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The Parish Church is named after The Blessed Virgin Mary, who demonstrated unequalled bravery when she willing accepted God’s call to bear His son, Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Mary’s respond and obedience teach and remind us that God calls ordinary men and women to participate in extra ordinary ways to advance His Kingdom. Like Mary, our response should be “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be according to your word.”

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The church’s status was up graded to a Pro Cathedral at the Fiftieth session of the Synod in the Diocese of the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba. In the Anglican tradition, a Pro-Cathedral is a church so named by a Diocesan Bishop. Such a church is in under the governance of the Vestry and the Incumbent. It is used as a Cathedral for diocesan purposes, but without the formation of a legal or canonical Cathedral organization, and devoid of a Cathedral Chapter. As such, a Pro-Cathedral is not the official Cathedral of the diocese. The Cathedral of The Diocese in the North Eastern Caribbean and Aruba is The Cathedral of St. John, the Divine in Antigua.

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This parish church was designated as a Pro-Cathedral as part of the re-structuring of the diocese.  More importantly, it was a means of recognizing the sterling contribution which clergy who hail from this parish, have made to the ministry and mission of the diocese. Clergy from this church include the present Bishop of the diocese, The Rt. Rev. L. Errol Brooks, Canon Joseph Hennis, the first Anguillian to be ordained an Anglican priest, Canon Bernard Hodge, (deceased) Canon Emerson Richardson, Archdeacon Valentine Hodge (Emeritus), Archdeacon Franklyn Reid, The Rt. Rev. Ambrose Gumbs, Bishop of the Virgin Islands, Rev’d Stafford Hodge, Rev’d Menes Hodge, Rev’d Irad Hodge and Rev’d Reginal Hodge.

 

It is believed that the Anglican Church in Anguilla was established during the second half of the seventeenth century, since the advent of the Church of England in the Caribbean was synonymous with English settlement of the colonies seized from the Spaniards. As with many of the islands, information is vague. Records indicated that in 1698 there was mention of a Pastor Nelson.  By 1714 there was a church of sorts in the Valley. Revd. Jonathan Fleming was the priest from 1752 to 1754 and Revd. John Shepherd from 1774 – 1791. The building which was used for worship was destroyed in 1796 when the French attacked the colony.  In 1836 with a grant of one thousand pounds from the British Government, another chapel was built. While it is not clear as to what happened to that building, records show that during the visit of the Bishop in 1874, arrangements were made to construct a Parish Church in the Valley. This Church was consecrated on 24th March 1876 and dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. 

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In 1915 a decision was taken to enlarge the Church by increasing the length and adding two wings. The re-opening of the Church with the enlargement was consecrated on March 9th, 1919. In 1928 the original bell-tower, which would have been in the original structure, was replaced by another outside the building. This free-standing tower was built mainly of hewn squared stone from Scrub Island and Anguilla, with the top housing the bell. The wood that was originally used to construct the top has been since replaced with concrete blocks. By the 1950’s the 1928 structure was so infested with termites that it had to be demolished. The construction of a concrete structure commenced in 1957 and was completed without debt.