Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

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The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist is located in the city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. This parish in the Diocese of Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador was founded in 1699 in response to a petition drafted by the Anglican townsfolk of St. John's and sent to Henry Compton, Bishop of London. In this petition, the people also requested help in the rebuilding of their church, which had been destroyed, along with the rest of the city, in 1696 by the French under the command of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. At least six wooden churches stood on or near this site and were destroyed by military operations during the wars between the French and the British which finally resulted in British control of North America.HistoryThe first stone church was begun in 1843 under the direction of Aubrey Spencer, the first Bishop of Newfoundland, but little progress was made on this relatively modest edifice beyond the laying of a cornerstone before Spencer resigned due to ill health.The present cathedral was begun in 1847 by Edward Feild, the second Bishop of Newfoundland. Feild commissioned plans from a leading Gothic Revival architect, George Gilbert Scott, who envisioned a more impressive cruciform structure with varied ornamentation in the 12th century English style. The nave, built between 1847 and 1850, served as the entire cathedral church for 35 years. Scott's assistant, architect William Hay, oversaw the nave's construction.