St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne: Difference between revisions
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* June Nixon (1973–present) |
* June Nixon (1973–present) |
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The current Director of |
The current Organist and Director of the Choir, June Nixon, was awarded a [[Lambeth degree|Lambeth doctorate]] by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 1999. This recognised her long contribution to choral and organ music and marks the first woman to be so honoured. |
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=== Organ === |
=== Organ === |
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Revision as of 01:51, 9 February 2012
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
| St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne | |
|---|---|
| Cathedral Church of Paul the Apostle | |
 Interior (arcade) of St Paul's | |
 | |
| Location | City of Melbourne |
| Country | Australia |
| Denomination | Anglican Church |
| Website | www.stpaulscathedral.org.au |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | St Paul’s Parish Church (1852-1885) |
| Consecrated | 22 January 1891 |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | William Butterfield |
| Style | Gothic Transitional |
| Years built | 1852, 1880- 1891 |
| Administration | |
| Province | Victoria |
| Diocese | Melbourne |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | The Most Revd Phillip Freier |
| Dean | The Rt Revd Mark Burton |
| Precentor | vacant |
| Laity | |
| Director of music | June Nixon |
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, is the metropolitical and cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and Metropolitan of the Province of Victoria. The cathedral, which was built in stages, is a major Melbourne landmark.
Location
The cathedral is in a great location in the centre of Melbourne, on the eastern corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Street. It is diagonally opposite Flinders Street Station, which was the transport hub of 19th century Melbourne and is still an important centre.
Immediately to the south of the cathedral, across Flinders Street, is the new public heart of Melbourne, Federation Square. Continuing south down Swanston Street is Princes Bridge which crosses the Yarra River, leading to St Kilda Road. The cathedral therefore commands the southern approaches to the city.
The location for St Paul's Cathedral marks the location of the first Christian service held in Melbourne in 1835. Previous buildings in this location include a corn market and St Paul's Parish Church.
History
St Paul's Cathedral is built on the site where the first public Christian service in Melbourne was conducted in 1835. The area of the current site became a corn market until 1848, when it was made available for the construction of St Paul's Parish Church, a bluestone church. St Paul's Parish Church was consecrated in 1852 and was in use until 1885 when it was demolished to make way for the current cathedral.
A distinguished English architect, William Butterfield, designed the cathedral, in the architectural style of Gothic transitional. The foundation stone was laid in 1880 and, on 22 January 1891, the cathedral was consecrated. St Paul's replaced St James Old Cathedral which then stood on the corner of William Street and Collins Street - later moved to a site near the Flagstaff Gardens. The erection of the spires began in 1926, to the design of John Barr of Sydney instead of Butterfield's original design. The 1960s saw extensive work completed to the exterior of the cathedral and the T.C. Lewis Organ was restored in 1989 by a major National Trust appeal.
Major restoration works were completed in 2009 with significant repairs to the spires, the building of the Moorhouse Tower Lantern and the new processional doors.
Although there was no established church in colonial Victoria, most of the colony's establishment were Anglicans and the Church of England (as it was then) was given the best site in Melbourne for its cathedral. At the time of its construction St Paul's was the tallest building in central Melbourne and dominated the city's skyline. The growth of multi-storey buildings in central Melbourne during the 20th century robbed St Paul's of its commanding position and restricted views from many angles. The recent construction of Federation Square, which involved the demolition of a pair of adjacent highrise buildings, the Gas and Fuel Buildings, has improved the cathedral's visibility from the south.
Architecture
St Paul's is built in a revival of the style known as Gothic transitional, being partly Early English and partly Decorated. It was designed by the distinguished English architect William Butterfield, who was noted for his ecclesiastical work. The foundation stone was laid in 1880. Butterfield never saw the site and the building work was frequently delayed by disputes between Butterfield in England and the church authorities in Melbourne. Butterfield resigned in 1884 and the building was finished by a local architect, Joseph Reed. Consequently the design of the spires differs greatly from those originally planned (similar to those built at Christ Church, South Yarra). The cathedral chapter have a scale model of the original completed design.
The cathedral was consecrated on 22 January 1891, but the building of the spires did not begin until 1926. The spires were designed by John Barr of Sydney. An organ was imported from England and is acknowledged[who?] as the finest surviving work of T. C. Lewis, one of the most prominent organ builders of the 19th century. Besides Sunday and weekday Eucharists the cathedral also has a tradition of a daily choral Evensong, one of the few Anglican cathedrals outside the British Isles to do so.[citation needed]
St Paul's is unusual among Melbourne's great 19th century public buildings in that it is not made from bluestone, the city's dominant building material. Instead it is made from sandstone from the Barrabool Hills and limestone embellishments of Waurn Ponds limestone, both from near Geelong, giving the cathedral a warm yellow-brown colouring rather than Melbourne's characteristic cold blue-grey. This gives it a strikingly different appearance to the bluestone Gothic of St Patrick's Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern edge of the city. Because the spires are made from Sydney sandstone and are 30 years newer, they are of a darker tone than the older parts of the building. St Paul's Moorhouse Tower is the second highest Anglican spire in the world, the tallest being that of Salisbury Cathedral.[1]
By the 1990s the constant traffic vibration of central Melbourne had led to concerns about the structural soundness of the cathedral, particularly the spires. A public appeal, led by the then Dean of Melbourne, the Very Reverend David Richardson, raised A$18 million to restore the spires and improve the interior of the building. The seven-year restoration project was completed in 2009, under the guidance of Falkinger Andronas Architects and Heritage Consultants. The restoration works were undertaken by Cathedral Stone. The restoration works were acknowledged by the Australian Institute of Architects with the Llachlan Macquarie National Award for Heritage Architecture 2009.
