Time and history have not compromised the appearance of Holy Trinity Cathedral: the building is still very much in its original state. One change we do notice is that the roof has been raised, this operation having been carried out for climatic reasons in 1818: the pediments were altered in such a way that their sloping cornices are now higher than they were when the church was first built. The bell tower underlying the steeple is thus proportionately less tall.

Sober, even austere, the building conceived by Hall and Robe is in the shape of a parallelepiped. The gables of its two-sided roof top both the front and back façades with pediments, decorated simply with oval-shaped round windows – these areas had been originally designed as cartouches bearing the royal coat of arms. The British lineage of the church’s thoroughly classical composition and the motifs chosen architecturally both stand out: beneath its tall steeple, which really asserts the cathedral’s presence, the building, with its rectangular design and the pared-down moulding of its façades, stands in sharp contrast to cathedrals designed according to the model of the Latin Cross and to the traditional basilical bulk of typical Roman Catholic churches.

The lateral façades of the cathedral reveal its interior storey design: the windows, in two rows, blend harmoniously with the north and south elevations, whose arrangement they modulate without the help of any other “prop”. The eastern and the western façades have been more elaborately “stage-managed”: built on a base which the four front steps cut across, the cathedral welcomes its new arrivals, as well as those visiting Place d’Armes, with an architectural presence commensurate with its high status. It was François Baillargé who actually delivered to the stone cutters the wooden models of the capitals, cartouches and coats of arms designed for the cathedral’s façade.

On the main façade, we can recognize the exact proportion and moulding of the Ionic order, as prescribed by those Renaissance architectural treatises from which Major Robe proudly asserted his borrowings. In its many and varied aspects, from the wide pediment supporting archways and pilasters to the tiniest detail of the modillions of the cornice, from the exquisite volutes of the capitals to the Palladian window of the apse – this arched window that frames, on one side and on the other, two bays of reduced dimensions – the building appeared in 1804 as a worthy representative of urban civilization. But adherence to classical rules was limited, here as elsewhere, by the constraints of the colonial context; since stones of the appropriate dimensions were in short supply in Lower Canada, the cathedral’s far-from-outstanding pilasters are pale imitations of the massive columns that normally should make up a portico. In the same vein, the wall facings, done in stone from Ange-Gardien, are immediately seen as little more than imitations of freestone, the overall effect being created through the use of ribboned, false-joints placed on the coat of plaster; regular blocks of more costly freestone, extracted from the quarries of Neuville, were reserved for more ornamental parts of the church (pilasters, archways, embrasures, tie-beams and the like).

We are forever astonished by the inventiveness reflected in the cathedral’s design. The architects offered an original composition, a brand-new piece of work, to the people of Lower Canada: references made to several models and borrowings elaborated according to classical theory were indeed filtered by creative choices. Major Robe wrote with great pride: “I myself prepared the detailed drawings of its various aspects”; to say the least, the very costly structure – 30,000 British pounds instead of the 4,900 pounds initially anticipated – has proven a worthy correlative to the ambition of its inventors.

Before entering the building, it may be well to recall that the Cathedral was erected under letters patent, issued by the Crown on Nov. 11, 1799, the following being appoint¬ed Commissioners, The Lord Bishop, Dr. Jacob Mountain, William Osgoode, Chief Justice of Lower Canada, Sir George Pownall, Kt., the Rev. J. Salter Mountain, Rector of the parish, and Jonathan Sewell, the Attorney General. Matthew Bell Esq. was appointed treasurer of the Com¬mission. The necessary funds were paid from time to time on estimates, furnished by the Commission, in sums of £300. The money came through the Commissariat Depart¬ment. Notwithstanding the most rigorous economy, the costs far exceeded the estimates, and the Bishop had to make repeated applications for further advances. The whole correspondence is preserved in the Cathedral Archives. The applications seem to be couched in terms of increasing politeness. By August 1804 the building was ready for Consecration. It had cost $ 80,000.

