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| View of the Chapel (right) from the sunken courtyard at CHIJMES. |
This complex of convent buildings has a
Gothic-style chapel.
It was used as a Catholic convent for 132 years, with Caldwell House
constructed in 1840–1841 and the chapel in 1904. The chapel, now a
multi-purpose hall, is known as CHIJMES Hall (赞美礼堂), and Caldwell House,
now an
art gallery, have both been gazetted as
national monuments. The complex has been restored for
commercial purposes as a
dining,
shopping and
entertainment centre with ethnic
restaurants, shops and a
function hall, providing a backdrop for
musicals,
recitals,
theatrical performances and
weddings.
In October 1852, four
French nuns arrived in
Penang after having travelled overland from their native country in
caravans.
Reverend Mother
Mathilde Raclot, leader of this group, was to become a key personality
in the early history of the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus on Victoria
Street.
On 2 February 1854, the nuns sailed to Singapore from Penang on a mission to build a school for girls,
now known as
CHIJ Secondary Toa Payoh. On 5 February 1854, they reached the island's shores and took up residence at the first convent quarters, the now
gazetted Caldwell House.
The nuns began taking in pupils only ten days after moving in,
establishing the first CHIJ school in Singapore. Reverend Mother
Mathilde staffed her school with sisters from the parent Society, the
Institute of the Charitable Schools of the Holy Infant Jesus of Saint
Maur. She dedicated 20 years of her life turning the convent into a
school, an
orphanage and
refuge
for women. Two classes were conducted, one for fee-paying students and
another for orphans and the poor. Slowly, the nuns managed to restore
the house into a simple but
austere residence.
The first chapel of the Convent, which had been built around 1850,
was in such a bad condition that it was necessary to build a new one. At
the end of the 19th century, the Sisters started
fund-raising by various means for the new chapel. The old one was becoming so dangerous that the Sisters decided to celebrate
mass in Caldwell House.
Father Beurel acquired all the nine lots of land between Victoria Street and
North Bridge Road, originally belonging to the
Raffles Institution, that would constitute the entire convent complex. He presented them all to Reverend Mother Mathilde.
After being granted land in 1849 for the formation of Saint Joseph's Institution, Father Charles Benedict Nain, a priest at
Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul,
tried his luck once more for the building of a school for girls. He was
refused but, undaunted and after returning re-inspired from his voyage
to
France
in 1852, he was engaged as an architect for the construction of the
chapel at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus and, on behalf of the
Roman Catholic community, was in charge at the same time of the
construction of the extension of the Saint Joseph Institution. The
construction of the chapel started in 1901 and it was completed by 1904.
Father Nain was highly involved in the worksite. He is the author of
all the fine architectural details found in the chapel.
Much of the knowledge about the daily activities of the convent comes from seven volumes of
diaries that were meticulously kept by convent
scribes. These diaries cover over a hundred years of convent history, from 1851 to 1971; they are handwritten in
French and entitled
Annales de Singapour.
From their observations, it is known that life within the convent walls
was anything but sedate. Apart from daily chores, the nuns also had to
organise and attend
mass,
grade papers, maintain the buildings and the grounds as well as
raise money to support their activities.
Saint Nicholas Girls' School was established in 1933. The school first held classes in the four old
bungalows
which formed the Hotel Van Wijk of the 1890s. It later moved into its
new premises at the town convent in 1949 when the school was
incorporated in the convent grounds. The school has since relocated to
Ang Mo Kio in 1985.
The last
religious service was held in the chapel on 3 November 1983, after which the chapel was
deconsecrated and the town convent was closed. Careful
restoration work has preserved much of the original structure of the convent and the chapel. After almost five and a half years of
conservation
and construction work, what was once the Convent of the Holy Infant
Jesus and the seat of education for generations of Singapore girls, has
been converted into a plaza of theme
retail and
food and beverage outlets interspersed with ample outdoor spaces and
courtyards,
cloistered walls and long, covered walkways. This haven in the city hub of Singapore, now known as CHIJMES, is a
S$100 million project unmatched for its location and unique ambiance. It won a Merit Award in the
UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2002.
The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus Chapel and Caldwell House were gazetted as a
national monument on 26 October 1990.
The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus is distinctive for being an
architecturally self-contained city block in Singapore. It contains
groups of buildings of different styles and periods in order to maintain
a diversity in
aesthetics. They are formed around
courtyards and other expansive spaces,
landscaped and enclosed with walls which scale with its urban surroundings.
George Drumgoole Coleman's house built in 1840–1841 for H.C. Caldwell, a
magistrate's
clerk, is the oldest building in this
enclave,
which also includes the Gothic chapel and Saint Nicholas Girls' School
buildings. It was in the Caldwell House that the nuns did their
sewing, reading and writing for so many years in the semicircular upstairs room whilst the first storey served as a
parlour and visitors' room. The early Gothic style chapel has finely detailed works, such as the
plasterwork, the wall
frescoes and
stained glass panels.
The grand
Anglo-French
Gothic chapel was established with the support of the Catholic
community in Singapore and beyond. Designed by Father Nain, the chapel
is one of the most elaborate
places of worship ever built in Singapore. The chapel was completed in 1904 and consecrated the following year.
The various buildings are related by design with the intent to form
exterior spaces which would be pleasing for its users, and were used for
church school activities until November 1983 when the school vacated
the premises. The spaces contained within the whole block have been
adapted for
public use, and form one of the major buildings in the Central Area.
