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St George’s Cathedral

Gloucester Street

Freetown

Sierra Leone


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Last Update: 10 November 2021

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The Cathedral

St George’s Cathedral


The fathers of Christianity in Freetown were the Church Missionary Society(CMS) who established Churches for the Christian education of freed slaves.


In 1814 the then Governor Lt. Colonel Maxwell felt the need for a church in the centre of Freetown. He then addressed two memoranda to the secretary of State for the colonies, the Earl of Bathurst that a church should be constructed to the Glory of Glory of God and the edification of the people.


Her Majesty Queen Victoria's Government made available the sum of 5 thousand guineas for the building of the church and on the 9 January 1817 the foundation stone was laid by the Governor Charles Macarthy and from his residence Fort Thornton, a twenty-one gun salute was fired in honour of the event.


Until the church was completed and dedicated, services were held each Sunday morning in the Court Room over the jailhouse, which stood on the site of the present Connaught hospital.


Before it was officially opened in 1827, the church was to undergo many changes in its design and construction. Its walls were pulled down twice: once because the building was considered too large. It was not until 1825 that serious work began, and the building was completed by the end of 1827.


The new church – named St George’s – after the patron saint of England, was consecrated and opened for worship on the 13 January 1828. The Rev. C.L.F Haensel – the Bavarian Principal of Fourah Bay College, which had been founded by the CMS the previous year with Adjai Crowther as its first student, preached the first sermon.

The church had a gallery running along three sides, but these were pulled down by another Governor – Sir Samuel Rowe, who complained that the children always made too much noise above his head.

From the outset, St. George’s was considered the Church of Government, and on St. Barnardas’ Day – 11 June 1828, the first divine service was held for the opening of the Quarter Sessions of the Court of Sierra Leone.

In 1852 the Diocese of Sierra Leone was formed and in 1898, ownership of the Cathedral was transferred from the Crown to the Cathedral chapter with full powers of control. That year St George's Cathedral became self-supporting and the mother church of the diocese.


In 1961, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visited Sierra Leone and attended Divine service at the Cathedral.


The Duke and Duchess of Kent also worshipped there on the occasion of the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of Freetown.


In 1972, the  choir of Kings' College Cambridge, under the directorship of Sir David Willcocks performed at the Cathedral. 


On different occasions, the cathedral welcomed the Archbishops of Canterbury  which included Donald Coggan, Rowan Williams and the incumbent Justin Welby.







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