St Andrew's Church

In the early 20^th century, the Anglican community in Kowloon congregated at the torpedo depot near the Canton Road Government Offices, where a Navy chaplain ministered a service. With the help of one of the city’s then most important financiers, Sir Chatchick Paul Chater, and officiated by Bishop Hoare, construction on a new church for this community began in 1904. It was completed in 1906 shortly after one of Hong Kong’s most devastating typhoons, which claimed the life of Bishop Hoare and uprooted the pine trees around the new church. But the structure survived and continues to serve the Anglican community in Kowloon to this day.

Much like Hong Kong, the church experienced a varied history. In the early days, it was a place of great activity, with the faithful arriving for Sunday services in rickshaws and sedan chairs. During the Second World War, it was used by the occupying Japanese forces as a magistrate and even a Shinto shrine. Moreover, the building has survived a wartime bomb blast, several typhoons and a landslip.

The architectural style of the church is Victorian-gothic and it is cruciform in shape. The stained glass preserved in the east window is the original as presented by Sir Paul Chater when the church first opened.