Sydney's Catholic Cathedrals Stages of development : 2

Figure 1 : Elevation of old S' Mary's Cathedral and other buildings 1843.

As part of our commemoration of the Bicentenary of the foundation of Saint Mary's Cathedral, we are pleased to present a short series of plans and elevations which depict the stages of construction on the Cathedral precinct from 1821 - 1928.

The elevation shewn above and the plan below illustrate the buildings which were completed by the end of 1843.  They are shewn in juxtaposition with an outline of the present Saint Mary's Cathedral. On the right is the Gothick structure of old Saint Mary's Cathedral and in the middle, the group of buildings in the colonial style which comprised the Benedictine Monastery and the residence of the Archbishop.  Shewn on the left is the small bell-tower of the Cathedral, completed in December 1843.

Figure 2 : Section of an early photograph 1858-59
 looking south-east from Hyde Park.
Image : The Sydney Museum.

In the last quarter of 1843, and in expectation of the imminent arrival from England of a peal of bells, a campanile was constructed at the northern end of the Church property.  It was a great distance away from Saint Mary's itself and was built further forward on the property, abutting College Street.  The campanile was unprepossessing in appearance, square in shape and built from timber and stone, with a timber shingle roof.  Its great claim to fame was that it is thought to have been designed by the famed English architect of the Gothic Revival, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, under commission from Archbishop Polding.  Its second claim to fame is that housed the FIRST peal of bells to be installed anywhere in Australia.

Figure 3 : Groundplan of old S' Mary's Cathedral
and other buildings 1843.

Click on the images for an enlarged view.

NOTES

The elevation of the present Saint Mary's Cathedral, included in this and future posts, has been used with the kind permission of the artist Simon Fieldhouse.

In the preparation of this plan and elevation, a large number of extant illustrations and ground-plans were used in order to depict the buildings in their correct position and to scale.  Although this has not guaranteed 100% accuracy, it is as accurate as we have been able to assess.  Some of the ground-plans present discrepancies and contradictions respecting the position of buildings which have long-since ceased to exist.  One means of assessing correct locations is the surviving stone remnant wall of Old Saint Mary's, located on the far-side of the present Cathedral

The first Saint Mary's Cathedral, as completed by 1835, stood somewhat back from what was later to become College Street.  Its principal facade faced Hyde Park, but was slightly off the East-to-West axis.

The other buildings were set even farther back on the Church land, on ground which sloped downward, so that they were only partly visible looking across from Hyde Park. 

AMDG 

Historic images of Sydney's Catholic Cathedrals : 17

Image :   The Powerhouse Museum

We continue our series of historic photographs commemorating the bi-centenary of Saint Mary's Cathedral (1821-2021) with this grainy photograph taken in or shortly after 1889.

This rare photograph was taken from the Domain by a professional photographer and depicts the North end of the new Cathedral, with its flanking aisles.  The imposing Northern Gable was completed in 1885, but within a couple of years, further construction was commenced.  In this photograph, the walls of the clerestory of the chancel had been raised above that work completed in 1882.  The dramatic stone flying buttresses supporting the higher stages of the stonework were also being built at this time. But the process of pitching the timber roof had not yet begun.  Notably absent is the purple slate roof !

In our previous articles, we posted photographs illustrating the stages of the construction of the present Saint Mary's Cathedral, to be found at the following links :

1871              1882             1883             1886

1887              1890             1892             1895

1896               1901             1902            1905

1907               1910            1914

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 by the State Library of NSW.  Thanks are due to Special Collections of the State Library for undertaking a search to locate this and other rare images.  Please do not reproduce these unique images without permission.