Let us now pass to the interior. If from some points of view, the exterior is disappointing, the interior is a pleasant surprise. Look at it. See its goodly proportions. Notice the white pillars. See the blaze of glory high up over the apse. Notice the four Hebrew letters, the ‘Tetragrammaton’. They stand for the sacred Name of God which no pious Jew will ever pronounce. Now listen to what the architecture is saying. “‘This is God’s House. Here God has come down to dwell with men. You are coming into His Presence. ‘Put off thy shoes from off thy feet. The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.’” The pointed arch of Gothic Architecture leads the eye from earth to heaven. The rounded vault and the perfect proportions of the Classical Style tell you that God has come down to earth. ‘His delights are with the sons of men.’

Having prayed and worshipped, let us listen to what Captain Robe has to tell us about his building, and the men who helped him build it. The following is taken from his Description of the Cathedral:

‘The general plan of the Church was given by Captain Hall of the Royal Artillery, the detailed plans of the several parts were drawn by myself. The designs within the Church are all my own, as well as the construction of the roof, although throughout the work I had continually the aid of Capt. Hall’s judgement and good taste.
The roof and galleries are connected with the pillars by strong screw-bolts and iron straps and let well into the walls. The proportions of the main columns and entabla¬tures are from Palladio, as correctly followed as wood¬work would admit. The whole designs within the church are of the ancient Ionic order, but from the proportions of different approved masters according to their situation. The galleries with the pillars under the organ are from Alberti’s proportions, the volutes formed in his manner, and the only deviation from him is the dentel added to the cornice, Alberti giving two plain faciae. The throne is a continuation of the same design but having its columns fluted and its volutes with a third turn. The east window is the Ionic of Vitruvius according to Vignola, the shafts having a small addition of length to suit the opening. The fret-work of the arch is my own, and is in imitation of ancient stucco work, the idea was taken from the common mode of ceiling rooms in Quebec with board and batten, which, I thought, if crossed diagonally, might have a good effect.’

The Very Rev’d Alfred H. Crowfoot (Dean of Quebec, 1927-1947) provided a lasting contribution to our appreciation of the Cathedral with the publication of The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Quebec: A Perambulation, 1947 (out of print). The Dean here takes the liberty of providing selections from the text of Dean Crowfoot’s “perambulation” as a guide for cyber-visitors to the cathedral:

The visitor, as he enters the Cathedral Close, steps from 17th century New France into 18th century England. Many will agree with J. M. Donald in Quebec Patchwork that ‘the Anglican Cathedral is so utterly Georgian in feeling and atmosphere, so perfectly retaining the well-bred Episcopalianism of its day, that its classical austerity is soothing, after the baroque splendours of the more colourful churches.’ There is a reason for this austerity. ‘The general dimensions of this Church’ writes Capt. Robe, who super-intended its erection, ‘were in great measure taken from those of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, (James Gibbs’ master¬piece in Trafalgar Square, London), but the state of materials and workmanship in Canada made a plain design necessary.’

The wrought iron gates and railings were erected in 1818. Many of the older trees date from 1820. A Manitoba Maple toward the north of the steps was planted by the late Primate, Archbishop Derwyn Owen in 1938. In the North-East corner of the Close there stood for many years ‘Champlain’s Elm’. Here, according to legend the Founder of Quebec smoked many a pipe of peace with the Indians. ‘The historic associations of this tree’, writes Canon Kelley, ‘were regarded by the devout French Canadian residents of long ago with a feeling amounting almost to veneration.’ History records the fact that the Festival of Féte-Dieu or Corpus Christi was celebrated with more than usual devotion in Quebec in the year 1646.The procession composed of the Bishop, with several Jesuit missionaries, together with Governor Montmagny and staff, as well as a few civilised Indians and a small number of white settlers, halted near “the Tree” when the Host was saluted by a salvo of artillery.

One of the trunks of the cherished relic was blown down in 1845, but without doing any damage to adjoining property, as it fell in the churchyard, the girth of the tree then was 14 ft. Un-fortunately in the following year another portion of the tree was blown down and notwithstanding the care and attention of the Church authorities to preserve this venerable “Father of the Forest”, not a trace of it is to be found today. The Bishop’s Throne, to the right (south side) of the Sanctuary, is made from the wood of this old tree. It bears the following inscription:

This chair is made from the wood of an old elm tree which stood in the Cathedral yard and was blown down in 1846. Tradition says that Champlain pitched his tent under it. It is for the Bishop of Quebec and his successors.