Historic Images of Sydney's Catholic Cathedrals : 1

To continue our commemoration of the bi-centenary of the founding of Saint Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, we present this enhanced image from an original photograph held by the State Library of NSW.  The photograph was taken in Hyde Park, looking north-east, either in 1871, or the following year.

In the centre of the photograph, the principal structure is the remnant facade of Old Saint Mary's.  This facade was commenced in the early 1850s to the design of the famed English architect of the Gothic Revival, AWN Pugin.  This was an extension to the earlier section of the building, commenced in 1821 by Father Therry.  In the tragic fire of 29th June 1865, old Saint Mary's was completely burnt out.  The walls of the old section were quickly demolished thereafter, leaving the new facade remaining in a truncated form.

In 1866, the renowned peal of bells of Saint Mary's, which had been housed in a separate tower north of the Cathedral itself, was transferred to the tower section of the old facade, which subsequently had a neat copper roof added to cap it, circa 1869.

To the left of the old facade can be seen the worksite surrounding the rising walls of the new Saint Mary's Cathedral, designed in 1865 by the architect William Wardell.  Work to prepare the site and build the foundations was carried out between 1866 and 1868.  By 1871, the walls had risen to a height of approximately 25 feet.  On the image a STAR indicates the barely visible completed doorway of the new Cathedral's western transept.  The transept has three doors, the one indicated here being the southern door (on the right, when looking across from Hyde Park).

In the background, on the right of the photograph, is shewn the recently-completed Cathedral presbytery, being the residence of the Sydney city clergy.  This building continued to be used for this purpose until its demolition and replacement in the late 1980s.

The photographer captured two men taking their ease in the Park.  One is seen quite clearly, wearing a top hat.  The other is resting against one of the small timber fences which are protecting the Park's young trees.

Click on the image for an enlarged view.

AMDG

NOTES

The photographs in this series are taken from a variety of sources, some in online Archival collections, some from books, some original images in the editor's collection.  They are presented here in a "modernised" digital form, and with as much detail of the structure of the Cathedrals enhanced in order to make them more accessible to a new generation of Australian Catholics.  The original image on which this digital rendering is based is held in the Special Collections of the State Library of NSW.  Please do not reproduce these unique images without permission.