St. George's Church on Lebuh Farquhar is the oldest Anglican church in Southeast Asia, completed in 1818 to designs by the East India Company engineer Captain Robert Smith. The simple Georgian-style building — white columns, a pedimented portico, a small steeple — was paid for in part by the founders of the Penang colony and built by convict labour, like much of the early British infrastructure on the island.
The interior is plain and bright, with a high white nave, original teak pews and Victorian stained glass. In the grounds, a small Greek pavilion houses a memorial to Captain Francis Light, the founder of Penang, who died in 1794 and whose grave lies in the nearby Old Protestant Cemetery on Northam Road. Restoration after a long period of neglect was completed in 2011. The church is still in active use as a parish church; visitors are welcome outside services. Worth ten minutes for the building and the gardens. The exterior is one of the most photographed buildings in central Georgetown.