The Building of Likoma Cathedral
The first section is taken from: 1903-1955 volumes 1-3 of the History of the Universities’ Mission to Central Africa (published from 1859 to 1957).
In 1899 Mr Frank George, an architect, came out and took over the building work of the Mission, all amateurs falling into line under him. Under his auspices the whole station has been rebuilt with stone. The native stone is granite – very hard to work; and the mortar is dothi – white ant earth.
The white ant or termite does the work that the European earthworm does, in turning over the earth and bringing it to the surface. They construct long earthen tunnels, under cover of which the ants advance and work, and their huge homes are of earth, bound with their saliva and hardened by the air.
This makes very good mortar, especially that of Likoma; a mixture of earth and sand, which the women dig out, moisten and tread under foot. This hardens when dry. But alas! It has one fault. Rain softens it, and unless there are deep eaves to carry off the rain, the walls often fall down. Bright hopes exist that roofs might even last fifteen years with care.
Early in 1903 Mr George brought his band of masons and carpenters, who had already built Kota Kota and Unangu churches, to Likoma to collect material. That band of workmen, trained and instructed by him and aided by Albert Crabb, is responsible for one of the most notable structures of our time. Such a building would be a credit to England, but on a comparatively desert island it can only be called wonderful.
Likoma provided nothing but granite, which had to be quarried. All other materials had to be sought on the mainland of Portuguese East Africa (Mozambique) and brought over in boats – the bricks made, the lime burned, the trees felled.
Owing to the great distance from the source of supply, the enormous cost of freight and the length of time to wait for things to be sent from England, the cathedral has been built without a number of things usually looked upon as necessary. Only cement, iron for the roof and glass were sent from England. The building of it marks a stage in the growth of the Church in Central Africa and shows that it has taken root in the land.
All those employed on the building were Christians or catechumens. The work started each morning with a short service held specially for the workpeople, asking for a blessing on the day’s labour. The builders were a fine body of men and women who took an extraordinary interest in their work. All the stone, brick and other material had been carried to its place on the heads of porters, a large number of whom were women.
It is a large cruciform building, covering an area of 17,600 square feet. When it is quite complete – that is when the chapter house, library and cloisters are finished – it will cover 37,000 square feet. It measures from east to west 320 feet, north to south wall of transept 85 feet.
A retreat for forty members of the mission was held before its dedication at Michaelmas 1905. As a child expressed it: “Many Europeans began to be in retreat. They were silent, they assembled together and prayed to God in their hearts. Two Europeans were set apart that day as deacons and we had very many prayers.”
Then on St Michael’s Day, to the strains of Laetatus sum, (I was glad) a goodly congregation passed up the aisle of the new cathedral. Some of them were thinking what a venture of faith was that building of Jerusalem in Likoma’s Isle; and how they had hardly dared to say, “Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem.”
In September 1908, the bells were hung in the south-west tower and the clock was put together by Edwin Ayers and started. Unfortunately December brought very heavy storms of wind and rain and the upper parts of two buttresses of both towers were brought crashing to the ground. Happily no one was hurt but many hours were spent taking down the clock and chimes as a precaution against any further damage.
Then on 2 February 1909 another of the buttresses of the tower came down and it was definitely decided that the height of the towers must be reduced and the whole plan of the west front re-arranged.
In November 1911 there took place what should have been an occasion of unalloyed joy and thanksgiving for the whole diocese – the consecration of the Cathedral. But the event was saddened by the tragic death of the Rev. Arthur Jeffreys Douglas, principal of St Michael’s College, at the hands of the Portuguese officer in charge of Kobwe where the College was situated. He was angry at being told that arms could not be carried on the Charles Janson and fired shots at the College. At that moment Arthur Douglas came out of the college chapel to investigate and the officer shot through the heart at five yards range. The motive was probably revenge as Arthur Douglas had remonstrated with him on behalf of girls whom the officer wanted. “Africans,” wrote Bishop Fisher, “are quite clear that he died for them.”
On 14 November 1911, the Cathedral Church of St Peter was consecrated by Thomas Fisher, Bishop of Nyasaland.
The first service of the gathering was a Solemn Eucharist of requiem for former workers.
A very large congregation filled the great nave. The sermon was preached in Chinyanja by Bishop Hine. The bishop had as chaplain Deacon Yohana Tawe, one of the earliest Christians on Likoma. Another deacon, Leonard Kangati, who had been prepared for baptism by Dr Hine in 1889, was also present. All the Yao clergy, headed by Padre Yohana Abdallah, were there, as well as Padre Augustine Ambali, who had been ordained priest with Padre Eustace Malisawa on St Thomas’s Day, 21 December 1906.
The blessing of the new library took place on the same occasion, an excellent octagonal building, put up by Albert Crabb from plans by Frank George.
