Cathedral Church of St. James

Cathedral Church of St. James in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada is the home of the oldest congregation in the city. The parish was established in 1797. The Cathedral, with construction beginning in 1850 and opening for services on June 19, 1853, was one of the largest buildings in the city at the time. It was designed by Frederick William Cumberland and is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture.The church is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and is the episcopal seat of the Anglican Church of Canada's Diocese of Toronto.Royal St. George's College, on Howland Avenue, is the church's choir school and is open to boys in grades 3 through 12.HistoryThe Anglican parish of St. James was established in 1797 in the then-town of York. In 1807, the first church was built of wood. It was used in 1813 during the War of 1812 as a hospital and subsequently robbed and damaged by the American troops. Shortly after, in 1818, the church was enlarged and a bell tower addition was completed. The bell was used as a fire bell for the town. In 1833, the wooden structure was taken down and replaced by a stone structure in the Neoclassical style. In January 1839, the church burned down and was reconstructed. Upon reopening in December 1839, the church became a Cathedral. St. James Cemetery, the parish cemetery, was moved in the 1840s to St. James-the-Less at Parliament and Bloor, although there are still unmarked graves under the modern parking lot.