St. George's Church can be found nested under the shade of majestic mahogany trees on the corner of Farquhar Street and Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling. Founded by Reverend Robert Hutchings and built between 1817 and 1818 with funds from the East India Company, St. George's Church is the oldest Anglican church in Southeast Asia. With its Grecian columns, louvred doors and pitched roof, which was added in 1864 to withstand the tropical climate, St. George's architecture reflects Anglo-Indian and Georgian Palladian influences.

Though its white paint has worn off a little, the exterior of St. George's Curch remains the same as it was before WWII. Most of the walls, porch, columns and pillars survived bombing by the Japanese, and in fact, more damage was done by looters. For seven years from 1941, the church had no roof and suffered at the hands of pillagers. Today, only the baptismal font and bishop's chair remain of the church's original fixtures. Prior to 1941, St. George's held at least 24 memorials commemorating important persons who died in the 19th century, each with it's own impressive monument and wordy inscription. One of the more interesting memorials that remains today is that of Governor Fullerton's wife, Harriet, who was known to be an exacting mistress. Fearing his servants would make good on their threat to violate Harriet's grave, the governor staged a mock funeral in a cemetery and secretly interred his wife's body in the church after dark.

St. George's lawn also hosts a rather special memorial to Captain Francis Light in a structure reminiscent of a circular Greek temple. In the inscription which was supposedly dedicated by the natives and settlers says that the good captain is hailed as a governor who “watched over their cares and interests as a father”.

Visitors Info

Visiting Hours: Services held at 8.30am & 10.30am every Sunday. On weekdays, the church is open at the discretion of the caretaker.

Admission: Free