St. James Cathedral - York's Oldest Congregation

A stop on Toronto Downtown Walk, a free self-guided tour.

Look up at the tallest church spire in Canada, rising 92.9 metres above King Street. The congregation here is the oldest in the city, founded in 1797, when York was a muddy little capital carved out of the forest.

Fire shaped what you see. The Great Fire of 1849 swept through these blocks and destroyed the earlier church. Architect Frederick Cumberland won an international competition with this Gothic Revival design, the new cathedral opened in 1853, and Henry Langley completed the tower and spire in 1874. A clock followed about a year later, and its chimes are still admired as some of the finest of any public clock.

John Strachan, Toronto's first Anglican bishop and one of the most powerful men in early Upper Canada, is buried in a vault beneath the high altar. If the doors are open, step in quietly to see the long nave and stained glass. Next door, the formal gardens of St. James Park are a pleasant place to rest your feet.

Getting here: Walk north on Jarvis Street to King Street East, turn left past St. Lawrence Hall and the gardens of St. James Park, and you reach the cathedral at Church Street.

Did you know?: Only one church spire in North America is taller than this one: St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.

Photo op: From the south side of King Street, frame the full spire rising above the trees of St. James Park.

More on Wikipedia: Cathedral Church of St. James · Great Fire of Toronto · John Strachan · Frederick William Cumberland

St. James Cathedral - York's Oldest Congregation

Stops on this tour