Cheryl Griffin’s wonderful article on St James Old Cathedral in King Street, facing Flagstaff Gardens, has just been published in the February edition of CBD News.
“There are so many reasons why you should visit St James Old Cathedral, located on the corner of King and Batman streets, just across the road from Flagstaff Gardens.
The oldest church in Melbourne, it is the only surviving work of colonial architect Robert Russell who had been employed in Melbourne’s earliest days as a surveyor. And it is one of the few surviving buildings in the CBD to predate the Gold Rush, which began in 1851.
Known as the “Church of the Pioneers”, it was originally built on the corner of William and Little Collins streets on a five-acre Crown Grant site where a simple wooden church had preceded it. The foundation stone was laid in November 1839 by Superintendant Charles Joseph La Trobe and it opened in October 1842, five years before it was finished. The cathedral was consecrated in 1853, by which time it was found to be too small for its purpose. The influx of migrants lured to the colony by the hope of finding gold meant that Melbourne was changing beyond recognition and at a far faster rate than anyone could have anticipated when St James was built. ”
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