Bishop Gray Monument

Cape Town
Western Cape

Architect: William BUTTERFIELD

Memorial viewed from the north. The roof of the St George’s Cathedral is visible behind it
Photographer: Lila Komnick – 2018

Date:c1872
Type:Monument
Status:Extant
Street:St George’s Mall

 

Coordinates:
33°55'27.32" S 18°25'10.24" E Alt: 35m

Notes:

A memorial column in red granite, white marble and sandstone to the memory of Bishop Robert Gray (1809 – 1872), the first Anglican Bishop of Cape Town. He was married to the architect Sophy Gray. The monument originally stood in the grounds of St George's Church and thereafter St George’s Cathedral. It was moved to the top of St George’s Mall opposite the cathedral when the street became a pedestrian zone. The inscription on the plaque reads:

Erected
by Public Subscription
in Memory of
ROBERT GRAY D.D.
First Bishop of Capetown
and Metropolitan
Consecrated St Peter’s Day
A.D. 1847
Deceased Sept. 1
A.D. 1872


Close-up of the memorial showing the plaque
Photographer: Lila Komnick – 2018

Details of the plaque commemorating Bishop Gray
Photographer: Lila Komnick – 2018

Memorial viewed from the south, looking down St George’s Mall
Photographer: Lila Komnick – 2020

Oblique view of the memorial from the south west
Photographer: Lila Komnick – 2020

Stone marker on the pavement in front of St George’s Cathedral, indicating the memorial’s original position
Photographer: Lila Komnick - 2023

The funeral procession of CJ Rhodes at St George’s Cathedral, 1902. The memorial is on the left.
Source: “Pictorial History of South Africa“, 1938, p382
Scanned and submitted by Lila Komnick

Photographer: Arthur Elliott - 1902