The Grounds
The land on which the Cathedral stands is vested in the Diocese of Huron. These grounds served as a graveyard for the village of London and eventually most of the interred and their grave-markers were transferred to Woodland Cemetery owned by the Cathedral but a few tombstones still remain in the church grounds.
The Tower
The tower bears the date 1845 on a shield high up on the outside. Its thick walls were designed to support a peal of 6 bells. The six were replaced by a chime of 10 bells in 1901 and recast into 11 bells in 1935. The clock, each of its three faces measuring over 5 feet, was installed along with the 1901 chime of bells. Generations of bell-ringers have left a record of great moments in the Cathedral’s history by their penciled notations on the walls of the loft. The gargoyles on the pinnacles and doorways are carved from stone quarried at Portland Bill, the same quarry Sir Christopher Wren used to build St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England.
The Narthex
The Narthex holds many interesting mementoes; the monument commemorating those men of H.M. 23rd Regiment of Royal Welsh Fusiliers who fell in the Battle of Alma in the Crimea in 1854; the cross from Canterbury Cathedral and the marble from St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England; the Cronyn tombstone that originally marked the family grave in Woodland Cemetery.
The Nave
Originally the church extended one window further east than the present nave and its east wall featured a small half-octagonal apse. There were galleries on each of the other three walls, with the organ and choir occupying the west gallery. The pulpit (now in Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church) stood front and center. In 1869, during the tenure of the Very Rev'd Dr. Isaac Hellmuth, the small apse was replaced by a chancel large enough to accommodate the choir and clergy, with an organ chamber on the south and vestries on the north.
In 1892, during the tenure of the Very Rev'd G.M. Innes, the chancel of 1869 was removed, one more window of the nave was taken down and the present wide transepts and spacious chancel were built. The galleries were removed and the present elaborate system of beams was devised so as to render all the pillars unnecessary. The Carrara marble font in the baptistery at the west doors commemorates the long sojourn of Dean Innes at the Cathedral, 1871 to 1903.
The south transept was equipped as a chapel (now known as the Lady Chapel) during the rectorship of the Very Rev'd I. N. Tucker, rector of the Cathedral 1911-1934 and Dean of Huron 1918-1934.
The bronze lanterns hanging in the nave were given as memorials while the Very Rev'd C.E. Jeakins was rector and Dean of Huron, 1935-1940.
St. David’s Chapel in the north transept dates from the tenure of the Very Rev'd K. B. Keefe, Dean and Rector from 1961-1980. The altar contains one stone from each deanery in the Diocese of Huron as well as one stone from Canterbury, England, and was formerly in the Synod Office Chapel on Richmond Street.
Military colours of former London regiments are laid up in the transepts.
The Chancel and Sanctuary
Most of the carving on the chancel furnishings, together with the ornamental screens flanking the chancel, are the work of Bavarian craftsmen from the Globe Furniture Company in Waterloo, Ontario. On the right as you enter the chancel is the dean’s stall commemorating the Very Rev'd M. Boomer, second Dean of Huron, 1871-1888. Directly opposite is the chair created for the Rev'd Canon A. G. Dann who served as rector of the Cathedral from 1903-1910. He was not dean as, for the only time in its history, the title was bestowed on the rector of another church. The Bishop’s Cathedra (chair) stands to the east of the Cathedral Canons’ stalls on the south side and is a memorial to Bishop Cronyn.
The present symbols on the chancel ceiling date from the days of the Very Rev'd G.N. Luxton, rector and Dean of Huron 1944-1948. During the tenure of the Very Rev'd R. C. Brown rector and Dean of Huron, 1948-1961, the sanctuary was enhanced by the installation of a new altar, reredos and paneling.
The present organ, a memorial to members of the Cathedral who served in two world wars, was built by Casavant Freres of St. Hyacinth, Quebec, and dedicated in 1953.
The first processional cross dates from the incumbency of the Very Rev'd P. N. Harding, rector and Dean of Huron, 1940-1944, who founded the Altar Servers’ Guild. The brass alms basin was presented by the family of Marion Grace Barker in thanksgiving for her rescue from the sinking steamer, Victoria, in the Thames River on May 24, 1881. The candlesticks on the high altar were purchased for the Cathedral by the Rev'd D. D. Jones in 1954 from a shop next to Westminster Abbey.
The Windows
The window in the tower, “Christ Blessing the City and the World”, was designed by Christopher Wallis in 1992.
In the 1991 window over the great west door in the narthex, Christopher Wallis traces the development of the Cathedral from the naming of London in 1793 to the presentation of the Cathedral’s Coat of Arms in 1989.
The three windows dedicated to St. Paul on the north wall of the nave are also the work of Christopher Wallis and commemorate our 150th Anniversary in 1996.
The two windows on the south wall adjacent to the font ( Jesus with the Children and Baptism of Jesus ) have a baptismal theme and are from the Maile Studios of Canterbury, England. They are a memorial to the members of the pioneer Peters’ family.
The nativity window, completed by Christopher Wallis in 1996, covers the entire nativity story in just one window.
The two windows next to the Nativity window ( The Raising of Jairus' Daughter and Jesus Standing At The Door ) and the two opposite ( The Madonna Of The Lilies and The Good Shepherd ) are the work of Louis Tiffany in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Two are actually signed by him. They are in memory of the members of the Meredith family.
The great windows in the transepts (Great North Transept Window and Great South Transept Window) are 32 feet high and each contains 600 square feet of glass. They were placed there during the Cathedral renovation of 1892-1894.
The window above the south transept door depicts Christ in the Temple. It was formerly in the sanctuary above the high altar and is a memorial to Dr. W.H. Moorhouse, a founder of the School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario.
The windows in the sanctuary commemorate some very interesting London citizens who were members of this congregation. They are from left to right:
“Christ as the High Priest” and “The Good Shepherd”; these two windows, now in a single frame, commemorate two pioneers of London – Lawrence Lawrason Jr., an early police magistrate, and the Rev'd Benjamin Bayly, an early London educator.
“Conversion of St. Paul”; in memory of Nathaniel and Sarah Reid, early settlers, and made in Innsbruck, Austria.
The “Christus Rex”; commemorates the life of Archdeacon C.W. Foreman who began his ministry as a Cathedral curate in 1916, and, on his retirement in 1969, rejoined the Cathedral staff until his death in 1975.
“The Resurrection”; in memory of E. W. Hyman, one of London’s earliest industrialists, and owner of Hyman Tannery.
“The Sermon on the Mount”; in memory of the Hon. G.J. Goodhue, London’s first general merchant and first millionaire, and his wife, Louisa.
Additional Cathedral windows include: in the Children’s Chapel in the parish hall the memorial window to Col. M. Burwell who surveyed the town site of London in 1835, and to Isaac Brock Burwell. When the Burwell Memorial Church in Caradoc was demolished in 1939, the window was installed at the Cathedral by the London and Middlesex Historical Society. The Chapel also includes a mural depicting children’s church activities in memory of Dr. Kate Matthews, founder of Matthews Hall, which began in St. Paul’s in 1918.
The contemporary style window in St. Aidan’s Chapel is in memory of deceased members of the Altar Guild and Women’s Association. It was created by Shirley Stertz in 1967.
The four heraldic and medallion windows in the Dean’s office were installed in 1992.