CHAPELLE VICTORIA DE GRASSE
65 avenue Victoria, 06130, Grasse, A.M.
An early postcard view
with horse & carriage |
Chapelle Victoria in 2006 |
Chapelle
Victoria in 2006 |
Chapelle Victoria 2006
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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.
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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. |
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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.
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THE GRAND HOTEL GRASSE
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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 |
Pictures - P. Riley,
Sophie Dupré - Information based on Chapelle Victoria documents
and Illustrated London News
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