Jonathan Duncan was in charge of brick-making operations. When building started in November 1888, he thought he had made sufficient bricks to see the building through. He went home on holiday. On return, he was amazed to find that there were neither bricks at the building site, nor at the brick field. He was told that all bricks he made were sunk on the foundation.
- (it is reported that there are as many bricks underground in the foundation of the church as there are in the visible superstructure). John McIlwain succeeded Jonathan Duncan in the supply of bricks for the project. McIlwain saw 40 years of service at Blantyre Mission and died there. (Malawians called him ‘Ngoloweka’ because of the work suit that he used to put on).
- David Clement Scott made all the brick moulds of the various shapes of bricks we see in the building. These moulds were cut and carved by David Clement Scott himself assisted by his brother Dr. William Affleck Scott whose artist hand is to be seen in the finer moulds such as the ‘oak leaf’, and the ‘pine-apple’. It was pure invention and unprecedented experiment as far as ever
- There are in all 81 types of bricks in different shapes and sizes and one stone – keystone
- The keystone was the work of David Buchanan of Buchanan Brothers, a trained stone mason, who helped Scott with the building until November 1889 when he left to tend to his work.Mr. Buchanan’s aid was invaluable in giving their first lesson in bricklaying to the African builders, none of whom had ever handled a trowel before.
- No record was kept of the total number of bricks used on the structure.
- The care taken by the brick makers is evident today in the structure, as it now stands, which after now more than 125 years of tropical rain and sun shows few traces of weathering.
- David Clement Scott, the Architect and Builder of the Cathedral had no plans on paper or previous knowledge of architecture or building construction. The building grew in his mind, and the outward structure followed the inward vision.
- All the building materials were procured and prepared on the spot. Bricks were made from clay from ant hills in the near vicinity, water being carried from the Nasolo Stream. The foundation was dug in 1888 and there was no ceremony of laying the foundation stone. One Saturday afternoon when the bricks in the chancel were laid, the members of staff gathered together within the foundations and each laid a brick.
- Equal care was given to the apse. This Scott himself considered to be the most difficult part of the whole structure. The result as we see it today was not the first nor the second attempt that was made before the architect was satisfied with his work.
- There is no dull back, the whole being so managed as to present frontage on every side. Each detail was affected on the spot in brick without clay or mortar before the bricks were actually laid (no plans were drawn).
- The outer shell of the Cathedral as we see it today was what it was on 10th May 1891, but the inside was all rough. The dedication of the church on 10th May 1891, was a great event in the history of Blantyre and of Malawi (then Nyasaland), in fact, of Central Africa. This was the first permanent Christian church erected for worship of God between Zambezi and the Nile. The occasion was attended by Missionaries, Pioneers in Agriculture, Trade and Commerce, Headmen of note in the villages around, and many African-heathen and Christian alike – several of them builders of it, taught for the first time to use the trowel and the level by Clement Scott himself – all met to join in dedicating to the glory and worship of God the work of their hands.
- Many rumours circulated about the purpose of this unusual building when the church was nearing completion. Some thought it was to be a house for the head of the mission or a house for some new European coming up the River. It was thought by many that some people would be sacrificed at the opening of the church. In fact, the Chiradzulu people imagined that the head of the mission, after inviting all his friends together, would hang them from the rafters of the building. However, when the dedication was held, it turned out to be much different from what was anticipated.
- The interior of the Cathedral on 10th May, 1891 was not as we see it today. The walls including the pillars of the nave were all plastered. The walls were painted in red while the pillars in dark green (in 1894). Much of what we see today came about in 1907. Dr. David Clement Scott was not spared to see his dream “house of God” in its present splendour. He retired in 1898 and later died in 1907 in Kenya. In 1907, to commemorate the life and work of Scott, Dr. Alexander Hetherwick with his team set themselves to decorate the interior of the Cathedral in its present state as follows:-
- The original bamboo ceiling in the barrel roof was removed and replaced by rough saw cedar boards. These were later on replaced by mahogany parels from timber cut on the banks of Nasolo stream. The parels are the works of John McIlwain and Armitage.
STAIN GLASSES : These were gifts from various groups pf people in memory of some of the pioneers of the mission
- Of the five light windows in the western gable of the nave,(Main entrance) the central light depicts the Archangel Michael, erected in memory of Dr. William A. Scott, Mission Doctor and brother to David Clement Scott. He died in 1896. The two on either side above represent the Angels Gabriel and Raphael and were erected by the European Community in commemoration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.