a foundation ceremony held on July 31, 1888. The stones were suspended from bamboo scaffolding that had been bedecked with palm, acacia and casuarina leaves. The construction work was started under the supervision of M W Walker and in November 1888, the St John’s Hill chapel was almost complete. On Easter day in 1889, the formal inauguration of the Wesley English Church took place in the presence of Rev J Hudson from Madras. Among the other notable structures on the premises is a century old parsonage.
The church has a main assembly hall covered by sloping Mangalore tiled roof supported by wooden trusses. The exterior, painted in brick red, is divided into segments crowned with monkey tops and punctured by ornate ventilators with stained glass panels.
These red segments are divided by white buttresses which carry the load of the roof. The south façade has typical gothic windows with lancet arches and fine tracery details. A beautiful stained glass window depicting Jesus Christ greets the visitors on the South, just below a cross at the apex of the gable end. The entrance porch as well as the belfry, which are later additions, are a little out of place though. The priest’s chamber at the back is covered by a Madras terrace roof supported by iron and wooden girders. Numerous tablets dedicated to people who contributed for the church can be seen inside. The altar, with a wooden dado panelling, is a simple raised platform with a stained glass panel depicting Christ as a shepherd.