St James' Old Cathedral
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St James Old Cathedral, an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church, is the oldest church in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, albeit not on its original site. It is one of the relatively few buildings in the central city which predate the
Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...
of 1851. The building was demolished and relocated in 1914 to a corner site of King Street and Batman Street. The parish is led by the Reverend Canon Matthew Williams. The Senior Associate Minister is the Reverend Mike Raiter, who is also director of the Centre for Biblical Preaching. The Assistant Curate is The Reverend Jessica Naylor-Tatterson. The parish is served each Sunday b
The Old Cathedral Voices
a semi-professional all-scholar consort choir which sings music from the Renaissance era to contemporary anthems, including regular new commissions and premieres. The organist is David Brown. More recently, the church has begun serving as the chapel for Haileybury College's City Campus. The building is listed on the
Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...
.


History

Melbourne's first substantial church was the 'Pioneer Church', a simple wooden structure used for both Anglican and Presbyterian services and as a school, which stood on the corner of William and Little Collins streets. The foundation stone for St James was laid on 9 November 1839 by
Charles La Trobe Charles la Trobe, CB (20 March 18014 December 1875), commonly Latrobe, was appointed in 1839 superintendent of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales and, after the establishment in 1851 of the colony of Victoria (now a state of Australi ...
, the superintendent of the Port Phillip District (now the state of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
), in what was then still part of
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
. Melbourne was then only four years old and the church was one of the first substantial buildings to be built in the town. The church was designed by the town surveyor, Robert Russell, and built by George Beaver. One of the founders of Melbourne,
John Batman John Batman (21 January 18016 May 1839) was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne. Born and raised in the then-British colony of New South Wales, Batman settled in Van Die ...
, was among the subscribers who paid for the church's construction. The unfinished building was opened for worship on 2 October 1842, and it was finally completed in 1847. In 1848 Melbourne became an Anglican diocese and St James' became the cathedral church of the first Bishop of Melbourne, Charles Perry who appointed Hussey Burgh Macartney as the inaugural Dean. Macartney's wife,
Jane Macartney Jane Macartney (born Jane Hardman; 19 January 1803 – 10 January 1885) was an Australian philanthropist, religious worker and teacher in Melbourne and surrounding regions in the 1800s. An Irish member of the Church of England, in 1833 she marrie ...
(Hardman) and Frances Perry, wife of the Bishop, established and managed various charitable institutions in Melbourne. St James served as Melbourne's Anglican cathedral until
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
was consecrated in 1891.


Relocation

The church originally stood near the corner of Collins Street and William Street in what was the centre of the town in the 1840s, at what is now the western end of the business district. There is still a small street called St James Lane, which ran adjacent to the church's school on the next block to the north. In May 1913 leaks and cracks led to an inspection by architect Thomas Watts which determined that the structure was unsafe and had to be closed. With rising land values and a declining congregation, the possibility of re-erecting rather than demolishing was proposed, and a site not very far away on the corner of King Street and Batman Street opposite the
Flagstaff Gardens Flagstaff Gardens is the oldest park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, first established in 1862. Today it is one of the most visited and widely used parks in the city by residents, nearby office workers and tourists. The gardens are notable fo ...
was chosen. The move was overseen by John Stevens Gawler, a Melbourne architect who was largely responsible for establishing the School of Architecture at the
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
, and it was reopened on Sunday April 19, 1914. Essentially only the exterior stonework and the timber work was saved, and the church was not rebuilt precisely the same, with; there were also a number of minor internal changes, reorientation from east west to north south, and changes to the tower - the third stage of the tower was made square to match the base rather than octagonal to match to the top section, both square stages have two arches instead of three, and are taller, and the dome is flatter, altogether creating a taller square tower, rather than the previous narrow octagonal one. Despite the relocation and reconstruction, the church is listed as "the earliest surviving church in Victoria, and one of Melbourne's earliest surviving buildings".


See also

List of cathedrals in Australia This is a list of cathedrals in Australia. A cathedral church is a Christian place of worship which is the principal or "mother" church of a diocese and is distinguished as such by being the location for the '' cathedra'' or bishop's seat. In t ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James Old Cathedral Churches completed in 1849 19th-century Anglican church buildings Anglican church buildings in Melbourne Relocated buildings and structures 1842 establishments in Australia Cathedrals in Melbourne Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA) Heritage-listed buildings in Melbourne