Kanpur Memorial Church

Kanpur Memorial Church, popularly known as All Soul’s Cathedral is an impressive architectural edifice that was constructed in 1875 to commemorate the courage and valor of the British troops who surrendered their lives in the tumultuous Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Walter Granville, an erstwhile architect of East Bengal Railway, was responsible for the exquisite Lombardy Gothic architecture of the church. The building is made up of vibrant red bricks adorned in multi-colored hues. The interior of the church houses the heartbreaking memorial tables, epitaphs and monuments that pay a tribute to those soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country. They also narrate the shattered hopes and dreams of the young whose life ended even before it had properly taken off. The Kanpur Memorial Church recounts the unfortunate massacre of the Kanpur Barracks and the betrayal of patriotic Nana Sahib, nicknamed ” The Butcher of Cawnpore”. A separate enclosure in the eastern extremity of the church contains the memorial garden and separated from the main building by an exquisitely carved and striking in appearance Gothic screen. At the center of the church stands a beautiful figurine of an angel, designed by the eminent Baron Carlo Marochetti. Post – independence statue and the screen have been relocated here from Kanpur’s famous Municipal Gardens near the Bibighar well. Some of the ancient graves are intriguing with interesting inscriptions. A visit to the beautiful Kanpur Memorial Church brings visitors face-to-face with the morbid truth of India’s struggle fore independence, a battle that caused enormous bloodshed on both sides.

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