St. Pauls Cathedral (City of Melbourne, Victoria)

 cathedral, church, anglican church

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 on the spot. 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 has 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 as the finest surviving work of T. C. Lewis, one of the greatest organ-builders of the 19th century. Besides Sunday and weekday Mass the cathedral also has a tradition of a daily choral evensong, one of the few Anglican cathedrals outside the British Isles to do so.

www.stpaulscathedral.org.au/