The Building
The first building, a wooden structure, was built in 1857 at a cost of $5,500 and consecrated in 1864 by Bishop Horatio Potter. This structure was torn down in 1908, and a new stone building was designed by Henry Vaughan (1845-1917), architect of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. and the designer of the Pulpit and of 3 Chapels of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, the Mother Church of the Diocese of New York. The Mediator may be Vaughan's only church design in the United States with internal buttresses. Construction was completed in 1914, but the new church was not consecrated until 1927, by William T. Manning, the tenth Bishop of New York, whose beauty and grandeur led him to dub it the "Little Cathedral of the Bronx". Although the southern portions of Westchester County were annexed by the City of New York in 1873, the descriptive official title of the church was inaccurate for almost fifty years. It was not until April 28, 1921, that Mr. Harry Holbert, on motion of the Vestry undertook legal action which resulted in a court order that authorized the change of name to Church of the Mediator, Kingsbridge, in the City of New York.
We have three different artistic styles of stained glass windows: Tiffany windows in the Chapel, geometric and medallion style in the Campbell and six Nave windows and the medieval style windows in the crossing, the Soldiers and Sailors window, the Clerestory windows and the Rose window. They were originally designed for us and made by C.E. Kempe & Company of London. Our George Tinworth Terra Cottas over the main Altar and the Chapel Altar are the only ones in the United States. |