St John’s Church

St John’s Church, the most important of Anglican Churches in British India, was constructed soon after Old Missions Church and pre-dates the Permanent Settlement Act. Although the construction of the Church from 1787 can be seen as an onset of Calcutta’s modernity, the premises of the Church itself has several of the relics from the Early Modern Period. The Church Itself was built on land given by Raja Nabo Kishen Bahadur of the Shovabazar Royal Family.

The first is the Mausoleum of Job Charnock (Calcutta’s supposed founder). He was deemed as the most important agent of the British East India Company and also the Chief Agent in Bengal.  This Mausoleum was constructed by Charnock’s son-law Charles Eyer. Charnock died in 1692 and his daughter, Mary Eyer who died in 1696-1697 both are laid side-by-side on the grounds of the Church.

The other important early-modern site is the Black Hole Memorial. The Black Hole is a contested part of history that revolves around the capturing about 200 British residents of Calcutta in a small room around the war of Plassey, leading to the death of 123 of them. The ground have 

St John’s Church and its various facets will take half a day to take-in properly.It is a popular tourist site, so the best thing to do is to reach there early.  You can combine the visit to St John’s Church with Old Missions Church as they are walking distance from each other.