Grahamstown Cathedral
| Grahamstown Cathedral | |
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| Cathedral of St Michael and St George | |
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George in Church Square
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 Grahamstown Cathedral
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| Coordinates: 33°18′36″S 26°31′36″E / 33.31000°S 26.52667°E | |
| Location | Grahamstown, Eastern Cape |
| Country | South Africa |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | grahamstowncathedral |
| History | |
| Founded | 1824 |
| Founder(s) | John Armstrong |
| Consecrated | 21 September 1850 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | George Gilbert Scott and John Oldrid Scott |
| Style | Victorian neo-gothic |
| Completed | 1952 |
| Specifications | |
| Capacity | 500 |
| Length | 91 feet (28 m) |
| Width | 58 feet (18 m) |
| Height | 60 feet (18 m) |
| Number of spires | 1 |
| Spire height | 150 feet (46 m) |
| Materials | Stone |
| Administration | |
| Archdeaconry | Grahamstown |
| Diocese | Diocese of Grahamstown |
| Province | Southern Africa |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Ebenezer St Mark Ntlali |
| Dean | Andrew Hunter |
| Subdean | Mzinzisi Dyanti |
| Assistant priest(s) | Claire Nye-Hunter, Monwabis Peter, Luthando Madiba |
| Deacon(s) | Siphokazi Njokweni |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | Andrew-John Bethke |
| Churchwarden(s) | Ronaldo Burger, Ian Meiklejohn, Paul Walters (alternate) |
| Parish administrator | Anet Stander |
The Cathedral of St Michael and St George is the home of the Anglican Diocese of Grahamstown in Grahamstown, South Africa, in the Eastern Cape Province. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Grahamstown. The cathedral is located on Church Square and has the tallest spire in South Africa 176 feet (54 m). The cathedral is dedicated to St Michael and St George and celebrates its patronal festival on the Sunday closest to Michaelmas (29 September).
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel had voted £500 in 1820 for the erection of a church in Cape Town, this gift was declined by the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset. However, while he was in England next year, he wrote to Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State for War (who administered the colonies), asking him to obtain the £500 for Grahamstown, where
The Society very generously agreed, and voted the £500 for Grahamstown, the balance of the money needed was supplied by the colonial treasury. Plans were prepared by W Jones, a land surveyor of Cape Town, and the building erected by George Gilbert also of Cape Town. Sir George Cory thus summarizes the agreement entered into by these persons, and dated 9 September 1824:
It was later decided to use zinc for the roof instead of thatch at an additional cost of Rds 4,730 (£354 15s.). Even so, the roof caused further delays in the completion of the building, which was not opened until 1830. The new church was of course not consecrated, but it bore the name of St George's. The fragment of it that remains, the south wall, is the oldest piece of English Church architecture in the country.
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