History of English Churches in Switzerland – Lausanne-Ouchy

History of Temple de la Croix d’Ouchy, Lausanne-Ouchy

In 1840, in collaboration with the Vaud Reformed Church, construction of the Temple de la Croix d’Ouchy — also known as the Temple des Jordils — was completed. A well known English philanthropist, William Haldimand made a generous donation of CHF 75’000.—towards the cost of the building. The new church was shared with the official Vaud Protestant parish. This arrangement seems to have been harmonious as the Anglican community remained there for the next 39 years. The English Church held two services every Sunday, one at eleven thirty and one at half past three in the afternoon — the second, Rosemary Raedler-Hacking notes, frequently disturbed by noise from the local drinking house. William Haldimand’s philanthropy in Lausanne extended well beyond the church: he helped finance the Greek Revolution, the Buanderie at the Place de la Riponne in 1850, and the foundation of the Asile des Aveugles, now the Hôpital Ophtalmique.

The only Anglican chaplaincy in the canton

The Almanach de Lausanne, the cantonal year-book, carried a section headed Culte anglican listing the Anglican chaplaincies of Vaud with the officiating clergyman’s name. In its edition for 1861 that section runs to a single line:

Ouchy — Rév. Sisson

One entry, for the whole canton. Every other English church in these pages — Vevey, Montreux, Clarens, Château-d’Œx, Leysin and the rest — was still to come, or still meeting in a hotel drawing room. Ouchy is where Anglican Vaud begins.

The same series then follows the chaplaincy across four decades. Sisson is still there in 1866, by which time a second entry has appeared for Vevey. Revd F. Pilcher holds it in 1869; Revd R. Eden in 1878 and 1880; and Revd Davies from 1893 through to 1901. One small oddity is worth recording: although the congregation moved up to Christ Church in 1878, the year-book went on calling this entry simply “Ouchy” until 1899, when it finally became “Lausanne-Ouchy”. Directories lag the lives they record.

Date of first Chaplaincy: 1816

Church dates: 1840-1878

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

Hotel:

Current Status: Anglican Services moved to Christ Church in 1878

Sources
Anglican worship in Lausanne, Rosemary Raedler.
Almanach de Lausanne, “Culte anglican”, editions of 1861, 1866, 1869, 1878, 1880, 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1901, consulted at Scriptorium, Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne (scriptorium.ch)

Further Reading
Eglise anglaise de Lausanne, Wikipedia