St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen
| St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Denomination | Scottish Episcopal Church |
| Website | www.standrewscathedralaberdeen.org.uk |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Andrew |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Aberdeen & Orkney |
| Clergy | |
| Bishop(s) | Right Rev Robert Gillies |
| Provost | The Very Revd Dr Isaac M Poobalan |
St Andrew's Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew, is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It is the see of the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney who is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney.
The cathedral is incorrectly known as being the church where the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Samuel Seabury was ordained in 1784. Bishop Seabury was in fact consecrated to the episcopate in "an upper room" of a house in Longacre, approx 500 metres from the present building. The approximate site of the house used to be marked by a polished granite tablet. This has, in recent years, been moved up the quadrangle of the former Marischal College.
The original building was designed in the perpendicular Gothic style by the architect Archibald Simpson, one of Simpson's many commissions in the city. Rather than being built out of the usual local granite, for which Aberdeen is famous, the facade of the structure, facing King Street, was built from sandstone for economical reasons despite Simpson's opposition. The rest of the building was built of granite.
The church opened in 1817 as St Andrew's Chapel and was raised to Cathedral status in 1914.
During the 1930s, the cathedral was renovated to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Seabury's consecration. There had been a plan to build an elaborate, cruciform cathedral with central tower, commemorating Bishop Seabury's consecration on the site currently occupied by Aberdeen City Council's headquarters. This was to have been a gift of the ECUSA, however, the Wall Street Crash halted this plan due to lack of money. Instead, the existing church was enlarged and embellished by Sir Ninian Comper. The memorial was dedicated with a ceremony attended by the then U.S. ambassador to the UK, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
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