St Mary’s Cathedral, officially the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, holds great cultural significance for the people of Western Australia. It is truly both a holy place and an enduring and much-loved icon of our City.

For more than 150 years, St Mary’s Cathedral has faithfully served the people of Perth. For those of faith, our Cathedral is a place where we pray to God and where God speaks to us. Others will revel in the architectural and artistic beauty of the building and its artworks.

For some, our Cathedral represents a historic link to the past, something which must be preserved.

On 8 February 1863, Bishop Rosendo Salvado laid the first Foundation Stone at the Cathedral, on a reserve of land known as Victoria Square. Fr Martin Griver, later Bishop of Perth, was responsible for the building. The architect and master mason was Joseph Ascione. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was blessed and opened on 29 January 1865. Two porches and the spire were to be added by Bishop Matthew Gibney in 1905.

 

^{From left: Bishop Matthew Gibney; Bishop Patrick Clune; St Mary's Cathedral in 1865; St Mary's Cathedral in 1908; and in the opening in 1930.}

It was Bishop Patrick Clune CSsR (who would later be installed as the first Archbishop of Perth) who set out to meet the needs of the time and build a larger Cathedral, the foundation stone of which was laid on 25 April 1926.

The design chosen was by the late Mr MF Cavanagh, Architect, in the English style of Perpendicular Gothic. The builders chosen for the work was AT Brine and Sons. Melocco Brothers, a firm from Sydney, made the Sanctuary mosaics based on designs taken from the ancient Irish Book of Kells.

The now historic and much-loved stained glass windows were designed and executed by the firm of John Hardman of Birmingham, England.

The ‘Cavanagh Cathedral’ was opened at the height of the Great Depression on 4 May 1930, but many of the original design aspects were unfortunately not completed due to financial circumstances.

St Mary’s Cathedral remained very much a work in progress. It consisted of the western half, opened in 1865, and the eastern half, which opened in 1930.

The two were joined, but not well, and nobody, then or since, considered it a complete Cathedral – architecturally, aesthetically or liturgically.

In 1973, Archbishop Sir Launcelot Goody, third Archbishop of Perth, decided to bring the sanctuary area into line with the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The central altar and lectern were added to the sanctuary. The redesigned sanctuary was consecrated on 12 August 1973.

In 2003, Archbishop Barry James Hickey, fifth Archbishop of Perth, initiated an architectural competition for the unification and completion of the Cathedral. The winning design was by local architect Peter M Quinn.

In 2006, the Cathedral was closed for the duration of the construction works, and St Joachim’s Church, Victoria Park, became the Pro-Cathedral.

Part of the 1865 nave was removed, creating a void between the remaining 1865 and 1925 segments of the Cathedral into which an expanded assembly space with undercroft parish facilities, choir practice rooms and crypt was inserted. The transparency of the curved glass walls of the new works contrast with the solidity of the masonry walls of the previous eras of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral was reopened on 8 December 2009, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is the Patronal Feast of the Cathedral.

The completed Cathedral received multiple architectural awards, including the Institute of Architects WA's highest accolade, The George Temple Poole Award.

St Mary’s Cathedral continues its enduring tradition of service to the people – for those of faith who come to worship, for the many thousands of visitors welcomed from interstate and overseas who marvel at its architecture, artworks and beauty, and for the patients and family members of the hospital opposite, who find respite in the Cathedral and its magnificent grounds and gardens.

Take a walk here with the Dean through St Mary's Cathedral.

Visit St Mary's Cathedral website http://stmaryscathedralperth.com.au/