There is a Green Hill Far Away

Lyrics

There is a green hill far away,
Outside a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell
What pains He had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.

He died that we might be forgiv'n,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heav'n,
Saved by His precious blood.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
He only could unlock the gate
Of heav'n and let us in.

O dearly, dearly has He loved,
And we must love Him too,
And trust in His redeeming blood,
And try His works to do.

History

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895) was an Irish Anglican hymnwriter who married William Alexander, an Anglican clergyman who later became Bishop of Derry and Archbishop of Armagh. She wrote this hymn in 1848 while living in Strabane, County Tyrone, as part of her influential collection Hymns for Little Children. The collection was edited by John Keble and aimed to teach the articles of the Apostles' Creed to children. Each hymn explained one phrase of the Creed in simple language; this text was based on "Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried."

Alexander was influenced by the Oxford Movement and wrote the hymn to help her Sunday School students understand Christ's crucifixion. According to tradition, she often passed a green hill while traveling from her home to Derry, which reminded her of Calvary. The original second line, "Without a city wall," uses an archaic sense of "without" meaning "outside" (from Hebrews 13:12). The hymn was first published without music in Hymns for Little Children (London: Joseph Masters, 1848), which reached its 69th edition before the century's end, with profits donated to the Derry and Raphoe Diocesan Institution for the Deaf and Dumb.

The hymn gained widespread recognition after appearing in the Appendix to the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1868), where it was paired with William Horsley's tune HORSLEY for the first time. It subsequently appeared in The English Hymnal (1906) and has been included in nearly every major hymnal since. Alexander's husband considered it among the best of her 400 hymns, and French composer Charles Gounod, who set it to music in 1871, called it "the most perfect hymn in the English language." The text appeared in seven hymns in the 1873 Church of Ireland Hymnal and eighteen in A Supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern (1889).

Sources: Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology; Hymnary.org - There Is a Green Hill Far Away; Hymnology Archive - There is a green hill far away; Wikipedia - Cecil Frances Alexander; Wikipedia - There is a green hill far away

Performance

William Horsley (1774-1858) composed the tune HORSLEY in 1844, publishing it in Twenty Four Psalm Tunes and Eight Chants (London: Addison & Hodson, 1844), twenty-four years before it was paired with Alexander's text. Horsley was an English composer and organist who served at Ely Chapel in Holborn (1794-1798), the Asylum for Female Orphans (1798-1854), Belgrave Chapel in Halkin Street (1812-1837), and the Charterhouse (1838-1858). He was a founder of the Philharmonic Society of London (later the Royal Philharmonic Society) and achieved recognition for his glees and hymn tunes. His daughter married the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The tune is set in Common Metre (8.6.8.6) and was named after its composer, a practice common in English hymnody. When the hymn appeared in the 1868 Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern, the editors retained Horsley's original four-part harmonization, which has remained largely unchanged. The tune features a gentle, stepwise melody suited to congregational singing, with a reverent character appropriate to the Passiontide text. In Anglican worship, the hymn is typically sung during Lent, particularly in Passiontide and Holy Week, and on Good Friday. It also appears in The Hymnal 1982 (#167) and Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New (#657).

In the United States, the hymn is often sung to THE GREEN HILL by George Coles Stebbins (1846-1945), composed specifically for this text in 1877 and published in Gospel Hymns No. 3 (Chicago: Biglow & Main, 1878). Stebbins worked as a gospel song writer and music director with Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey during their evangelistic campaigns. His setting uses the final stanza as a refrain and is in Common Metre Doubled (CMD: 8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6). A third alternative tune is MEDITATION by John H. Gower (1855-1922), first published in An Evening Service Book (Denver: Denver Music Publishing, 1891). For Anglican services, HORSLEY remains the preferred tune, particularly in British and Commonwealth churches. The hymn works well with unison singing or four-part harmony, and organists should use warm, sustained registration appropriate to the contemplative text.

Sources: Hymnary.org - HORSLEY; Hymnary.org - THE GREEN HILL; Wikipedia - William Horsley; Wikipedia - George Coles Stebbins; Hymnology Archive - There is a green hill far away