ONE OF THE HISTORICAL OFFERINGS OF KANPUR

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.



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 sandstone 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 alter has miniature gothic columns interspaced with marble slabs engraved with the names of all those who died during the sepoy mutiny.




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.
Also a striking feature commmon to the gothic architecture period is the Rose.



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.

The British under Commander Hugh Wheeler retreated into a shallow earth entrenchment in the cantonment area, later known in history as `wheeler’s entrenchment’. The English garrison surrendered in the last week of June 1857 on terms of safe passage to Allahabad. But when on the morning of 27th June, the soldiers along with the women and children were about to embark into the boats at Sati Chaura Ghat, fighting broke out and most of the men were killed. The survivors, women and children were rescued who were imprisoned into the Savada Kothi and later shifted to Bibighar in the `cantonment magistrates’ compound. But when it became clear the relieving forces under General Havelock were nearing the city and defeat was inevitable, the captives-all women and children, were massacred and their dismembered bodies buried in the well of the compound on 15th July 1857.




The Bibighar was dismantled by the British and reoccupation of Kanpur and a `memorial railing and a cross’ raised at the site of the well. The well is now bricked over. Only remains of a circular ridge survive, which can be still seen at the Nana Rao Park.



The Kanpur Memorial Church – `The all soul cathedral’ was raised in honor of the fallen at the north-east corner of Wheeler’s entrenchment in 1862 by the British.



The marble gothic screen with famous `mournful seraph’ was transferred to the churchyard of All Souls church after independence in 1947, and in its place a bust of Tantiya Tope installed as Nana Rao Park.