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| The Church of the Ascension at Lovedale thehindu.com |
Above image: A view of The Church of the Ascension at Lovedale near Ooty which celebrated its centenary in the recent past. The Church is within the campus of the well known Lawrence School. Photo: D. Radhakrishnan 04-10-2011
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| Chapel Lawrence School Lovedale .flickr.com |
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| interior, Chapel Lawrence School Lovedale wherewasitshot.com |
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| Chapel Lawrence School Lovedale Flicker.com. |
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| Lawrence school Chapel. commons.wikimedia.org |
Since Ooty was the summer capital of the Presidency of Madras during the early period and with the influx of more Europeans into Ooty and other places near-by to run the tea and estates or to lead a retired life, there was a need for more churches to meet the spiritual needs of the European families. It is mentioned there were more than 45 churches in the hill and many of them were more than 100 years old.
Though much has been written about the popular Lawrence School of Lovedale, 6 km from Ooty founded by Lawrence military officer and civil servant who was killed in the 1857 rebellion in Lucknow (now in UP) while fighting, No details are available about the Chapel close to the school - name of the architect, design style, builder' name, etc. The chapel is part of the school campus that covers 700 acres of land leased out by the Ministry of Defense, Government of India. Called the Church of the Ascension, it was built in 191, just overlooking the Lawrence school.
As far as this chapel was concerned it was run by the Church of England until the mid 1970s and, it is said, the church services were conducted by an English priest and his associates, apparently belonging to the Anglican church. During the Raj it is quite obvious it catered to mostly army people and other Europeans.
Like some of the colonial churches in West Bengal, in this chapel there are memorials on the walls in the form of many brass plaques for those who died here for various reasons while on duty for the ruler and country. Ruskin Bond, famous Angelo Indian author's father to whom he was close, worked in this chapel in 1917.The church also had an old type organ with bellows for the services.
This chapel set in a serene place - first summer resort in the entire empire would have witnessed several generations of English men - both bad and good associated with the Raj whose perpetual misrule and exploration of native Indians' generosity made them exit at last in 1947.
Under the control of the CSI, the old Chapel, one of the vestiges of British legacy in this part of Nilgiris, conducts services both in Tamil and English.
