The English in the Alps — questions answered
St. Peter’s holds an unusually complete record of the English in the Alps: why they came, where they settled for the season, and what became of the churches they built. This page indexes the questions that record can answer, and points each one at the page that holds the evidence.
Every answer is on the page it belongs to, so there is one address per subject and nothing to fall out of step. Where a specific comes from a single source, the page names that source in the text.
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?
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
- When did Anglican worship begin in Montreux?
- Who designed St John’s Anglican Church, Montreux?
- Is St John’s Anglican Church, Montreux still active?
Canton of Bern
Meiringen — English Church
- 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?
Where the evidence sits
The fullest single account 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. A list of the Anglican churches and chapels built in Switzerland is kept on the Canton of Vaud index.
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.