Destroyed in 1907, Rebuilt on North Street, Restored Tile by Tile: Kingston’s Catholic Cathedral Turns 110

• Holy Trinity Cathedral was consecrated on February 8, 1911
• Its predecessor was destroyed in the 1907 Kingston earthquake
• A restoration launched in 2006 uncovered its hidden mosaics
• It seats more than 1,300 and is a national heritage monument

Holy Trinity Cathedral on North Street in Kingston marked 110 years on February 8, 2021, and the Jamaica Observer used the anniversary to tell the story of one of the city’s most valuable church buildings.

Kingston’s first Roman Catholic church was built in 1810 at Sutton and Duke streets, put up by a Spanish merchant. That building was destroyed in the 1907 earthquake. Church leaders chose not to rebuild on the old site and moved to North Street, where the present cathedral was consecrated on February 8, 1911. The Jamaica National Heritage Trust declared it a national heritage monument on January 7, 2000.

The building is big by any Jamaican standard. The paper described 12,600 square feet under massive reinforced concrete walls that rise 26 metres (85 feet) to a copper dome. It was designed by Raymond F Admiral and combines Romanesque and Byzantine features. It is Kingston’s largest church building, seating more than 1,300 people in wooden pews, and its pipe organ is described as the second-largest in the region. Brother Francis C Schroen, a Bavarian Jesuit, decorated its interior.

Over time much of that artwork was hidden. The major restoration began in 2006, led by Jesús Silva, then Spain’s ambassador to Jamaica, in partnership with the NCB Foundation, local architects and craftsmen, and students from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. International restoration expert Professor Antonio Sanchez-Barriga trained local workers in the techniques. The Observer wrote that the team “worked thousands of hours to disentomb — tile by tile — the grandeur of the artistry that lay beneath.” Fr Kingsley Asphall was the rector at the anniversary, and Kenneth Richards was the archbishop.

The cathedral has hosted national moments, from a Marcus Garvey memorial in 1964 to the funerals of prime ministers. For Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora, its history carries a practical lesson. A heritage church of this size cannot be kept up from the collection plate alone. Holy Trinity was saved by a partnership of a foreign government, a corporate foundation, professionals and art students. As the downtown Kingston renewal debate goes on, the cathedral shows what church property can become when it is treated as a shared national asset rather than one congregation’s burden.

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