Monument Analysis

  The Christchurch Cathedral, located in downtown Victoria, BC, is one of the more outstanding churches on the Island.  I say outstanding, as just by it's size it should be commended.  I had no idea that such a massive and ornate church was hiding just a couple blocks from downtown Victoria, covered in stained glass windows and vaulting arches.  Hiding behind some of these arches and pillars, there are 12 dedicated stained glass windows lining the North face of the cathedral, which my group chose to use as our monuments to analyze

We were intrigued by the idea that these had been dedicated as monuments to people who have passed on.  Our main research questions developed around this unique monument idea, included:

  1. Placement of a memorial on a cathedral wall is a sign of prestige.  How would someone achieve such a high status in a large church such as this, to be commemorated in a stained glass window displayed along the church walls

  2. Were the people memorialized in the windows members of the church? Did they attend services held at the church? 

  3. Who decided on the dedications? The deceased or the relatives of the deceased? 

  4. Commemoration within churches does not seem to be a common idea, is this type of memorial present in other large cathedrals?

Cathedral Windows 1-4 (R-L)

 In our first research question, we determined that since placement of a memorial on a cathedral wall is such a sign of high prestige, we wondered how someone could achieve such a high level to be honoured with the placement.
  In our researching, we determined that those displayed along the walls had all done some sort of service to their community, or were highly esteemed business people.  We discovered that there was everything from Millwrights, Bank Managers, Pioneers of the town of Victoria, to politicians and casualties of the first world war.  

Cathedral Windows 5-8 (R-L)

  One of the questions that bugged me the most, and one that we were unable to answer in our surface research, was who decided who would be commemorated here?  I wonder if it was decided by the church, or if possibly some form of donation or monetary exchange would have gone on to essentially buy the deceased's position on the North Wall. 
  This question also ties in with out third research question, who decided on the dedications?  It is likely that they were dedicated after the person had passed away, as these monuments are not actually burial monuments, more like monuments to the person's life.  However, they could have also been decided on, created, or "reserved" before the death of the people in question, however unlikely that sounds.  Nonetheless, these people did not all pass away at the same time, more so just around the same time (early 20th Century), so I find it more believable that these monuments were decided on afterwards, probably by members of the church or members of the community.

Cathedral Windows 9-12 (R-L)

  Our final research question, the question of whether commemoration in large cathedrals, such as this one, is a common occurrence.  In fact, generally commemorations within churches tend to be reserved for religious figures, like those seen accompanied in these stained glass windows (the 12 Apostles, one represented in each window accompanied by their modern interpretation and the commemoration to the chosen person), rather than prominent or highly esteemed residents of the area.  That is not to say that this has never happened before, it most likely has, but the rarity of the occurrence just reinforces how highly esteemed these members of the community must have been.