An early postcard view with horse & carriage

Chapelle Victoria in 2006

Chapelle Victoria in 2006

Chapelle Victoria 2006

Queen Victoria's window at the rear and hard to see from outside!

Chapelle Victoria in 2006

In 1890, a group of British residents from the Grasse area purchased a parcel of land on the outskirts of Grasse with the aim of raising a church. The group was known as la Societe Civile Saint John's Church. The church building was designed by W. & G. Audsley and was their only project outside the U.K. and the U.S.A. George Ashdown Audsley was a pipe organ designer, architect and author. It was constructed from a mixture of brick, timber and tiles. At about this time there were approximately 20,000 British residents in the area around Cannes and a total of four English churches and one Scottish Presbyterian were built. There was a great cultural bond between Britiain and the Riviera at the end of the 19th century.

Construction was rapid and the church was open by 1891.During the winter of that year Queen Victoria together with about 50 friends & courtiers stayed in Grasse. An old friend, Alice de Rothschild, lived nearby on the hillside overlooking the area. On Friday 23rd March 1891, Good Friday, the Queen attended a service at the new church. On her return to England she offered to donate a stained glass window to the building, which has recently been repaired and restored. The window carries the inscription 'To the glory of God and in remembrance of her visit, Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, 1891'. From then on the church became known as the Chapelle Victoria.

The Anglican Church is within walking distance of Winifred's first home at 'The Domaine' and she would have been a worshipper. After the collapse of the £ in the 1930's English and American visitors were scarce and the region suffered considerably. At Christmas, visitors and residents were so scarce that those who were there could not afford to open the English Church as it was supported by voluntary contributions. The expenses and stipend of the Chaplain, (which he seldom saw as he nobly paid the church expenses first), the organist's fees, the cost of altar flowers and the cleaning and heating were all very costly with the franc then at 74 to the £. A large room at the Grand Hotel in Grasse was transformed into a temporary chapel and here the Chaplain held services during the season for the handful of English including Winifred.

In 1907 the church became the property of the 'United Society for the Propagation of Faith'.The church continued to be used for worship by the Anglicans of Grasse, who, in 1945 placed it at the disposal of the Reform Church. This situation was formalized in 1970 when the 'United Society for the Propagation of Faith' made a gift of the church to UNACERF (National Union of Cultural Associations of the Reformed Church of France).

In 1997 much work was carried out on the building to consolidate it and restoration, external and internal, continued until 2005 in order to safeguard this place of life and faith.

For further information contact:
Association Des Amis De La Chapelle Victoria De Grasse
1, Traverse Victoria, 06130, Grasse

The church has an excellent web site, click here to visit.

THE GRAND HOTEL GRASSE

Queen Victoria in avenue Victoria, Grasse
in a photograph by F. Busin 1891

Road name near the former Grand Hotel

The plaque commemorates Queen Victoria's stay in 1891

The former Grand Hotel Grasse - now The Grand Palais Residences

The former Grand Hotel Grasse - rear view in 2007

Queen Victoria in her study in The Grand Hotel  1891

Queen Victoria's private drawing room in The Grand Hotel 1891

The Grasse Carnival outside the hotel during the visit in 1891

Birthday party fireworks for Princess Beatrice during the stay in 1891