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St Mary's Cathedral
Central Cape Town, Western Cape

SPARMANN and HAGER: Architect
Samuel STONESTREET: Architect
Frederick McIntosh GLENNIE: Architect

Date:1840-51 : 1864 : 1951
Type:Roman Catholic Church
Status:Extant

 


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Coordinates:

St Mary's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt

The cathedral was built to replace the first Roman Catholic chapel on Caledon Square which had collapsed by 1838.

The plans were drawn up by C SPARMANN but the original plans were too expensive and he was induced to modify them. CO HAGER worked with him and at some stage SPARMANN left the project.

The name of J SKIRROW is mentioned in connection with St Mary's but this reference is obscure.

In 1864 a certain amount of work in the decoration of the chancel was undertaken by STONESTREET and the tower built in 1951 is attributed to GLENNIE. (Rennie 1978:306-7; Pryce-Lewis list 15 337)

There was restoration work done in 1999-2000.

Wording on the commemorative stone

_______________________

THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH
OF OUR LADY OF THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
1840
PLANS DRAWN AND ACCEPTED
1841
BUILDING COMMENCES
1851
COMPLETION AND DEDICATION
1927 - 1928
THE CATHEDRAL RENOVATED
THE BELL TOWER COMPLETED
1951
CONSECRATION OF THE CATHEDRAL
1999 - 2000
RESTORATION OF THE CATHEDRAL
I WILL COME TO THE ALTAR OF MY GOD
THE GOD OF MY JOY

_______________________


Books that reference St Mary's Cathedral

Krige, Ode. 2015. Carl Otto Hager : argitek tot eer van God, 1813-1898. Hermanus: Hemel & See Boeke. pg 44, 45, 49, 202
Picton-Seymour, Désirée. 1977. Victorian Buildings in South Africa. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pg 41-43, 42 ill, 48, 58
Radford, D. 1979. The architecture of the Western Cape, 1838-1901. A study of the impact of Victorian aesthetics and technology on South African architecture. Johannesburg: Unpublished Ph.D thesis. Dept of Arch. University of the Witwatersrand. pg 134
Rennie, John for CPIA. 1978. The Buildings of Central Cape Town 1978. Volume Two : Catalogue. Cape Town: Cape Provincial Institute of Architects. pg 306-307 item 105.5
Shorten, John R. 1963. Cape Town : A record of the Mother City from the earliest days to the present. Cape Town: JR Shorten in association with Shorten and Smith Publications. pg 193 ill.
Walker, Michael. 2012. Early architects of Cape Town and their buildings (1820 - 1926) with postcard illustrations, The. St James: Michael Walker. pg 14-15