Kau Yan Church, Sai Ying Pun

This is the side entrance of Kau Yan Church, facing Western Street. The Basel Mission built the first church of Hakka congregation at the present site in 1861 with a school and offices. In 1924 the Tsung Tsin Mission was established to take over the church which became independent in 1927. As a condition for independence, the church had to be rebuilt in 1932 and renamed Kau Yan Church. It was designed by Palmer & Turner Architects in concrete and stone, and in the Gothic Revival Style with pointed arches and applied buttresses. The church is oriented north south with entrance on High Street. The building cascades down the slope with a tower over the northern end of the altar. The adjoining school and residential block site was redeveloped first in 1958 and then in 1995.