Heavy rains and storms still took their toll and in March 1912 the parapet of the south transept fell with part of the wall. This was rebuilt with a safe roof by Albert Crabb before the next rains, but a year later the parapet on the south side of the Lady Chapel fell, bringing with it all the outer stone wall below.
Half way through 1913, Frank George was back again at Likoma after eighteen months’ work in the Diocese of Northern Rhodesia. He had always regarded the parapets at best as a very doubtful experiment and had built them rather under protest. The bishop now gave him a free hand to make the building safe.
The parapets were done away with; the roof was extended so as to cover the walls completely and protect them from the weather. The cathedral lost some of its exterior effect, but it was made safe and its interior beauty was unaffected.
In addition to this work, Frank George was also busy with the Chapter House, which had been included in his original design for the Cathedral and was now being built as part of the memorial to Father Douglas.
Archdeacon Frank George first went to Nyasaland in 1899 as a layman. He was a qualified architect and his first services were given in that capacity. His great monument is the Cathedral at Likoma, but he was architect and builder of many other churches, not only in the Diocese of Nyasaland but also in Northern Rhodesia and Zanzibar. In 1916, after training at Bishops’ College, Cheshunt, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Hine in England. In 1917 Bishop Fisher ordained him priest in the cathedral at Likoma which he had designed and built.
From that time onwards he worked at Liuli in Tanganyika and in 1928, after the death of Archdeacon Johnson, he became also archdeacon of Niassa. “Under him,” Canon Wilson wrote, “the work grew and grew until Christians were numbered by thousands.”
In 1933 he had so serious a breakdown in health that his life was despaired of. The devoted nursing of Ethel Hall and the skills of Dr Wigan and of Dr Nye of Livingstonia saved his life but he could no longer work in Africa.
In 1950 Bishop Frank Thorne asked Mr Wolfenden, architect at the tung plantations at Mzuzu, for his advice about two cracks in the south transept. His report was mildly reassuring. Provided there were no serious earth-tremors, the Cathedral ought to stand for a good many years yet.
The building was put to the test in February 1952 when over eight inches of rain fell in one night and there was also an earth tremor which shook the south-west tower, yet without calling for major repairs. Many other buildings at the headquarters and many houses on the island were severely damaged by the tremor or the rains.
In 1955 the grass-covered iron roof was leaking so badly that much of it had to be replaced.
Gerald Hadow, dean of the Cathedral from 1950, may have felt that he had inherited a poisoned chalice but set himself to tackle it robustly. White ants had attacked some of the purlins to which the roof sheets were nailed, so he constructed a long bath filled with pentachlorophenol into which every piece of timber being used for the roof was soaked for 24 hours.
Here is an example:
https://missiology.org.uk/pdf/e-books/anderson-morshead/history-universities-mission.pdf
There is also the book “History of Likoma Island 1800 to 2016” published in 2016.
A tower collapses – time for repairs 1962 – 63
On my first visit in 1962 there was a crash in the middle of the night and I woke to find that one corner of the smaller tower had collapsed. Fearing further falls, I asked for the tower to be roped off. This was not well received by the cathedral council who said the new bishop was despising their cathedral.
There was more trouble while I was away in March 1963. Christopher Lacey, the Vicar General, wrote: “Christopher Roderick, one of our VSOs, has gone to Likoma to help Fr Hadow. As a result of the incessant rain, earth tremors and wind, the smaller of the two towers has begun to fall in an alarming fashion. This necessitates extensive repair work which Fr Hadow cannot possibly do on his own.”
Clearly the cathedral was in big trouble and we asked for help from Ian Reeler, architect of the splendid new Lusaka Cathedral in Zambia. His report was presented to DSC by Mr J.T.Thawe, lay representative from Likoma in March 1966:
- Shorter tower: severe cracks make it dangerous. Demolish it
- Heavy buttresses at the transepts: useless. Demolish.
- Library: severe crack in the octagonal wall needs attention.
- Drainage: the ditches could not deal with water from the high ground. A wall and cement paving was needed on the north side.
- Lady Chapel: rain coming in, termites active. Overhaul the roof.
The reaction of the DSC is not recorded. Skill and money were needed, and both were in short supply. Any new resources were already committed to growth on the mainland.
It was not until two years later that demolition of both towers began, in December 1968. Ecclesia records tersely:
The demolition of the towers of Likoma Cathedral (both of which had begun to crumble) has begun and shows the towers to be in a very poor condition.
My own feelings at the time were expressed in the editorial of Ecclesia for July 1969 where I recalled that the first baptism in the gospels was in a river and the first eucharist, followed by the first ordination, in the upstairs room of a private house. I quoted Mark Gibbs in God’s Frozen People:
Buildings, clergy and theological colleges we take for granted. We cannot conceive of the Church existing without them. What did the early Church do when it did not have these things? It converted the Roman Empire.
