Crowning the northern vista from the Jaipur Column and west of Sansad Bhawan is the Cathedral Church of the Redemption built in 1927-35. Designed by H A N Medd it appears, from all records, to be the result of an architectural competition. One wonders how as there’s nothing remarkable about the building – the British have made finer churches in India. For those familiar with Lutyens’ work in Britain, it is strikingly reminiscent of his Free Church in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Here’s another church designed by Medd and by an odd coincidence, again the result of an architectural competition.
Across the road from Bangla Sahib Gurudwara just off Connaught Place, the Sacred Heart Cathedral stands between two of Delhi’s finest schools, St Columba’s and Convent of Jesus and Mary.

Built in 1930-34, it closes the vista from the North Secretariat at a strategic intersection between Connaught Circus and Raisina Hill. It is a bold, elegant design in the Lutyens tradition with an Italianate south front enriched by an oval mosaic cartouche of St Francis. In the same colour scheme as Medd’s earlier Cathedral Church of the Redemption, this one is a definite improvement!