The Cathedral of St. Andrew's

Honolulu, Hawaii

By Eric Kennedy AHIS 265 : 19th Century Architecture

awaii does not seem to be the place that you would go to look for Gothic architecture, let alone any significant type of 19th century architecture, but this is where most people are wrong. It is actually quite full (at least the main island of Oahu and the neighbor islands to a lesser degree) of very interesting and relevant buildings, such as the Iolani palace , which was the home to the monarchy before the overthrow by the United States, in which some of the most historical moments in the history of Hawaii took place. It can be easily guessed that the Hawaiians did not build these buildings totally of their own volition, and this is true. The reason for there being so many buildings interesting to the study of 19th century architecture was created by the discovery of the "Sandwich Isles" by Captain James Cook and the subsequent "invasion" of the missionaries. After the discovery, many missionaries from both the east coast of the United States and Great Britain ventured to the isles to bring "religion" to the Hawaiian "savages". St Andrew's Cathedral was built for this very reason; after many years of missionary presence the King and Queen of Hawaii decided to build an Anglican cathedral.

St. Andrew's was not the first cathedral built by missionaries, and it followed the first church, Kawaihao, built by the Protestants in 1842, and Our Lady of the Peace built by the Roman Catholics in 1843. I chose this specific cathedral because it has personal significance to both me and my family. The reason for this is that my grandfather became the bishop of Hawaii during World War II and he helped complete the cathedral that was to become his, during his tenure as bishop.

After the coming of James Cook, many Anglican visitors came to the shores of the Hawaiian islands but there never was a resident Anglican clergyman for the first 84 years. Robert Wyllie, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Hawaii, then under the rule of Kamehameha III, noticed this and set the placement of a resident Anglican clergyman as one of his goals to achieve.

The appropriate timing for the implementation did not come until the rule of the next monarch, Kamehameha IV and his Queen, Emma. They both had grown up under the teachings of the Congregational Church. Both had come to like the Anglican Church and its rituals more so than that of their Congregational upbringing. Alexander (Kamehameha IV) had traveled when he was a young prince to see the world, and he found the rituals of the Anglican Church much more interesting than the prim services of the Congregational services in Hawaii. Emma had been raised by her English foster father, who probably influenced her preference for the Anglican church.

In 1860, Alexander wrote directly to the Queen of England, asking for an Anglican priest for the kingdom of Hawaii. During this same time, Wyllie was writing the Archbishop of Canterbury, requesting the same thing. He also sent instructions to the Hawaiian Consul General in London to use any means possible to gain a favorable response. This is where the first ideas for St Andrew's Cathedral came into being. The Queen soon granted permission to the Archbishop of Canterbury to establish a mission in the Kingdom of Hawaii. On December 15, 1861, the wish finally came true for the Hawaiian Anglicans. Thomas Nettleship Staley was consecrated as the Bishop of Honolulu. When this news reached the Kingdom of Hawaii, the group of people that had been wishing for the establishment of the Anglican Church in Hawaii met and started a fund which was to be used in building a church and in supporting the new priest. The bishop moved quickly, bringing with him, both his family and two other priests. Unfortunately, the group did not reach Hawaii before the death of the 4 year old Prince of Hawaii, which forced King Alexander and Queen Emma to utilize the Anglican services performed by a Congregational minister. The death of his son was to take a great toll on the King in the year to come.

The new Bishop arrived and had the first Anglican services on October 12, 1862, which was entirely in English. With the help of the King Staley, he was able to have his service, including his sermon, in both English and Hawaiian within two weeks. However, there still was no church to hold services. The Anglicans had to buy a church from the Methodists to use in the first years of the Church in Hawaii. The King decided then to give the Anglican diocese 7,458 square yards of land to be used for the building of a cathedral.

King Kamehameha IV paved the way for the church in Hawaii. Then, on St. Andrew's Day, Nov. 30, 1863, he died, less than a year after the death of his son, the prince. It was rumored that the grief from his only son's death sent him to his own early grave. This left his wife and the new king Kamehameha V, brother to the previous ruler, to continue the building of the Cathedral.

Bishop Staley was making plans to build a cathedral in Hawaii with a peal of bells. Most of the burden to gain support and raise funds for the building of the cathedral fell into the hands of Queen Emma when Kamehameha IV died. King Kamehameha V was not as adamant in his support for the church as his brother had been, but he continued monetary support for the church. Staley had even brought plans from England for a cathedral built from lava rock and coral, as many of the churches in Hawaii at the time were built of; it was colored inside more like the Roman Catholic churches than the drab Congregational churches. These plans were soon changed by the queen herself when she visited England, and saw the grandeur of the Gothic Cathedral. She looked at many plans and finally decided on one by B.F. Ingelow of a London firm named Carpenter and Slater. The plan she chose was for a pointed gothic cathedral. She then raised $30,000, while still in London, which she spent while in England to purchase arches, pillars, and windows. The rest of the stone work that was used was quarried from a site near Barber's Point, Oahu. This stone was deemed unsuitable for the arches, pillars, and windows and was used for the walls.

On March 5, 1867, the construction of St. Andrew's Cathedral was officially started with the laying of the cornerstone by Kamehameha V. Originally, the cathedral was to be named for St. Peter, but this was changed to St. Andrew in honor of Kamehameha IV, who had died on the feast day of St. Andrew. There is an inscription in Latin dedicated to Kamehameha IV on the cornerstone:

"To the glory of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and in the memory of the most pious King of the Hawaiian Islands, King Kamehameha IV, who died on the feast of St. Andrew, 1863, his brother, the most honorable King Kamehameha V, laid this cornerstone on the 5th day of March, 1867."

The cornerstone contains the plans for the cathedral, English and Hawaiian prayer books, and other historical documents.