I went on to tell of an enthusiastic young priest who suggested to his priest-in-charge a procession of witness on Good Friday with Christians of other churches to the places in the township where people gathered. His suggestion received the crushing reply: “Anglicans do not preach out of doors.” I ended: We certainly need buildings where people can meet protected from rain and sun. But if this means retreating into the safety of a church building to avoid meeting non-christians in the places where they are, then a series of carefully organised fires may be what our diocese most needs!
My hesitations about cathedrals were not prompted by the experience of Likoma, still less about the zeal Likomans showed for spreading the gospel. In Salima, Blantyre and elsewhere our church was known as Chalichi cha Likoma, the Church of Likoma.
There were times however when the Likoma dialect caused problems. In 1961 it was used in all services. Because of UMCA links with Tanganyika, theological words such as ‘sacrament’ and ‘Holy Spirit’ were Swahili words with Arabic roots and unintelligible to non-Anglicans. This did not make evangelism easier and was reversed at our first elected synod in 1962.
It was the generosity of the Presbyterian Synod of Livingstonia that made the huge task of re-roofing and rebuilding the cathedral possible. They had a large building programme and had asked the Presbyterian Church of Ireland for help. In response a young Irish builder had come from Belfast, Danny Mckee, but their work was not yet ready to start. Generously they offered his services free of charge for the next few months, which extended to fifteen months.
Ecclesia August 1971
On 24th July 1971, 50 tons of cement, steel and other building materials left Blantyre on their 300-mile journey to St Peter’s Cathedral, Likoma Island. Mr Daniel McKee hopes to arrive on the Island at the beginning of August to begin the repair work to the towers and the main structure of the cathedral.
We are very grateful to the Beit Trust (and later the Dulverton Trust) for having given K14,000 (roughly £14,000) for this work, and to the Presbyterian Church of Ireland for providing the salary for Mr McKee. The generous donation of K1,000 made by the President is to be put into the Cathedral Maintenance Fund to provide recurrent money over the years.
Ecclesia May 1972
In May 1972 Bishop Josiah Mtekateka reported briefly:
The work of rebuilding the Cathedral is going on well. The shorter cathedral tower is already finished and the tall tower half-way done.”
Ecclesia April 1974
Two years later he reported again:
Last month I went to Likoma Island to see the progress on the Cathedral repairs. I noticed that a
few places were not completed. Some timbers in the roof at the nave have been eaten by termites and need to be replaced by iron rafters. This is the only part left.“
The cathedral was rededicated on 10 October 1976, fourteen years after I witnessed the collapse of part of the smaller tower. It was my first time to visit Likoma since Josiah Mtekateka’s enthronement as Diocesan Bishop in 1971. I wanted the new diocese to know that it had its own bishop, born on the same island in the same year that the cathedral began.
Sixteen members of Texas Diocese attended, led by their Suffragan Bishop, Roger Cilley. The team included Bill Sterling, who had spent a month with Bishop Josiah in the Central Region in 1965. He was now chairman of the overseas division of Texas diocese which had been a generous supporter of the rebuilding fund.
Ecclesia November 1976
Certainly Likomans appreciated their newly rebuilt cathedral. A churchwarden reported in January 1980: “Christmas collections were over K141 (about £140) for the first time and the Cathedral now has no problems about paying our priest. We meet our quota and there are plenty of fish in the Lake.”
Ecclesia January 1978
Augustine Chande was dean of the cathedral from 1978 until his sudden death and told Ecclesia:
We had difficulties travelling to the mainland to buy wafers, so we bought the things for making them from the Catholic Sisters in Lilongwe and trained Mrs Kacholola and Mrs Chikwemba to make our own and are even supplying our brothers in Messumba. We barter wafers for firewood from Mozambique!
A brief account of the 1971 – 1976 rebuilding
Since writing the above I have come across a briefer account of the rebuilding, written at the time to a personal friend in California who died in 2008, Deaconess Esther Davis. My letter is dated 17 October 1976.
I have spent a fortnight in Lake Malawi diocese, assisting Bishop Josiah in dedicating the rebuilt cathedral.
It is an astonishing piece of work. The rebuilding was master-minded by a young Irish Presbyterian builder, Danny Mckee, who had come to Malawi to assist the Synod of Livingstonia. His personal expenses and costs for the 15 months he was on the island were paid by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland as a free gift.
With only $20,000 available for the work on Likoma Cathedral and for all the cement, steel girders, other building materials and their transport by rail and steamer to Likoma, Danny and the Likoma building team have done an unbelievable job.
They pulled down both towers to ground level after photographing all the intricate brickwork. I have no idea how many different patterns of bricks had been used. Then they put in new reinforced concrete foundations and rebuilt the two towers so carefully that only an expert could work out what is original 1903 work and what was rebuilt in 1975 and 1976.
They then stripped the entire roof off the cathedral and replaced all the chiswe-infested tie-beams and purlins with new steelwork. Other work was done on the transepts and the Lady Chapel but I know no details as I have not been on Likoma for five years.