Anglican Chaplaincy
in Malta & Gozo

St Paul's Pro-Cathedral History

Queen Adelaide (Adelaide Louise Theresa Caroline Amelia) 13 August 1792 - 2 December 1849
D•O•M•ECCLESIAM•HANC•COLLEGIATAM•ADELAIDA•REGINA•GRATI•ANIMO•DICAVIT•MDCCCXLIV•

When Queen Adelaide, the widow of William IV, spent the winter of 1838/39 in Malta she was dismayed to find no proper Anglican Church. The British authorities had resisted previous suggestions to build, ostensibly on the grounds of expense, but partly out of consideration for the Roman Catholic Maltese population.
Anglican services were held in a room of the Grand Master's Palace and was "insufficient to contain more than the chief English families".The vast majority of English residents were spiritually neglected.

Queen Adelaide's offer to pay for a church (nearly £20,000 at the time) overcame all objections. The British Government provided a site, on the spot where the Auberge d’Allemagne (the conventual home of the German Knights Hospitaller) had stood. Queen Adelaide laid the foundation stone on 20th March 1839.
Queen Adelaide's Banner hangs majestically above the choir stalls.

The original building proved unstable and work started again in 1841 under new designs by William Scamp, who had been employed for some years as Clerk of Works to Sir James Wyattville on the remodeling of Windsor Castle. 

The Dedication of the Church to St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, was a reminder of the first Christian missionary to Malta, when he was shipwrecked on the Island in AD 59/60. Scamps plan envisaged the High Altar at the West end and four side doors, giving the additional benefit of a cooling breeze during the hot summer months. The Bishop of Gibraltar insisted on a more orthodox layout with the altar to the east, so Scamp contrived an apse inside the great doors to hold the sanctuary, with only the southwest and northwest doors being used as entrances.

The southwest door is used as the main entrance to this day. Scamp’s rather severe interior with its pillars and fluted engaged pilasters topped by Corinthian capitols supporting a cornice are architecturally in harmony with Malta.

The glass windows seem always to have been plain and had to be completely replaced after the bombing in the Second World War. Further necessary repairs after the war prompted a return to Scamp’s original orientation. The west end was transformed into a choir by building a new stone screen across the nave. The screen incorporated a stone pulpit and lectern, now in wood and presented as a memorial to Sir Winston Churchill.

To mark the centenary of the death of Queen Adelaide, the Archbishop of Canterbury dedicated the new chancel on 2nd December 1949 in the presence of Princess Elizabeth, who was visiting Prince Phillip during his period of Naval service in Malta. The former sanctuary at the east end became a Baptistry. The font was moved, from the centre of the west end to the apse, The apse contains blue and gold panels of the crown brocatelle that was used in Wesminster Abbey for the Coronation of King George VI . (website background)

 The Undercroft, solidly constructed as the foundation of the building, was not used for 80 years. The Bishop opened it on Easter Day 1928 as a church hall. In 1938 it was made a gas proof air raid shelter and in the early days of the conflict was used by the chaplain, his wife and scores of Maltese citizens.

The Undercroft has had major renovation work done during 2005, and upgrading of the toilet facilities in 2006.

Despite the heavy bombing of Valletta during the Second World War and the prominent and vulnerable position of the Cathedral, it escaped serious damage during the air raids of 1941-42, Thus it survived to bear testimony to the valour of those who fought to defend Malta; and to house the memorials of all units of the Navy, Army and Air Force on the oak panels around the Sanctuary. A Merchant Navy Memorial is located on the North wall and a Submariners Memorial Plaque is situated outside, on the north-west wall of the Cathedral, facing Manoel Island.
Chaplains and Chancellors of St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Valletta:

 1844 J.CLEUGH. D.D
 1877 H.WHITE. M.A.
 1878 E.A.HARDY. M.A.
 1896 A.B.CARTWRIGHT. M.A.
 1901 F.De WINTON.LUSHINGTON. M.A.
 1903 D.COLLYER. M.A.
 1905 C.GULL. M.A.
 1907 W.NAISH M.A.
 1908 W.EVERED.
 1910 A.F.NEWTON. M.A.
 1913 F.D.BROCK.
 1919 A.H.C.FARGUS. M.A.
 1922 A.C.MORETON. M.A.
 1926 N.A.MARSHALL.
 1931 R,M, NICHOLAS. M.A.
 1944 F.W.HICKS. B.A.
 1955 C.PATON. O.B.E.
 1959 H.R.COLTON .M.A.
 1963 R.W.POPE. L.R.N.
 1965 L.MacMANAWAY. Q.H.C. M.A. R.N.
 1966 DONALD YOUNG. O.B.E. R.N.
 1967 H.G.W. MACDONALD. M.A. B.D. R.N.
 1969 GORDON HYSLOP. C.B.E. M.A.
 1974 HOWARD COLE. Q.H.C. CF(Rtd). B.Sc.
 1977 DAVID INDERWICK STRANGEWAYS.
 1981 JOHN WALTER EVANS. M.A.
 1986 KENNETH W.A.ROBERTS.
 1989 PHILIP J.COUSINS. M.A.
 1996 ALAN G.WOODS. T.D. F.C.C.A.
 2004 TOMAS OLIVER MENDEL. SSC. M.A.
 2009		 Canons with a named stall:
— in the Pro-Cathedral of St Paul, Valletta, Malta
 St Luke:  Vacant
   ex officio, Chancellor
 St Silas: The Venerable Arthur Siddall (2005)
 St Timothy: The Reverend Canon Ben Eaton (1996)
 St Barnabas: The Reverend Canon Ian Sherwood (1997)
 St Agnes: The Reverend Canon Michael Bullock, OGS (1998)
 St Mark: The Venerable Patrick Curran (2000; 2002)
   ex officio, Archdeacon of the Eastern Archdeaconry
 St Polycarp: The Reverend Canon Malcolm Bradshaw (2001)
 St Catherine of Siena: The Reverend Canon Denis Moss (2001)
 St Helena: The Reverend Canon Dr Simon Stephens (2001)
 St Titus: The Reverend Canon Johnathan Boardman (2008)
 St Ignatius of Antioch:  Vacant

 The stall of St Paul, assigned under previous statutes to the Dean of Malta, is used by the chaplain  based at Holy Trinity,Sliema - who is not a member of the Chapter

Former Canons of St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Valletta:

 The Reverend Canon John Livingstone (1993)
 The Reverend Canon John Whelan (1993)
 The Reverend Canon Philip Cousins (1995)
 The Right Reverend Eric Devenport (1997)
 The Reverend Canon Geoffrey Evans (2000)
 The Reverend Canon Jeremy Peake (2000)
 The Reverend Canon Gordon Reid (2003)
 The Reverend Canon Peter Ball (2004)
 The Reverend Canon Tom Mendel (2008)
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© Anglican Chaplaincy in Malta & Gozo
October  / 2008
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