English Churches in Switzerland
From the 1840s the English built churches and chapels wherever they wintered, climbed and took the cure — more than twenty of them across Switzerland, most now closed, sold, or serving another congregation. St. Peter’s, Château-d’Œx, is one of the survivors, and it holds an unusually complete record of the whole phenomenon: why they came, where they settled for the season, and what became of the buildings they left behind.
This page is the index to that record. Each church is listed under its canton, with the questions its own page answers beneath it. Every answer lives on the page it belongs to, so there is one address per subject and nothing to fall out of step; where a specific rests on a single source, that page names it.
Some of these churches are poorly documented, and a few have been demolished with little trace. If you hold photographs, records, or family connections to any of them, the parish would be glad to hear from you.
The phenomenon
Why the English came to the Alps
- Why are there English churches in the Swiss Alps?
- When did the English start visiting the Alps?
- Why did the English stop fearing the Alps?
- Why did Victorians go to Switzerland for their health?
Canton of Vaud
Aigle — St. John the Evangelist
Caux — St. Michael and All Angels
- When was the English church at Caux built?
- What are the stained glass windows at Caux?
- Who owns the English church at Caux now?
Château-d’Œx — St. Peter’s
- Why is there an English church in Château-d’Œx?
- When was St Peter’s Anglican Church in Château-d’Œx built?
- When was St Peter’s Château-d’Œx enlarged?
- Is St Peter’s Château-d’Œx still in use?
Clarens — Christ Church
- When was Christ Church, Clarens, built?
- Why is so little known about the English church at Clarens?
- When did the English church at Clarens close?
- What happened to the building?
- What was the chaplain of Clarens responsible for?
Glion — English Chapel
Lausanne — Christ Church
- When did Anglican worship begin in Lausanne?
- Who designed Christ Church, Lausanne?
- When was Christ Church, Lausanne consecrated?
- Did any members of the British royal family worship at Christ Church, Lausanne?
Lausanne-Ouchy — Temple de la Croix d’Ouchy
- What is the Temple de la Croix d’Ouchy?
- Where did Lausanne’s Anglicans worship before Christ Church was built?
Les Avants — English Chapel
- Who built the English chapel at Les Avants?
- How was the chapel at Les Avants saved from demolition?
- What is the English chapel at Les Avants called?
Les Diablerets — English Church
- When was the English church at Les Diablerets built?
- What happened to the clock in the English church at Les Diablerets?
- Who owns the English church at Les Diablerets now?
Leysin — English Chapel
- Why was there an English chapel at Leysin?
- Was there an English sanatorium at Leysin?
- When did the Anglican chaplaincy at Leysin end?
Mont-Pèlerin — English Chapel
- Did the Anglicans build the English chapel at Mont-Pèlerin?
- What happened to the English chapel at Mont-Pèlerin?
Montreux — St. John’s Anglican Church
- When did Anglican worship begin in Montreux?
- Who designed St John’s Anglican Church, Montreux?
- Is St John’s Anglican Church, Montreux still active?
- Why were there three English churches so close together at Montreux?
- How big was the congregation at St John’s, Montreux, at its height?
- Are the records of St John’s, Montreux, complete?
Vevey — All Saints
- How old is the English congregation at Vevey?
- Who designed All Saints Church, Vevey?
- When was All Saints Vevey consecrated, and who consecrated it?
- What did All Saints Vevey cost to build?
- Why are British war graves at Vevey?
- Which other churches were served from Vevey?
Villars — English Church (now the Aiglon College Chapel)
- When was the English church at Villars built?
- Who owns the English church at Villars now?
- What are the war memorials in the English church at Villars?
- What is the connection between Villars and St Peter’s Château-d’Œx?
Canton of Bern
Interlaken — English Chapel (in the monastery church)
- Where was the English chapel at Interlaken?
- Was Interlaken the first English seasonal chaplaincy in Switzerland?
- How much did the Interlaken congregation give to the society?
- What was unusual about worship at Interlaken?
- Did Thomas Cook’s first tour of Switzerland come to Interlaken?
Meiringen — English Church
- When was the English church at Meiringen built?
- Did Queen Victoria give money to the English church at Meiringen?
- What is the English church at Meiringen used for now?
- Were British soldiers interned at Meiringen during the First World War?
Mürren — English Church
- Who designed the English church at Mürren?
- Why does the English church at Mürren have no patron saint?
- Were British soldiers interned at Mürren in the First World War?
- What happened to the English church at Mürren?
- What is the connection between Mürren and alpine skiing?
Wengen — St. Bernard’s
- When was St Bernard’s Church, Wengen, built?
- Why did Wengen need an English church so late?
- Who designed St Bernard’s, Wengen?
- Who is St Bernard, the patron of the church at Wengen?
- What is Wengen’s connection with Byron?
Canton of Geneva
Geneva — Holy Trinity
- When was Holy Trinity Church, Geneva built?
- Which is the oldest Anglican chaplaincy in Switzerland?
- What is the connection between the English church in Geneva and the Geneva Bible?
- Did the Marian exiles in Geneva worship as Anglicans?
- Who designed Holy Trinity Church, Geneva?
- Why did the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel withdraw from Geneva?
Canton of Valais
Arolla — St. George’s
- Who built the English church at Arolla?
- When was St George’s, Arolla, built — 1903 or 1908?
- Who was the clergyman who died at Arolla in 1904?
- What happened to St George’s, Arolla?
Belalp — Church of the Good Shepherd
- Who built the English chapel on the Belalp?
- When was the chapel at Belalp opened and consecrated?
- Was the Belalp chapel really the most photographed church in Switzerland?
- When did Anglican worship at Belalp end?
- Who owns the Belalp chapel now?
Chandolin — English Chapel (chapelle des Daillettes)
- Why is there an English chapel at Chandolin?
- What is the chapelle des Daillettes at Chandolin?
- What happened to the English chapel at Chandolin?
- Does the English chapel at Chandolin still stand?
Zermatt — St. Peter’s
- Why is there an English church in Zermatt?
- Who is buried in the English church at Zermatt?
- When was St Peter’s Church, Zermatt built?
- Why is St Peter’s Zermatt called the parish church of the Alpine Club?
- Who paid for the English church at Zermatt?
Canton of Grisons
Pontresina — Holy Trinity
- What was Holy Trinity Church, Pontresina?
- What happened to the English church at Pontresina?
- How many English churches were built in Switzerland?
- Which famous people visited the English church at Pontresina?
Where the evidence sits
The fullest single account of one parish is the heritage of St. Peter’s, 1866–1919. The contemporary newspaper reports of the First World War internments at Château-d’Œx are published in full, and free to read, in the Château-d’Œx press archive. The parish’s own story — its consecration in 1902, the internment years, and its anniversaries — is told on the history of St. Peter’s.
If you hold information about any of these churches — photographs, records, family connections — the parish would be glad to hear from you at info(a)stpeters.ch.