History of English Churches in Switzerland – Caux

History of St. Michael and All Angels, Caux

Caux was first mentioned in the minutes of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel on 24 May 1881; services were held in the salons of the hotels, and in November 1891 Caux was entered on the list of SPG chaplaincies, served by the chaplains who came up from Montreux-Territet.

A circular of 1903, probably written by the chaplain at Territet, the Revd Philip Menzies Sankey, made the case for a building of its own: “Caux is becoming such an establishment for English and American visitors, that the absence of an English church is a conspicuous want of the life here… At present the temporary chapel holds barely 100 people and is not sufficiently set apart to secure quiet during the services.” The proposed church was to seat 200 and to cost 25,000 Swiss francs.

That temporary chapel can be seen at work two years earlier, and on a considerable occasion. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, and the Feuille d’avis de Montreux of 1 February reported, among the arrangements the English colony was making all along the lake: “Un service solennel a été célébré avant-hier dans la chapelle anglaise du Grand Hôtel de Caux.” The chapel in the hotel was substantial enough to hold a solemn memorial service for the Queen — and it was one of three English churches on this shore marking her death that week, alongside Christ Church at Clarens and St John’s at Territet.

The money was raised and the church was built in 1905. It was dedicated on 1 February 1906 to St Michael and All Angels, the English chaplain at the time being the Venerable Andrew N. W. Spans, Archdeacon. The Church has beautiful stained glass windows which form a series illustrative of the ministry of angels. They were, except one, a gift from Mr Herbert Edgar Reid. The windows were made in 1906 by Messrs AL Moore and Sons, one of the best-known artisans of that time. The large oak altar in neogothic style, with its four angels holding up the Altar table probably made by a Belgian artist, is another valuable piece of the church. St Michael and All Angels remained closed during World War I. Large scale. repair work had to be done. After the war, Caux was no longer a place of attraction for Anglo-Saxon tourists. The congregation gradually vanished and the church remained closed. The question of selling the church arose in 1934, and in 1944 the building and property were handed over to the Swiss Protestant congregation in Montreux, with the right of use reserved for Anglicans. On 25 September 1944 the Montreux congregation formed an association whose first and most urgent task was the restoration of the church, at a cost of 27,000 Swiss francs.

It was money well spent. Touring Switzerland in 1949, the European Secretary of the SPG reported: “The Church is in beautiful condition, used regularly. It is quite the most beautiful of the English churches I visited.” St Michael and All Angels celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1981, and the church has remained at the disposal of Anglicans during the season.

This account follows Paul Schniewind’s Anglicans in Switzerland, Past and Present.

Date of first Chaplaincy: 1891

Church dates: 1905-1944

Patron: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG)

Hotel: Caux Palace

Current Status: Owned by Swiss Reform Church

Sources
Anglicans in Switzerland Past and Present, Paul Schniewind
Feuille d’avis de Montreux, 1 February 1901, consulted at Scriptorium, Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne (scriptorium.ch)

Further Reading
La chapelle de Caux: Histoire du lieu

Caux-Palace – Wikipedia