Change Ringing at Christ Church Cathedral Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Our Cathedral

Home Of The Westernmost Ring Of Ten Bells In The World

Our Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Diocese of British Columbia, which covers the whole of Vancouver Island and adjacent Gulf Islands. The corner stone for the present building was laid in 1926. Construction continued through the depression years of the 1930s. By 1936 the North West tower had risen to the height of the bell chamber floor and, through the generosity of two local donors, a peal of eight bells was installed on the top of this floor and a wooden shed was put up over the top to protect the whole installation from the elements. Due to the economic conditions prevailing in the late 1930s and during the second World War, the upper portion of the tower was not completed until 1957. Construction of the remainder of the Cathedral was finally completed in 1986.

The original eight bells were first rung on July 12th, 1936. Two trebles were added in 1983 and were dedicated on March 8th of that year in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, before being hung in the tower.

Change ringing has been practised in this tower continuously since the bells were hung in 1936.

For more about the Cathedral and its ongoing activities, please visit Christ Church Cathedral's Home Page.

A Prayer for our Cathedral

O Lord Jesus Christ, in whose blessed Name this house of prayer is built and sanctified, grant we beseech thee, that as this place has been prepared for the manifestation of thy love, so we may be also built up as a spiritual house for the offering of service acceptable to Thee, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.