1. 1836 CHAPEL
Around 1820, land for a proposed Catholic church was allocated towards the East of the city, overlooking a barren area. The area is now Hyde Park. The foundation stone for the first St Mary’s was laid on 29 October 1821 by Governor Macquarie. It was a simple cruciform stone structure in Gothic style with pointed windows and pinnacles. In 1835, the Most Reverend John Polding became the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia. In 1851 the church was modified to the designs of Augustus Welby Pugin. On 29 June 1865, the church caught fire and was destroyed. [Photo Credit: 1836 slnsw John Therry]
2. 1843 BELL TOWER
The bells of St Mary’s Cathedral have a unique place in Australian history. There have been three separate rings of bells at the Cathedral, all cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry of London. The first, of eight bells, arrived in Sydney in August 1843, and were installed in a wooden(?) campanile located away from the main building (approximately where the pulpit is today). They were the first bells hung for change ringing in Australia and rang for the first time on New Year’s Day 1844. When the cathedral was destroyed by fire in June 1865, the bells escaped damage. [Photo Credit: Pugin Foundation http://www.puginfoundation.org/demolished/ ].
3. 1870 AFTER THE FIRE
After the 1865 fire, plans were made to build the present cathedral. Archbishop Polding wrote to William Wardell, a pupil of Augustus Welby Pugin, the most prominent architect of the Gothic Revival movement. In his letter, Polding gives Wardell a completely free hand in the design, saying "Any plan, any style, anything that is beautiful and grand, to the extent of our power." A temporary wooden church was constructed, but burnt down in 1869. A third structure on the site was a sturdy brick building, which served St Mary’s School long after the present Cathedral was in use. [Photo Credit: statelibraryofnsw/3486704191/ St Mary's 1870]
4. 1914 CATHEDRAL
Archbishop Polding laid the foundation stone for the present cathedral in 1868. It was to be a huge and ambitious structure with a wide nave and aisle and three towers. Polding did not live to see it in use as he died in 1877. Five years later, on 8 September 1882, his successor, Archbishop Vaughan, presided at the dedication Mass. Archbishop Vaughan gave the peal of bells which were rung for the first time on that day. Vaughan died while in England in 1883. The cathedral's builder (for this stage) was John Young. We notice that the nave has yet to be built. [Photo Credit: intranet.cbhslewisham.nsw.edu.au Lionel Lindsay 1914 ]
5. 1922 NAVE BUILDING
But St Mary's was still far from finished, the work proceeding under Cardinal Moran. In 1913 Archbishop Kelly laid the foundation stone for the nave, which continued under the architects Hennessy, Hennessy and Co. In 1928 Kelly dedicated the nave in time for the commencement of the 29th International Eucharistic Congress. A slight difference of colour and texture of the sandstone on the internal walls marks the division between the first and second stage of building. [Photo Credit: powerhouse_museum/8282715891/ , 1922 Gift of Dorothy Stuckey, 1987 ]
