St George's Cathedral
Consecrated in 1888, St George s Cathedral is one of the most beautifully restored buildings in Perth and is the principal cathedral of the Anglican Province of Western Australia and the metropolitical Diocese of Perth. The cathedral is one of the oldest churches in the city, its Gothic revival design and the blend of local and imported materials that include WA jarrah roof trusses and arches, limestone from Fremantle and handmade bricks from three different Swan River brickyards. The Blue Stone columns supporting the Clerestory were worked and shipped from Victoria at the suggestion of the late Architect's son.
Built between 1879 and 1888 the cathedral is situated at the corner of St George's Terrace and Cathedral Avenue at the heart of Perth's heritage precinct, which includes the nearby Treasury Buildings and the Town Hall. The site is near the "Rush Church", the first church built in Perth by Frederick Irwin, in December 1829, a few months after the city was founded. The very first Anglican Service to be held in Western Australia took place under a jarrah tree, possibly on the corner of Irwin and Hay Streets, in 1829, prior to the Rush Church being built. The latter, built partly of wood, with rushes filling up the sides, lasted for seven years. It was built on the corner of Hay and Irwin Streets. Following the sale and demolition of the rush church, services were held in the Court House, which still stands in the Supreme Court Gardens and is the home of the Francis Burt Law Centre.
The cathedral was designed by Sydney architect Edmund Blacket, the pre-eminent architect of his age in New South Wales. Blacket s tower and tall spire were not constructed; instead a castellated and unsympathetic squat tower was constructed in 1902 and the Queen Victoria memorial bells were installed on the second anniversary opf her death (22 January 1903). The pitched roof was originally covered with slates; these were replaced by tiles in the 1950s because the original roof leaked. A central nave, with a timber vaulted roof supported by hammerbeams, has an aisle on each side and a rose window dominating its western end. The rose coloured brick interior of the cathedral is simple but elegant. The State Heritage Register assessment describes the intersecting beams over the crossing as "impressive in their lightness and grace" and providing a "subdued but elegant decoration to the building".
St George's Cathedral is the principal Anglican church in the city of Perth, Western Australia and the mother-church of the Anglican Diocese of Perth. Evensong is a traditional Anglican late afternoon or early evening service. Said or sung in churches and cathedrals around the world; St George s Cathedral choir sings Evensong regularly.
Location: 38 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA.
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The cathedral has a peal of eight bells set for change ringing and rung by the St George's Cathedral Bellringers' Association, affiliated with the Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers. Upon hearing of Queen Victoria's death in 1901 the Perth community created an appeal to fund the creation of the Queen Victoria Memorial Bell Tower at the cathedral. The square castellated bell tower was designed by the Western Australian architect Talbot Hobbs. The red and white flag of Saint George is flown daily from the top of the bell tower. The bells were cast by John Warner & Sons of London and installed on the second anniversary of Victoria's death. However, the bells were only rung infrequently for the subsequent decades due to a combination of the lack of proficient ringers and for structural concerns in the tower itself. The bells were regularly rung every Sunday (but not tolled) up until the 1970s.
The castellated bell tower was damaged in the 1968 Meckering earthquake. All ringing in the tower was ceased after tower bricks were dislodged due to service ringing in July 1973. Following a restoration appeal the Cathedral had its original peal recast by John Taylor & Co in 1975 and hung a year later in a cast-iron and steel frame with the new tenor at 11cwt. The original tenor of 18cwt was kept as a service bell. The bellringing band became active again and achieved 25 peals by the end of the 20th century.
Adjacent to St George s Cathedral is Burt Memorial Hall. This hall is eternally connected to World War I. In 1917, prominent lawyer, grazier and politician Septimus Burt and his wife Louisa decided to erect a memorial to their sons Lieutenant Theodore (Bob) Charles Arthur Burt aged 23 years, who was killed in action near the village of Montauban and Lieutenant Francis Sinclair Burt, killed near Villers-Bretonneux, aged 32 years. That memorial is this hall. The Burt Memorial Hall was refurbished with upgraded facilities and a new roof between 2012 and 2014.
The Burt Memorial Hall is a superb example of a community building constructed in the Gothic Revival style. It was designed by Mr Herbert Parry, son of the second Bishop of Perth. Worked into the fabric on the south side of the building facing St George s Terrace are the Arms of the Diocese of Perth and the Burt family crest.
In 1922 a magnificent stained glass window depicting the Four Virtues was incorporated into this side of the building in memory of Septimus by his wife, Louisa. It consists of four large panels with figures representing the virtues of Justice, Prudence, Temperance and Fortitude. Beneath these panels are the Coats of Arms of the United Kingdom and Australia together with the Diocesan Arms of Canterbury and Perth.
The Hall s position abutting St George s Terrace, central to the Heritage Precinct increases its significance as a community facility. The lower dining room was used as a soup kitchen during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In World War II, it was used to house Dutch refugees fleeing from Indonesia (Dutch East Indies) and to provide meals to returned servicemen.
The 1859 deanery, which adjoins the cathedral on the corner of Pier Street has had most of its interior updated with the landscaping due to be completed by the end of 2016.
