Episode 831 – Sydney’s Grand Buildings Part 4: St. Andrews & The First Royally Authorized Version of the Bible in English

While I wandered through the Australian Museum yesterday, Ted found a wonderful cathedral to tour.

St Andrew’s (Anglican) Cathedral was founded in 1819 and consecrated in 1868, making it the oldest cathedral in all of Australia.The Chapter House was built in 1886. Major restoration work was undertaken in 1999-2000, which is why it looks so well preserved.

The top photograph shows Sydney Town Hall with its clock tower in the background.

It’s a good thing the cathedral’s website had photos and drawings, because with the city much more built up now it is impossible to get those kinds of views.

There is, however, a model of the church – made of matches! – available to photograph.

ST ANDREW’S CATHEDRAL MODEL MADE BY NORM GRUNDY, STARTED 2013 MATCHES 89,800, TIME 1,890 HRS

Like St. Mary’s, the Catholic Cathedral, the architecture is Gothic Revival. Even though that came out of the English colonists’ desire to make the city look like the great English cities, I’ve said to Ted several times during our stay here that Sydney feels (to me)much more like continental Europe than like anywhere in the UK.

The style of the church is called “Perpendicular Gothic”, which is a way to fit an imposing Gothic Revival style into an area more appropriate for a parish church. Winchester and York Minster in England are also Perpendicular Gothic.

The floor is tessellated tile, making it look like a mosaic.

The ceiling is an interesting teal colour, which is also picked up in the decoration of the organ pipes.

There’s an amazing Canadian connection here. The cathedral custodian told Ted that the richly decorated 1866 organ’s pipes had been sent to Montreal in 1996. The Canadian firm of Orgues Létourneau completely rebuilt and restored the organ, which he particularly liked because the new finish was anodized and repelled dust.

There are regular Thursday afternoon free organ concerts; tomorrow will be our last day in Sydney, and that might be a great final activity.

As always, there were memorials in the church.

The flag on the left side in the photo below (the Naval White Ensign aka British White Ensign aka St George’s Ensign) was presented to the cathedral by Captain C.B.L. Filmer D.S.G. and was flown from a launch known as “ANZAC” during the operations at Gallipoli in 1915.

Ted noticed an unusual theme in the stained glass window above the baptismal font: Jesus being baptized in the river by John.

A recent addition to the cathedral are plaques describing each of the stained glass windows.

There are several historically significant items displayed in the cathedral, two of which are the tomb and chair of Australia’s first Bishop (prior to States having their own, and before Catholic bishops were assigned to the country)

The chair is enclosed in a glass case to prevent people from touching the needlework.

Displayed in various parts of the cathedral’s walls are pieces of English cathedrals, confirming the Anglican Church’s international connections.

The faint engraving on the upper plaque confirms that the stone embedded in the wall was recovered from the Palace of Westminster, the medieval royal palace used as the home of the British parliament, which was largely destroyed by fire on the 16th of October 1834.

The most impressive item in the cathedral, tucked away in a glass case along one wall, is an edition of the Great Bible of 1539CE.

The Great Bible of 1539 was the first royally authorized edition of the Bible in English, authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. It preceded publication of the the King James Version by 72 years.