St David's Cathedral, Hobart

The Cathedral Church of St David is the Anglican cathedral church located in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The cathedral is the mother-church for the Diocese of Tasmania. Consecrated in 1874, St David's is the seat of the Bishop of Tasmania, currently the Right Reverend Richard Condie. The dean is the Very Reverend Richard Humphrey.

History

File:St David's Church, Hobart, Tasmania, 1826, Thomas Scott.jpg

St David's Church, Hobart, Tasmania, 1826, Thomas Scott

In 1842 Hobart was declared a city and the existing St David's Church became St David's Cathedral. The Reverend Francis Russell Nixon was appointed first Bishop of Tasmania and Frederick Holdship Cox the first Dean of St David's.

The foundation stone of a new cathedral was laid in January 1868 by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, a son of Queen Victoria, and it was built between then and 1936, in the Gothic Revival style, to a design by the English architect George Frederick Bodley. There are flags dating from the time when Tasmania stopped being a convict settlement. The stained-glass windows depict saints, knights, kings and biblical characters. Small memorial plaques along the walls are dedicated to deceased residents of Tasmania.

The cathedral's distinctive features include an arcaded entrance with a large west window and buttressed turrets; a square tower made of Oatlands stone; and a close on the southern side with old trees. The building is listed on the now defunct Register of the National Estate.

Description

The building sits on the corner of Macquarie and Murray Streets and forms one quadrant of what is considered to beTemplate:By whom the finest Georgian streetscape in Australia. On the pinnacles of each gable is a quatrefoil, repeated on the extremities of the large crucifix of the rood screen which dominates the sanctuary.

The cathedral choir offers sacred music both classical and contemporary in worship and in concert. The organ, considered one of the superior organs of Australia,Template:By whom which was originally in the earlier cathedral, was a two-manual made by Bishop & Starr of London. Expanded in 1916 to a three-manual by George Fincham & Sons of Melbourne, it was rebuilt again in 1958 by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd of London, and renovated between 1999 and 2005 by Gibbs & Thomson. The acoustics and 650 seating capacity demand frequent concerts. Appearances of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Hobart City Band, massed military bands, the Royal Copenhagen Chapel Choir and the Sydney Brass Quintet were features of 2008.

The cathedral tower has a peal of 10 bells, with the tenor of Template:Long ton, set for full circle ringing. Most of the bells are from 1935 (with several newer bells installed in 2005) and all were founded by John Taylor & Co. They are rung by members of The Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers.

Mission

File:Hobart-Tasmania-Australia07.JPG

Interior of the cathedral.

The mission of St David's is "Proclaiming Jesus as Lord in the Heart of Hobart to build a community of living faith, profound hope and practical love."

Liturgy

St David's is known for its contemporary Anglican liturgy. Linked with England's Coventry Cathedral, the dean and associate clergy are "committed to creative liturgies that lift the heart and proclaim the Biblical faith as our society, increasingly dissatisfied with a purely materialistic world view, seeks a sense of the transcendent and apprehension of a living spirituality."

This desire for a "living spirituality" is reflected in the cathedral's commitment to serve the city, state and community. In services from those for the opening of law term, the opening of parliament, Heart Foundation, the Cancer Council Tasmania, Battle of Britain, Anzac Day, Hutchins and Collegiate schools and as a venue for state secondary and senior secondary schools the tranquillity and peace is often suspended with laughter, tears and memories.

The memorial service for the Port Arthur tragedy is remembered in the Hope Chapel. A memorial to the last ANZAC soldier, Alec Campbell, who died on 16 May 2002, aged 103, is also in the cathedral.

Deans

The following individuals have served as Dean of St David's Cathedral Parish:

Ordinal	Officeholder name	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
Template:Nts	Frederick Holdship Cox	1872	1874	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Charles Henry Bromby	1874	1876	Template:Age in years years	also Bishop of Tasmania
Template:Nts	Henry Bodley Bromby	1876	1884	Template:Age in years years	Son of the above
Template:Nts	Charles Leslie Dundas	1885	1895	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Joseph Bertram Kite	1898	1916	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Robert Snowdon Hay	1916	1919	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Arthur Richard Rivers	1920	1941	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Harold Percy Fewtrell	1942	1954	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Michael Webber	1959	1971	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Harlin Butterley	1972	1980	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Jeffrey Parsons	1980	1983	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Kenneth Nash Reardon	1984	1993	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Stuart Blackler	1993	2005	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Lindsay Stoddart	2005	2008	Template:Age in years years
Template:Nts	Richard Charles Humphrey	2009	incumbent	Template:Age in years years

See also

• List of tallest buildings in Hobart

External links

• Template:Official website