Current condition
In use
Date completed
According to the church's website, the building was completed in 1937.
Previous place(s) at this location
Photos that show this Place
1937
1937
1941
Comments
Brief History
St Mary’s Church, Causeway Bay, began as a chapel built in 1911 primarily to provide a centre for worship for the residents of the Eyre Diocesan Refuge nearby.
During the 1930s the population of Causeway Bay was growing rapidly and Bishop Duppuy (1920-32) decided that the old chapel should be replaced by a new and more spacious church. This came into being under his successor.
Planning for the building began in December 1930 and funding was sought for the project. A very generous donation of $20,000 from benefactor Mr. Kan Tat Choi launched the fund. Bishop Hall, when he started in 1934, appointed a full-time vicar for the new church to sit on the Building Committee, Rev. Lee Kau Yan. Building work began in December 1936 and the church was completed on Christmas Eve 1937. The final total for the build came to $50,000.
A beautiful and imposing church of Chinese-Anglican design was created by extending the old site, elevating the building and constructing an impressive flight of granite stairs to approach it. The church is a good example of the Contextualization Movement of the 1930s. The exterior with its red brick walls and green roof tiles, was designed to resemble a Chinese imperial palace.
The building was not consecrated until 25 March 1949 because of the intervention of the war, which interrupted the payments.
Sources:
Brief Introduction to St. Mary's Church
HKSKH St Mary’s Church