Origins of the Church building – Serving the British military in Singapore St. George's Church was constructed from materials imported from
England and cost
£2,000 to build. The land was formerly used as a
nutmeg plantation and it included Mount Harriet, a 103-foot high hill on which the church now stands. The land belonged to William E. Willan and was sold in 1865. However, even before the church was built, an
ordained
minister for the garrison was appointed in 1871. The current building dates back to 1910 but there was an earlier St. George's built in 1884 near the site of the present church. Both churches were built for the
British troops quartered at Tanglin Barracks which was once the General Headquarters of the
British Far East Land Forces. After the
British forces withdrew from
Singapore in 1968, the place was used by Singapore's
Ministry of Defence as its headquarters before it moved to its new premises in
Bukit Gombak From Military to Civilian Church St. George's became a civilian church after the
British troops left
Singapore in 1971. It was
gazetted a
national monument by the
National Heritage Board of Singapore on 10 November 1978, and now serves a multinational Christian congregation in
Singapore.
Major Ivan Lyon Memorial On the outside of the church is a memorial tablet to Major
Ivan Lyon D.S.O. M.B.E., who was killed on his second commando raid on military shipping in the Singapore Harbour in October 1944. At the time of the raid,
Singapore was more than 1,000 miles inside Imperial Japanese-held territory. ed
windows of the church's east side
aisle. ==Services==