The foundation was laid for an early 12th century French Gothic Cathedral. When Bishop Staley had to return to England for support, only 45 feet of the foundation in the choir area had been laid. He had become more aware as time passed since the death of Kamehameha IV that it was near impossible to persuade the congregation to accept the ceremonies of the "high church". He also could not convince them that he was not an agent of the English government in clerical robes. Staley was having trouble raising funds, and after awhile, he finally returned to England and the construction of the Cathedral was halted.

Reverend Alfred Willis was appointed as the next Bishop and he arrived in Hawaii in 1872. He arrived to a congregation divided on how grand of a cathedral should be built. Many of the congregation felt that a simple church would be enough to serve their needs. Willis, on the other hand, would not allow St. Andrew's Cathedral to be condemned to mediocrity. Ten years after his arrival, construction was resumed. The walls were built from Hawaiian stone from Barber's Point and the rest was built from the stone purchased in England by Emma. When this ran out, Robert Lishman, an English mason who had moved to Hawaii, was sent to England to obtain more stone for the arches, windows, and pillars, because Hawaiian stone was not considered suitable for these uses. In 1886, the chancel was opened for worship on Christmas Day. Then on June 3rd, 1888, two bays of the nave were completed and opened for worship. However, construction was soon to come to a stand still once again with the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States in 1898.

In August 1902, the Right Reverend Henry Bond Restarick became the first American Bishop in the Islands on a permanent basis. Bishop Restarick found the Cathedral in disrepair and immediately set about protecting it from the elements. He also decided to illuminate it by adding electricity to the cathedral, which eliminated the oil lights which had been used up to this point. Although the English stone had run out, Restarick decided to extend the nave by the addition of two bays. This time, the local quarries and parishioners had convinced the authorities that Hawaiian stone was suitable for the purpose. In an effort to further reconstruct the Cathedral which lasted until 1908, a parish hall was built with donations from the Davies family, who owns one of the "Big Five" companies in Hawaii; consequently, this hall was named Davies Hall. Restarick also added Mackintosh Tower which holds the peal of bells.

The following two bishops contributed in paying off the debts that had amassed over the years of construction. The one addition to the cathedral complex during this time was Parke Memorial Chapel.

The fourth American bishop in Hawaii was Harry Sherbourne Kennedy. He arrived during World War II. Aside from being the bishop of Hawaii, Kennedy also presiding over the entire Pacific rim. With that responsibility on his shoulders, he was not able to concentrate on the deteriorating Cathedral until the mid 1950's. Due to the neglect of previous years, the floors, the pews, the wooden west wall, and part of the ceiling had been eaten away by termites. In an effort to resolve the problem, Kennedy decided to tear them up and pour a concrete floor. He also chose to raise the sanctuary above the level of the nave. Along with the extension of the nave by two bays, a new organ was added. On February 10, 1958, Kennedy set a new cornerstone for the extension. After a brief seven months of further additions, the construction of the Cathedral which had taken 91 years was finally

The exterior is reminiscent of Trinity Church in New York City by Richard Upjohn. The architects tried to hide the flying buttresses as those in the Trinity Church. The front entrance looks slightly Romanesque from its simplicity. The large west window draws attention from the nearby street to the cathedral. The pointed arches and the tracing on the stained glass windows express the Gothic character of the Cathedral. However, St. Andrew's is unlike any other Gothic Cathedral in that there are no tall spires connecting to the main body of the church. Mackintosh Tower , which contains the peal of bells within itself, was not part of the original plans. The tower is separated into three sections. It starts as a regular wall, but at approximately 30 feet above ground, it is decorated by two sets of three small windows on each face. The last section, which stands on top of the smaller windows, consists of two larger windows. This tower gives the Cathedral a look much like that of St. Pierre, Chareenton-le-Pont, designed by Claude Naissant with its one main entrance and bell tower that is placed off to the side of the main building.

As you enter the completed Cathedral, you are first met by four figures, cast in bronze, of four apostles.

Looking toward the chancel, a scene reminiscent of the interior of William Butterfield's All Saints , Margaret Street, meets your eye; only, St. Andrew's has a stockier look to it with its thicker columns and a simpler interior, lacking the artistic mosaics and paintings of All Saints. Also, St. Andrew's has a deeper chancel compared to the short, but intricately designed chancel of All Saints.

The ambulatory and absidal screens that reside high above the altar contains the beautiful stained glass windows which cast light to the beautiful Caen stone altar. The High Altar was added by Mrs. Restarick in 1908; and when the cathedral was renovated in 1955, a pierced stone semicircle was added behind it. The stained glass windows within the ambulatory depicting scenes from the bible. However, the majority of them are dedicated to the royalty of Hawaii. The pulpit was made of Caen stone to match the altar and baptismal font. It was modeled after the pulpit of St. John's American Church of Dresden, Germany. The columns lining either sides are dedicated to people who had been associated with the Cathedral. The capitals and bases are decorated by carvings of Hawaiian flora.

The final structural part of the Cathedral is the West Window; it is nearly fifty feet tall and twenty feet wide. At the time it was installed, it was one of the biggest windows ever made in the United States. All of the glass was hand blown by workers in France, Germany, Belgium, England, and the United States. On the left portion, the life of Christ is shown from birth to ascension toward heaven. Looking closely, you can see that Christ is ascending on a surfboard , which adds a Hawaiian taste to the artwork. The center of the window represents the Holy Trinity, while the right hand portion represents the history of the Anglican church in England and the Episcopal church in the United States. Then, on the bottom right hand side, is the most interesting part of this window. This is where the history of the church in Hawaii is portrayed. Without the little termite depicted here, Bishop Kennedy may not have ever completed his efforts solidifying the Cathedral as one of Hawaii's praised architectural artwork.

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