Cathedral Church of Christ

The Cathedral Church of Christ Marina is the Anglican cathedral.  The foundation stone for the first cathedral building was laid on 29 March 1867 and the cathedral was established in 1869.  Construction of the current building was designed by architect J. Bagan Benjamin and started on 1 November 1924.  The foundation stone was laid by the Prince of Wales (1894-1972),  later Duke of Windsor, on 21 April 1925 and completed in 1946.  In 1976 the relics of Rev Dr Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c.1809-91), a former enslaved Yoruba man who became the first African bishop in the Anglican Church, were moved to the cathedral.  There is a cenotaph erected as a memorial to him.  It is popularly known as the Cathedral Church of Christ Marina and is the oldest Anglican cathedral in Nigeria.  At various points in its history, the cathedral was the seat of the Archbishop of West Africa. It is currently the seat of the Bishop of Lagos. The organ was built by Oberlinger Orgelbau.  At the beginning of the 21st century, the whole instrument was renewed by the English company Harrison & Harrison;  it consists of 64 stops on 4 manuals and a pedalboard, making it the largest organ in Nigeria.

Outside is the resting place of Dr Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809-91), first African Anglican Archbishop of West Africa, who had escaped slavery to be ordained by the Bishop of London in 1843 and went on to be Minister in the Niger Delta for 62 years, an inspiration to generations.  He was the grandfather of the nationalist, was Herbert Macaulay (1864-1946), whose memorial statue is on Broad Street.