Function
Visual history of the Cathedral Current Function
1862 Figure 5: The Original St. Paul’s Church from Princes Bridge.
c. 1882 Figure 6: St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne North Transept plan from William Butterfield.
1888 Figure 7: The drawing done by Joseph Reed after Butterfield resigned (the spire in the illustration was never built).
1896 Figure 8: A newspaper entry on the opening of the Cathedral.
Cathedrals are defined as churches which serves as the seat of a Bishop. Currently, St. Paul’s Cathedral seats the Anglican Primate of Australia and still hold regular services (shown on figure 16). Furthermore, baptism, funerals, and weddings are still held in the Cathedral. Nevertheless, the Cathedral is one of Melbourne’s historical, cultural and architectural landmark, and an iconic tourism spot.
Location
Figure 16: Archbishop Philip Freier ordaining candidates as Priests.
Design
St. Paul’s Cathedral Location St. Paul’s Cathedral is located in 198-206 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria (as shown in figure 1); on the eastern corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Street, across Federation Square. The cathedral is 0.514 kilometer from Melbourne’s General Post Office.
Architectural Style
Figure 1: St. Paul's Cathedral location on a map
Historical Background
Pre-St. Paul’s Cathedral The site where St. Paul’s Cathedral currently stood originally served as a corn market Figure 2: for the city. Afterward, public Christian services were St. Paul’s held from 1836, led by Dr. Alexander Thompson. In Cathedral detail of 1848, the Anglican Church was granted to construct aisle. St. Paul’s Parish Church; then, the building got consecrated in 1852. The church was used until 1858 where it was demolished to construct the liturgical West-end of the present Cathedral. The construction of the Cathedral The Cathedral’s foundation stone was laid in 1880 and the construction took 11 years. The Cathedral was designed by the Gothic Revivalist Architect, William Butterfield. However, Butterfield never visited Australia; he resorted to Figure 3: sending detailed plan and drawings of the Cathedral Coloured postcard to Australia to make sure there are no mistakes featuring (shown on figure 2). However, St. Paul’s was St Paul's Cathedral completed by the Australian firm Reed, Henderson without and Smart; supervision was carried out by local the spires. Architects Terry and Oakden. Then, continued by Joseph Reed which prepared plans for the Cathedral Offices and Chapter House. However, the tower which Butterfield designed were not built at that time (shown in figure 3) and will be built later on. Finally, the consecration of St. Paul’s Cathedral was held on 22nd January 1891. Further developments The construction of the spires began in 1926; however, Figure instead of using William Butterfield’s original design, it was 4: The repair redesigned by John Barr from Sydney. The main spire itself is the work second highest spire in the Anglican Communion, after Salisbury on the spires. Cathedral. Restorations of the Cathedral were commenced to maintain the building. Firstly, in 1960 the first restoration of the exterior was held. Secondly, in 1989 the Cathedral organ was restored. In 2009, a full restoration of the Cathedral was finished (shown on figure 4). Lastly, the office building adjacent to the Cathedral were restored for administrative facilities purposes.
c. 1907 Figure 9: A postcard featuring St. Paul’s Cathedral, c. 1907.
c. 1925 – c. 1935 Figure 11: The view from the Flinders Street Station showing the spires under construction. 1967 Figure 13: Gas & Fuel Corporation building, seen from above Young & Jackson's Hotel.
The Cathedral’s typology borrows the architecture of European Cathedrals. Overall, St. Paul’s can be described as grand and highly decorated. Its architecture is described as a combination of Early English and Decorative Gothic styles, being “Gothic transitional”.
c. 1913 – c. 1912 Figure 10: Swanston Street featuring St. Paul’s Cathedral on the left, across the Princes Bridge Station.
c. 1935 Figure 12: The Cathedral after the construction of the spires.
The Early English Gothic style is evident on several of the elements of the building. As shown in figure 17, French Figure 17: A comparison between French Gothic architecture and English Gothic architecture Gothic architecture on the vaults. emphasized on the idea of “reaching the heaven” shown on the vaults which connect to the pier. However, Gothic English architecture emphasis less on this idea; thus, the vaults are usually disconnected to the ground, ending around the triforium. Secondly, shown on figure 18, English Gothic architecture does not have an apse, instead, the opposite end of the narthex is usually flat. Lastly, the clerestory of the building is less decorated in Early English Gothic building. This is due to the older technique, the plate-tracery, uses one slab of stone to create the clerestory (shown on figure 19).
1969 Figure 14: The Cathedral after the demolition of Princes Bridge station and the incorporation of the building into the Gas and Fuel or Princes Gate Towers complex (demolished in 1997 to make place for Federation Square). 2017 Figure 15: The Cathedral viewed across Federation Square.
Figure 18: The existence of apse on French Gothic Architecture and the flat end on English Gothic Architecture.
Figure 19: The Clerestory of St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Design Plan Overall, the plan of St. Paul’s Cathedral (shown on figure 20) follows the usual typology of churches. Elements such as Narthex, Nave, and Aisles are in the building; however, as mentioned before, instead of having an apse, the eastern end of the Cathedral is a flat end. Between the intersection of the Nave and Transept there is a Chancel which consists of: the choir, sanctuary and a cathedra
Figure 25: An image of the pointed barrel vault.
Figure 21: The spire on Swanston Street door. The drawing shows one of the buttresses and the pinnacle on top of it.
Figure 22: The western façade of the Cathedral.
Exterior The exterior of the Cathedral indeed represents Gothic Revival Architecture; it resembles St. Patrick’s Cathedral regarding the style. However, St. Paul’s exterior displays warmer colour due to the sandstone cladding. The spires also display colour difference compared to the rest of the Cathedral due to the time difference on the construction. Moreover, the Gothic style of the spire are due to the Sydney architect, James Barr; instead of using Butterfield’s primitive Gothic evocation, he resorted to using conventional Gothic spire. Several visible elements from the exterior are: The Rose window on the façade of the west door, buttresses with pinnacles on top of them and flying buttresses around the main spire.
Interior Although the exterior was designed and completed separately, the interior is almost entirely designed by Butterfield. The flooring and the wall tiles are features of Butterfield’s original design. However, the wooden ceiling is not a product of Butterfield’s design. Several architectural elements are noticeable such as: Clerestory and triforium which are decorated with stained glasses, the gothic arch (arches with a pointed top) and the pointed barrel vault.
Figure 26: The interior of the Cathedral is highly decorated with stained glasses, intricate woodworks and decorative floor and wall tiling.
Figure 20: St. Paul’s Cathedral floor plan.
Figure 23: The main spire of the Cathedral. A flying buttress is visible supporting the spire.
Figure 24: An image of the Cathedral’s Rose window.
Figure 27: From top to bottom: clerestory, triforium and the gothic arch. The windows are decorated with stained glasses.