During the British rule, known as 'The Church of St. John' as it was dedicated to Saint John was founded in 1844 and Nainital had just begun to flourish. You will notice from various write-ups that the British had a hand in the development of this town and since they made it their summer resort, a church was mandatory as it forms a very vital part of the social and spiritual life of any Christian.
On 23rd February 1844, the Bishop of Kolkata Rev. Fr. Daniel Wilson travelled along with a few through one of the winding, precipitous roads which is very common to all the mountainous countries as back then the roads were not so well developed. They finally arrived in Nainital and since his visit was premature and was way before the summer season had begun and for that reason there were no Europeans in town and residence were all empty, Bishop Wilson was compelled to live in a half completed shelter house, unfurnished and absolutely miserable in shape. Through the stay he developed very bad cold as he had to sleep on the cold and hard ground and fell very ill.
After the British knew about his sickness, they shifted him to Almorah [now 'Almora'] and he was bed ridden for many days till he recovered and it was finally on 8th March 1844 he was able to consecrate a small church in Almorah [already designed during his former visit] and then later visited Nainital and laid the foundation stone of this church and christened it as 'The Church of St. John in the Wilderness' owning to its surroundings which was set amidst the wilderness and solitude of the mountains. By 1846 AD this Church was erected, designed and architected in the traditional European Style with beautiful interiors and exquisite and unique Stained Glass work on all windows.
St. John's Church as people call it now in short is situated on the northern end of Mallital and about 1.5 km from the Nanda Devi Temple and close to the High Court of Uttarakhand. After the worst landslide that hit Nainital in 1880, a brass plaque was established on the altar of this Church with the names inscribed of all those innocent victims to this tragedy.
The Church of St. John is also known as one of the Oldest and Strongest building in Nainital that is still standing tall and erect against harsh weathers, rain and time especially that has begun to corrode this 163 year old Structure to a certain extent and it just exemplifies the skilled construction and architecture of the old bygone centuries. The Graveyard behind this Church buried many English and local Christians who once resided in this town and called it their own home.
