About Us

THE BUILDING OF ST. JOHN’S CHURCH

Our church traces its origins back to 1877 when it was ordained on 24 May. The land on which the church was built had earlier (1875) been sold by the hotelier developer, Ami Chessex, as a way to cater for the spiritual needs of his fast-growing English language clientele. When the first stone was laid on 28 September 1875, it was thanks to the fundraising which had been started three years earlier. Later the same year, in October, the first notes were played on our church organ.

The church is situated on the narrow piece of land which is nestled between the flat calm of Lac Léman and the steep slopes which ascend to Glion. Churches were built all over the area to allow tourists longer stays. Between 1875-1910, these now included a German church, a Scottish chapel, three Catholic churches as well as five Anglican churches, St.John’s being the first.

Like its organ, St.John's was actually the result of many years of additions and adaptations. The plans were brought out from England and, not surprisingly, criticized; it was mainly the roof construction that was in question, on both ‘constructional and accoustic ‘ grounds.

One man was really the real source of energy and commitment to the project. The Reverend Philip Menzies Sankey (1830-1909). The baptismal font owes its existence to Sankey; he paid for a number of the building project initiatives personally. In 1885 – seeing that his congregation was rapidly growing – he asked the architect, Richard Pullan (1825-1888), to create the design for the apse. When the Walcker organ was moved down from the entrance Balcony, he created the new chancel space in which it was accommodated. The choir has beed moved; the organ followed. Before he died in 1888, he was able to oversea the enlargement of the Chapel which was inaugurated in October 1885 and the new marble floor installed in the apse.

Outside of the church, Sankey also had an annexe built to serve as the English Library. Known as St.John’s House, it is now the chaplain's home.

Between 1894-1897 a completely new side knave was built incorporating a new porch entrance. Additional space had become an urgent necessity as 1888 saw the completion of the nearby Grand Hotel. The new addition was inaugurated in the presence of the Bishop of London in March 1897.

By the time Sankey retired most of the major works had been completed but it’s worth noting that the building even had electricity. What came after were the stained glass windows in the transept in 1905, Goll’s work on the organ (see below) and during the opening years of the Great War (1914-1915) the decoration of the Lady Chapel) and in 1928 the enlargement of the apse.

THE RESTORATION OF ST. JOHN’S

In 2002 the building was nominated as a historical monument and a new chapter in its life opened: renovation and restoration under the careful guiding eye of the church’s architect, Jean Niccolier and the St. John’s Restoration Association.

Water damage was slowly destroying the walls and nearly destroyed one of the priceless artworks whose sale eventually paid for much of the work. Andrea Previtali’s Madonna and child was sold at Sotheby’s and the proceeds used to set up an Endowment Fund for the Church and to fund the vital work of the St.John’s Restoration Fund.

THE ORGAN AT ST. JOHN’S - A 150 YEAR JOURNEY OF CHANGE

St.John’s boast an organ that is soon to reach an important anniversary: its 150 year birthday. Built, restored, renovated and updated over more than a century by a unique combination German, Swiss and English organ makers, it is about to embark on a new journey where it will be rebuilt and parts relocated to bring back its full majestic presence to the church. The Lausanne firm of Gruaz undertook a major overhaul in 1965 and twenty-five years later, in 1991, the Villars-le-Comte firm of Daniel Bulloz installed a new blower and added some electrification to the Lady Chapel.

After another ten years, an English organist based in Lausanne, David Elliot, came to our rescue in 2001 and did a thorough overhaul.

In the intervening years It was more and more felt that some many additions, changes and jerry-rigging had been carried out over the years that the organ was increasingly underperforming.

St.Johns Restoration Association is now working closely with the esteemed French firm of Michel Jurine to do a total overhaul and rebuild of our organ. The work will take over two years but the outcome will restore our organ to its former glory and much more. Where new technologies can add more synchronisation, make ongoing maintenance easier and increase the timing reliability, these will be used but over.riding philosophy of the work will be to restore the organ to what it was meant to be, not to create something entirely novel.

As had been the case when the organ was built, the base pedal pipes will be relocated back to the gallery above the church entrance, restoring a richer surrounding resonance for the congregation.

This will allow far better placement of the mechanisms behind the choir allowing for easier access and maintenance and, above all, for the sound to travel more freely from what was a highly constricted zone.

The Organ at St John’s is a unique piece of acoustic engineering, the outcome of 150 years of work by German, British and Swiss organ makers.

It started in 1877 when, in October, the first first notes were played on the newly installed organ. The origional installation was carried out by the German company,

Wackler from The work that this Ludwigsburg company aéready done in Switzerland was already well known and included the Fraumünster in Zürich and organs at Lausanne’s St François, in Fleurier, Saint Croix and Le Sentier.

Ten years later, in 1885, an English company from London intervened. The William Hill Company had installed some of the largest organs in England (for example in Birmingham’s Town Hall) but also in the new colonies where William Hill organs appeared in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney

Now the Church turned to the great Swiss organ companies closer by: In 1906, Goll & Cie from Luzern rebuilt the organ and installed a new console

The next three interventions were also by Swiss companies: in 1923, the Geneva firm of Tschanun replaced the organ’s water motor with an electrically driven one.

In May 2027, the church of St John’s Territet will be celebrating it’s 150th anniversary.