Directory_and_Chronicle_1902 — Page 730

SHANGHAI

193

Shanghai can boast of several fine buildings of various and varied styles of architecture. Trinity Cathedral, erected from a design by Sir Gilbert Scott, is said to be one of the finest specimens of modern ecclesiastical architecture to be found out of Europe. The foundation stone was laid on 16th May, 1866, and the church was opened for public worship on 1st August, 1869. It is Gothic of the thirteenth century, 152 feet long, 58 feet wide, and 54 feet from the floor to the apex of the nave. The structure was not completed, however, until 1892, when the spire was erected, the cross being placed on the top on the 4th October of that year. It attains a total height of 160 feet, and, like the body of the edifice, is built of red brick, with stone dressings. The foundation of the spire was laid by the Bishop of Mid-China on the 19th August, 1891. There is a fine Roman Catholic Church in the French Concession called St. Joseph's, built in 1862, and another in Hongkew known as the Church of the Sacred Heart. There are also the Union Church on the Soochow Creek, a handsome church with spire and bells in Yunnan Road belonging to the American Methodist Episcopal Mission, a chapel belonging to the London Mission, and one to the American Episcopalians, and a very pretty and prettily situated Seamen's Church at Pootung (latterly disused except for the purposes of a mortuary), besides several mission chapels for natives. The Jesuit Fathers have an extensive mission establishment and orphanages at Sicawei, where a mission has existed for over a hundred years. The present church was built in 1851. To this mission is attached a museum of natural history, etc., and an astronomical and meteorological observatory. In connection with the latter there is a time-ball on the French Bund and the Fathers hope to introduce Marconi's system of wireless tele- graphy between Sicawei, Shanghai, and Woosung for signalling purposes. Under the direction of this institution, a complete system of meteorological observations, embracing the whole of the China Seas, is now carried out. The Shanghai Club occupies a large and elaborate building at one end of the English Bund. It cost Tls. 120,000, and at that is said to have ruined three contractors. It was opened in 1864 and has passed through a varied and peculiar history. The present buildings of the British Consulate and Supreme Court at the other end of the Bund were opened in 1872. Near to them is a fine Masonic Hall recently rebuilt. Amongst the other conspicuous buildings may be mentioned those occupied by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China, and the Imperial Chinese Railway Administration. The Lyceum Theatre, situate in Museum Road, is a fair building seating 700 persons, opened in January, 1874 and it was extensively altered and unproved during 1991. The members of the German (Concordia) Club have also a handsome little theatre attached to their premises in the Canton Road. A new Custom House was completed in 1893 on the site of the old building on the Bund. It is in the Tudor style, of red brick with facings of green Ningpo stone, and has high pitched roofs covered with red French tiles. The buildings have a frontage on the Bund of 135 feet and on the Hankow Road of 155 feet. In the centre of the main building a clock tower, supplied with a four- faced clock striking the Westminster chimes, rises to a height of 110 feet, and divides the structure into two wings. The elevation is a very handsome one. Mr. John Chambers was the architect, and the new building adds an imposing feature to the Bund. Another fine building is the Central Police Station in Foochow Road, large and spacious, of red brick with stone dressings, but lacking frontage and surround- ing space to set it off to full advantage. The new Town Hall and Public Markets were completed in 1899, and form the first block of buildings erected out of public funds for the public use. They occupy a prominent site, which is bounded by four roads; the principal front being upon the Nanking road, the main thoroughfare of the English Settlement. The plan divides the block into two portions, the moiety facing Nanking Road being for use by the European community as a Town Hall and Market and the portion in rear as a Chinese Market This latter is an airy open building 156 feet by 140 feet, two stories high, constructed entirely of iron and steel with concrete floors and a roof glazed in such a manner as to admit the north light only. A four-way staircase connects the two floors and is sur- mounted by an octagonal dome 40 feet diameter. The front building is of red brick with stone dressings. The lower floor consists of the European market 156 feet by 80 feet, and an arcade 156 feet by 45 feet employed for the same purpose. A special and striking feature of the building is the handsome staircase entered from Nanking Road and leading to the Town Hall on the first floor. The walls and arches of this staircase are finished in clean red brick work with stone dressings, the steps being of concrete with stone handrails and ballusters, and encaustic tile floors to halls and landings. The

Digitized by

Google

7

•

Page 730Page 731