ST JOSEPH’S CATHEDRAL
DUNEDIN, NZ CATHOLIC
PAUL SCOTT
SATELLITE VIEW
St Joseph’s Cathedral is at the left of this satellite view. From Smith Street, steps rise steeply to the entry which is flanked by two towers. The nave then angles slightly from a geographic north-south direction, with a small broadening at the north end – where the originally proposed transepts would have been. A separate Chapel is found in the neighbouring priory building.
We shall use liturgical directions on this site, with liturgical East (capital E) denoting the (north) sanctuary direction, and the other directions accordingly.
We begin our exploration at Smith Street, and proceed up Rattray Street to the East Wall. Then back along the North wall to the West Porch, before retracing our steps to find the Chapel. Finally to the West doors to discover the beauty of the interior of the Cathedral.
I was delighted to find this plan of St Joseph’s Cathedral. I found it on a website which gives great detail about the cathedral windows:
http://www.oocities.org/marcpeyroux/stained.htm
Some further links are contained on the above website page.
As we have indicated, the steps up to the West wall from Smith Street are at the bottom of the plan. We enter through the South Porch and into the nave near the font. Interestingly, the plan indicates a square ‘spiral’ staircase in the North tower, suggesting Cathedral bells. The nave is essentially rectangular with a vestry and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel extending at the East end.
A brief history of the Cathedral is given below. However, if you want to begin your tour of the Cathedral immediately, tap / click on START . You can also access intermediate points in the tour by a tap / click on the following links:
NOTE ON MAGNIFYING IMAGES
With this website format the images are large enough for most purposes. If there is a need for greater magnification of an image, go to the identical photo on
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulscottinfo/albums
and use Command - + (Mac) or Windows - + (Windows).
HISTORY
[Wikipedia]
St Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin, New Zealand, is the Roman Catholic Cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunedin. It is located in City Rise, some 0. 5 kilometres (0. 31 mi) to the west of the city centre.
History
The Gothic revival cathedral was designed by Francis Petre, who also later, in a complete change of style to palladian revival, designed St Patrick’s Basilica, Oamaru (1894), Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington (1901), the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch (1905), St. Mary’s Basilica, Invercargill (1905), St Patrick’s Basilica, Waimate (1909) and Sacred Heart Basilica, Timaru (1911). Construction of the Cathedral started in 1878, during the episcopacy of Bishop Patrick Moran. It was used for its first church service in February 1886, and was completed in its unfinished state in May 1886, at a cost of £22,500. The original design, however, was for a much larger building, with a tall spire with a height of 60 metres over the transept.
St Joseph’s Cathedral is located beside St Dominic’s Priory, also designed by Petre, in 1876. The Priory is no longer used, except for one room utilised by the Cathedral choir. The Cathedral Chapel is situated behind the Priory, and the Traditional Latin Mass is still celebrated there every Sunday. Behind the Cathedral is the Catholic Pastoral Centre, containing the Bishop’s office and also the Catholic library.
The cathedral has undergone several modifications, the most notable being the removal of the High Altar after Vatican II; it was returned after a long sojourn in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. The side altar was dismantled in early 1970, and has since been made into a large Tabernacle, kept in the Blessed Sacrament chapel beside the sanctuary. A new Reconciliation Room has been added to replace the old confessionals in the nave of the Cathedral.
The Cathedral also has a primary school in its parish, not surprisingly named St Joseph’s Cathedral School. The parish priest Monsignor John Harrison is on the Board of Trustees. It is a high standard school that performs exceptionally well with outstanding teachers and a very involved school community. The school is one of many Catholic Primary schools that feed into Kavanagh College, located next to the Cathedral. The chair of the Board of Trustees is Norman Wood, the Principal is Jo Stanley.
A description of St Joseph’s Cathedral from a letter of the reporter of the Auckland Evening Star in 1889 says, ‘The cable tram has carried you up barely two hundred feet when you see a double-towered church of dark grey stone standing on a site cut into the hill. This is the Catholic Cathedral, St Joseph – and it is a gem. The outside gives you no idea of the beauty within.’ This is a poor description of what was built. While it falls short of the original conception the building as it stands gives a better idea of the outstanding planned structure which was never completed.
