Cathedral Deanery - Shanghai - 1929
Hankow Rd, International Settlement.
Raised in the grounds of the adjacent Holy Trinity Cathedral (see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/13604654953/ ), this handsome brown brick manse accommodated the residence and offices of the Dean, the most senior Anglican clergyman in Shanghai. I would also imagine that the Deanery provided accommodation for visiting senior Anglican clergy from overseas or on retreat from the Chinese interior. The number of chimneys give an indication of the number of rooms (as well as Shanghai's brutal winters) and it would have provided the backdrop for many Church-based social occasions, wedding receptions and tea parties.
It was built at the same time as the Cathedral School (see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/13604634305/ ) located directly across the lawn and it uses the same brown bricks and rendered quoining. The architects were the local-based firm of Messrs Palmer & Turner.
It is now the Bund Garden Hotel, one of Shanghai's best-kept secrets; a gem of a small boutique hotel with period furnishings, mantelpieces and interiors; it is a world away from the identical, modern branding corporate hotels. The staff don't speak English, there's no international buffet breakfast, no membership privileges, no lift, no fawning service (rather an awkward grin if one disturbs the staff playing on their phones). But the historic building still provides an oasis of calm, just a short walk away from the Bund and Nanjing Road.
Cathedral Deanery - Shanghai - 1929
Hankow Rd, International Settlement.
Raised in the grounds of the adjacent Holy Trinity Cathedral (see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/13604654953/ ), this handsome brown brick manse accommodated the residence and offices of the Dean, the most senior Anglican clergyman in Shanghai. I would also imagine that the Deanery provided accommodation for visiting senior Anglican clergy from overseas or on retreat from the Chinese interior. The number of chimneys give an indication of the number of rooms (as well as Shanghai's brutal winters) and it would have provided the backdrop for many Church-based social occasions, wedding receptions and tea parties.
It was built at the same time as the Cathedral School (see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/13604634305/ ) located directly across the lawn and it uses the same brown bricks and rendered quoining. The architects were the local-based firm of Messrs Palmer & Turner.
It is now the Bund Garden Hotel, one of Shanghai's best-kept secrets; a gem of a small boutique hotel with period furnishings, mantelpieces and interiors; it is a world away from the identical, modern branding corporate hotels. The staff don't speak English, there's no international buffet breakfast, no membership privileges, no lift, no fawning service (rather an awkward grin if one disturbs the staff playing on their phones). But the historic building still provides an oasis of calm, just a short walk away from the Bund and Nanjing Road.