Saint Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore

If you’re looking for a building that has survived drama, reinvention, and a couple of near-electrocutions, Saint Andrew’s Cathedral is more than ready for its close-up. Today, it’s Singapore’s largest Anglican church and a striking Neo-Gothic landmark, instantly recognizable by its gleaming Madras chunam exterior—a kind of 19th-century “photo filter” made from polished lime and egg white that gave colonial buildings their trademark shine.

Back in 1822, Sir Stamford Raffles earmarked this patch of land for an Anglican church. Funds took their time arriving, so construction only got going in 1835.

The first version, designed by George Drumgoole Coleman, leaned heavily toward Neo-Classical elegance. So elegant, in fact, that critics accused it of looking suspiciously like a town hall—or perhaps a college that had lost its way. A spire was added in 1842 to make it feel more “churchy,” but it came without a lightning conductor. The result was two direct lightning hits in four years, after which the building was politely retired from service and demolished.

As a sequel, Governor William Butterworth commissioned a new church, this time placing the project in the hands of Colonel Ronald MacPherson. The latter took inspiration from the atmospheric ruins of Netley Abbey in Hampshire, England, producing a Gothic Revival cathedral with soaring arches and nave piers that feel like distant cousins of those medieval originals.

Step toward the apse and you’ll spot three stained-glass windows honouring key figures in Singapore's colonial history, namely: Sir Stamford Raffles in the centre, John Crawfurd on the left, and General William Butterworth on the right. The cathedral’s links to the wider Anglican world appear in its treasured artifacts—the Canterbury Stone, the Coventry Cross fashioned from salvaged cathedral nails, and even a piece of the coronation carpet used when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.

During the Japanese occupation, the cathedral transformed into an emergency hospital, and its role in Singapore’s wartime story only deepened its symbolic weight. In 1973, the building received National Monument status—an official nod to its resilience, its architectural charm, and its ability to survive lightning, war, and the occasional design critique...