Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle

Christ Church Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ the King or Christ Church Cathedral in Newcastle, New South Wales Australia is the Anglican cathedral of the Diocese of Newcastle. The church, designed by John Horbury Hunt in the Gothic Revival style, is located on a hill at the city's eastern end in the suburb called The Hill.

The present Dean of Newcastle is the Very Reverend James Rigney (formerly chaplain of Magdalene College, Cambridge). His Installation took place on the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March 2009.

History

cathedral interior

The present cathedral replaced an earlier Christ Church, built in 1817. When the Diocese of Newcastle was created in 1847, the original Christ Church became a Cathedral and William Tyrell was appointed first Bishop of Newcastle (1848-1879). Due to the poor condition of the original building and the growing population of the city it was decided to build a new cathedral and a design competition was held in 1868. It was won by architects Terry and Speechley from Melbourne, but they had seriosly underestimated the cost of their design and accordingly the plans of John Horbury Hunt were adopted instead. His design was for a cruciform Victorian Gothic style building with a central tower and spire over the central crossing. Work started in 1883 and the older building was demolished the following year. A temporary building was constructed nearby for services until the new cathedral could be completed and consecrated in 1902. The tower was not added until 1979 , minus the planned spire. The building was damaged during an earthquake in 1989 and since been repaired.

In 1969 the cathedral witnessed the Australian premiere of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde (Noah's Flood) The "voice of God" was provided by Brin Newton-John, father of singer Olivia Newton-John.

Deans of Newcastle

• Source: Christ Church Cathedral website

• 2009–Present: James Rigney
• 1984–2008: Graeme R. Lawrence
• 1975–1983: Robert Beal (afterwards Bishop of Wangaratta, 1985)
• 1961–1975: John Falkingham
• 1950–1961: William Hardie (afterwards Bishop of Ballarat, 1961)
• 1949–1950: Norman Blow
• 1943–1948: Arthur Morris
• 1936–1943: Thomas Makinson Armour (afterwards Bishop of Wangaratta, 1943)
• 1928–1936: William Johnson (afterwards Bishop of Ballarat, 1936)
• 1919–1928: Horace Crotty (afterwards Bishop of Bathurst, 1928)
• 1915–1919: Henry Kingsley Archdall (afterwards Principal of St David's College, 1938)
• 1909–1914: Cyril Golding-Bird (afterwards Bishop of Kalgoorlie, 1914)
• 1900–1909: John Stretch (afterwards Bishop of Newcastle, 1906)
• 1892–1899: Arthur Selwyn

External links

• Official site