St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney | |
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Cathedral Church of Andrew the Apostle | |
Western Towers
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Coordinates: 33°52′26″S 151°12′23″E / 33.873923°S 151.206336°E | |
Location | City of Sydney |
Country | Australia |
Denomination | Anglican Church |
Churchmanship | Low church evangelical |
Website | sydneycathedral.com |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Edmund Blacket |
Style | Gothic Revival |
Groundbreaking | 1837 |
Specifications | |
Length | 48 metres (160 ft) |
Width | 17.6 metres (58 ft) |
Width across transepts | 33.3 metres (110 ft) |
Height | 29.7 metres (68 ft) |
Tower height | 39.3 metres (130 ft) |
Administration | |
Diocese | Sydney |
Province | New South Wales |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | Glenn Davies |
Dean | Kanishka Raffel |
Laity | |
Director of music | Ross Cobb |
St Andrew's Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan of New South Wales, the Most Reverend Glenn Davies, elected August 2013. The Dean, appointed in May 2015, is Rev. Kanishka Raffel.
Located in central Sydney, the cathedral is one of the city's finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture. Designed by Edmund Blacket, it was ready for services and consecrated in 1868, making it the oldest cathedral in Australia. Joan Kerr described St Andrew's as "a perfect example of the colonial desire to reproduce England in Australia in the mid nineteenth century."
The cathedral holds services every day, including choral services on Sundays and several times a week during school term, Christmas and Easter. There is also a healing service, Bible studies and prayer meetings. St Andrew's has a cathedral choir of men and boys, as well as a company of bell ringers. The notable pipe organ has been restored and is regularly used for recitals and concerts. St Andrew's has a National Trust of Australia heritage listing as being a building of national significance.
Lachlan Macquarie, an early Governor of New South Wales, had grand plans for the city of Sydney. He foresaw that Sydney would grow into a large city requiring a large cathedral. With the architect Francis Greenway, who had been transported to Sydney for forgery, the governor planned a church 200 feet square and probably with the seating and galleries facing inward from three sides. The foundation stone was laid with full ceremony on 31 August 1819. Only a few foundations were laid, however, before the plan was abandoned. Macquarie was severely criticised for planning beyond the colony's means.