historic images of sydney's catholic cathedrals : 9

We continue our series of historic photographs commemorating the bi-centenary of Saint Mary's Cathedral (1821-2021).

In our previous articles, we posted photographs illustrating the stages of the construction of the present Saint Mary's Cathedral :

1871              1882             1883             1886

1887              1890             1892             1895

The photograph posted above was taken after work was completed on the next phase of building the Cathedral, continuing from where construction was brought to a close in 1885.   Only two years elapsed before a further contract was entered into, which was carried out between 1887 and 1889 and consisted of constructing the upper sections of the side walls (known as the clerestory), the accompanying flying buttresses and finally by the construction of the roof of the sanctuary, from the Northern gable to the Crossing.  The new roof was finished in slate.

The photograph was taken within the Gates of the Domain, looking south-west.  The lofty stone wall of the Northern facade (completed in 1885) can be seen in all its richness, with the new clerestory walls, flying buttresses and slate roof structures beyond it (completed 1889).  The central tower and roof of the transepts are notably absent.  

As the building of the new Cathedral progressed, professional photographers were regularly taking images of the stages of construction.   One such was  Henry King (1855-1923), an English-born photographer, known for his studies of Australian Aborigines and his views of Sydney.  King was one of Australia's most significant late 19th century photographers.  The clarity of this image is due to the fact that the original large glass plate negative survived and was electronically scanned to give high resolution.  It is one of many negatives taken by Henry King preserved by the State Library of NSW.

Click on the images 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 by the State Archives of NSW.  Please do not reproduce these unique images without permission.