As part of the work, stone heads of Dean David Richardson and philanthropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, created by Melbourne sculptor Smiley Williams and carved by stonemason Daryl Gilbert, were added to the spires and new dalle de verre glass was created by Janusz and Magda Kuszbicki for the new west doors and the "Eighth Day" lantern in the Moorhouse Tower.
Dean
The Dean of St Paul's Cathedral is also known as the Dean of Melbourne.
Deans of Melbourne
- Hussey Burgh Macartney (1852–1894) (Dean of St James' Cathedral)
- George Oakley Vance (1894–1910)
- Reginald Stephen (1910–1914)
- Charles John Godby (1914–1919)
- John Stephen Hart (1919–1927)
- George Ellis Aickin (1927–1932)
- Frederick Waldegrave Head (1934–1941)
- Henry Thomas Langley (1942–1947)
- Alfred Roscoe Wilson (1947–1953)
- Stuart Barton Babbage (1953–1962)
- Tom William Thomas (1962–1984)
- James Alexander Grant (1985–1999)
- David John Leyburn Richardson (1999–2008) Dean Emeritus
- Mark Gregory Burton (2009-2012)
Music
Music is an integral part of worship at St Paul's, and is the responsibiulity of the Organist and Director of the Choir. The Music Foundation, established in 1993, provides funding for the musical life of St Paul's.
Organists and Directors of the Choir
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The Director of the Choir at St Paul's Cathedral is also the Organist.
- Ernest Wood (1888–1914)
- A. E. Floyd (1914–1947)
- C. C. Campbell Ross (1947–1951)
- Lance Hardy (1951–1973)
- June Nixon (1973–present)
The current Organist and Director of the Choir, June Nixon, was awarded a Lambeth doctorate by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1999. This recognised her long contribution to choral and organ music and marks the first woman to be so honoured.
Organ
The cathedral's pipe organ which was built by T. C. Lewis and Co of Brixton, England. Over six and half thousand pounds were spent on its construction, shipping and installation before it was played at the cathedral's opening in 1891. Various modifications and maintenance works have been carried out since then, culminating in a $726,000 restoration which was completed in 1990 with the help of a National Trust appeal. In its restored state the organ has four manuals with 44 stops and pedals with nine stops, all with electro-pneumatic action. It is housed in the cathedral's south transept behind newly-stencilled facade pipes.
Choir
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Originally formed in 1888 in conjunction with the choir of All Saints' St Kilda, the cathedral choir led the procession for the official opening in 1891. The choir sings at Evensong throughout the week and for two of the four Sunday services. The choir is also called upon for special occasions including chapter Evensongs, synod services, state funerals, concerts, carol services and seasonal services.
The choir have worn cassocks of a deep burgundy colour, matching the stencil design hue on the organ pipes, since the early 1990s. Originally the choir wore traditional black cassocks and white surplices, but with the introduction of An Australian Prayer Book in the late 1970s, new cassocks of a green colour approximating that of the new prayer book cover (and coincidentally, that of the visible organ pipework at the time) were introduced and surplices were discontinued. On a visit to the cathedral in 1985 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, a somewhat astonished Robert Runcie exclaimed that he had "never seen a cathedral choir wearing green robes before".[citation needed] With the restoration of the organ in the early 1990s, surplices were restored and cassocks of a deep burgundy were introduced matching the new stencil design hue on the organ pipes.
Unique to St Paul's Cathedral is the boys choir role of "Dean's Chorister" created by the Very Revd David Richardson. The Dean's Chorister primarily has the role of leading the choir with the "virge" or ceremonial mace, a task traditionally performed by the head chorister.
Belfry
St Paul's has one of the few peals of 13 bells outside the British Isles.[citation needed] The bells were donated by Thomas Dyer Edwardes. They are rung regularly, with practice sessions held on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Significant occasions
St Paul's Cathedral has hosted many significant occasions in national and international history. St Paul's continues to be the choice location for many state funerals and has played host to many prime ministers, premiers, governors, governors-general and other significant people.
Papal visit
On 28 November 1986, on his arrival in Melbourne, Pope John Paul II made a brief visit to the cathedral in recognition of the dialogue between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in Melbourne fostered by respective former archbishops, the Most Reverend Sir Frank Woods (Anglican) and the Most Reverend Sir Frank Little (Roman Catholic).
The cathedral choir sang Ecce vicit Leo as the Pope entered the cathedral. After this the Pope prayed for Christian unity and lit a metre-long candle. A memorial chapel (see below) commemorates this historic occasion: the third time in four centuries when a Pope had entered an Anglican cathedral.
Christmas carol service recording
On 28 November 2007, a carol service featuring the choir was recorded by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and telecast Australia-wide on Christmas Eve.
Services
Sundays
- 8.00am Holy Communion (1662 Book of Common Prayer)
- 9:15am Sung Eucharist (First Sunday of the month: Family Eucharist)
- 10.30am Choral Eucharist
- 6.00pm Choral Evensong (First Sunday of the month: Choral Eucharist)
Mondays to Fridays
- 7.45am Eucharist (Wednesday)
- 12.15pm Eucharist (Monday to Saturday)
- 5.10pm Evening Prayer (Monday and weekdays during school holidays)
- 5.10pm Choral Evensong (Tuesday - Friday during school term)
- 6.00pm Healing Service (Tuesday)
Saturdays and public holidays
- 12.15pm Eucharist
Image gallery
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Spires (Gothic Revival) -
Sanctuary -
Interior (Commemorates the visit of Pope John Paul II) -
Chapel -
West End -
Interior
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References
External links
- St Paul's Cathedral website
- Anglican Diocese of Melbourne website
- Disability information
- St Paul's Cathedral at Culture Victoria
- Falkinger Andronas Architects, Heritage Consultants