At the corner of Wale Street in central Cape Town, the shady paths of the historic Company's Garden lie just behind you, while high above rises the flat sandstone wall of Table Mountain. Before you stands a stone Gothic facade with pointed arches, and along the front steps grow six oak trees in a straight line. Those six trees mark the exact positions of the six stone columns of the earlier church that once stood here, a detail the cathedral's own website highlights first when introducing its story.
This is St. George's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr, mother church of the Diocese of Cape Town and metropolitical cathedral of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. South Africa is home to a wide range of Christian traditions, from historic mainline denominations to African independent churches. The library selected this site as the sole representative of South Africa because it is the oldest Anglican cathedral in the region, and because its living tradition of choral evensong, change-ringing bells, and organ music spans nearly two centuries.
IPatron Saint and the Episcopal Throne of a Province
The cathedral is dedicated to Saint George, the Roman-era martyr venerated across both Eastern and Western Christianity and patron saint of England. His feast day falls on 23 April, the very day in 1830 on which the foundation stone of the first St George's Church was laid, according to Wikipedia.
The word cathedral refers to the building that houses the bishop's cathedra, or episcopal throne. According to the cathedral website, the parish church of St George was elevated to cathedral status in 1847 in anticipation of the arrival of Robert Gray, the first Anglican bishop appointed to the region. Today it serves as the metropolitical cathedral of the Archbishop of Cape Town, primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
Anglican worship rests on Scripture, the sacraments, and common prayer shaped by the Book of Common Prayer. One of the most recognizable traditions of Anglican cathedrals is choral evensong, in which the choir sings the psalms, the Magnificat (Song of Mary), and the Nunc Dimittis (Song of Simeon) in a liturgical form dating back to the sixteenth century. The cathedral website lists choral evensong among its regular services. For Anglicans, sung liturgy is not a concert performance, but prayer offered through music.
Many visitors assume that the stone cathedral standing today is the building that opened in 1834. It is not. The first church was modeled on St Pancras Church in London with a six-column portico, and Cape Town Etc notes that it was demolished in 1954, with its original cross now set outside the present cathedral. The current Gothic structure was built in stages from 1906 beside the old church and gradually took its place. The six oak trees on the front steps remain the visible trace of the six original columns.
The mother cathedral of the entire Anglican Communion is Canterbury Cathedral, while another metropolitical Anglican cathedral in the Southern Hemisphere is St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney. Elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, an Anglican parish where liturgy meets indigenous Māori art is St Faith's Church, Ohinemutu.
IIA Cathedral Built Across the Twentieth Century
One remarkable feature of this cathedral is that it has never been fully completed. Herbert Baker's design was carried out piece by piece across decades, beginning at the eastern sanctuary end, then proceeding to the transepts, nave aisles, and bell tower. Both Cape Town Etc and the cathedral website note that the planned chapter house at the end of the Link has still not been built, describing the cathedral as an ongoing work in progress.
- 1830Foundation stone of the first churchLaid on 23 April 1830, St George's Day, according to Wikipedia.
- 1834Opening of the first St George's ChurchDesigned by architect John Skirrow after St Pancras Church in London with six stone pillars at the front, opened at Christmas on 21 December 1834.
- 1847Elevation to cathedral statusMade a cathedral to receive Bishop Robert Gray, the first Anglican bishop in the region.
- 1901Foundation stone of the new cathedralLaid on 22 August 1901 for Herbert Baker's Gothic design. Cape Town Etc and Wikipedia note that the stone bears the Latin initials AMDG, meaning To the Greater Glory of God.
- 1906 to 1909Construction begins at the east endWork began at the eastern sanctuary, and St John the Baptist Chapel on the north side was dedicated on 28 October 1909. Between 1902 and 1909 the Hill organ was rebuilt and installed.
- 1936 to 1963Transept, Lady Chapel, and south aisleThe north transept was completed in 1936. The Lady Chapel and south aisle were completed in 1963 according to the cathedral website, or 1962 according to Wikipedia.
- 1978 to 1979Bell tower and ring of ten bellsThe reinforced-concrete bell tower clad in Table Mountain sandstone and the Link were completed in 1978, and the ten bells were hung in 1979.
- 2014Provincial heritage siteDeclared a Western Cape Provincial Heritage Site on 23 September 2014.
Two minor differences appear across the sources. The first concerns the completion year of the Lady Chapel and south aisle: the cathedral website and Cape Town Etc give 1963, whereas the English Wikipedia article gives 1962. One year may mark structural completion and the other dedication, so the library records both.
The second concerns the resumption of work after the 1901 foundation stone. The cathedral website and Cape Town Etc state that construction began in 1906 at the eastern end, while Wikipedia notes that foundation work resumed in 1904 after the conclusion of the South African War before the eastern sanctuary rose from 1906 onward.
IIIHerbert Baker's Gothic Design, Loire Glass, the Hill Organ, and Ten Bells
British architect Herbert Baker, who worked extensively across southern Africa, designed the cathedral in the Gothic Revival style on a cruciform plan with pointed arches, an enclosed courtyard with a prayer labyrinth, and cloisters, according to the cathedral website. Because construction unfolded over nearly eighty years, successive sections reflect different decades while following Baker's overall design.
Inside, the stained glass forms a major visual focus. The great west window by French stained-glass artist Gabriel Loire depicts Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil, with the central panel of the triumphant Christ installed in 1982 and the two flanking panels added in 2001. Along both sides of the nave are eight Gabriel Loire windows on the theme of Creation, and the north transept holds his window of Our Lady of Good Hope. Wikipedia also records windows by Frank Spears (including the great rose window in the south transept), Francis Skeat, Edward Woore, the Mayer studio of Munich, and the Kempe studio. Above the high altar hangs a suspended rood, while to the left of the altar stands the simple wooden chair that served as Bishop Robert Gray's original throne. Beneath the sanctuary lies the cathedral crypt.
Central panel installed in 1982 and side panels in 2001 on the theme of Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil, complemented by eight Creation windows along the nave.
According to the cathedral website, the instrument traces its core to an organ built in 1675 by Bernhard Schmidt (Father Smith) for St Margaret's Church, Westminster, London, later rebuilt and expanded by W. Hill & Son to four manuals and 61 stops, installed in Cape Town between 1902 and 1909, and overhauled in 1998.
Originating from eight bells cast in 1834 by Mears and Stainbank of Whitechapel, London, for the old church, recast by the same foundry in 1963 into a ring of ten bells (ranging from 269 kg to the 1,300 kg tenor bell Good Hope) and hung in 1979, named Joy, Love, Peace, Faith, Charity, Service, Patience, Sacrifice, Redemption, and Good Hope.
A single winding path set in the courtyard garden leading to a center point for walking meditation and prayer, noted by Sa Venues as one of the few public labyrinths in the country.
Mark the positions of the six stone columns that stood on the portico of the first church of 1834.
| Feature | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Architect | Herbert Baker | Cathedral website |
| Foundation stone of present cathedral | 22 August 1901 | Wikipedia |
| Start of construction | 1906, from the eastern end | Cathedral website |
| Pipe organ | 4 manuals, 61 stops | Cathedral website, Hill organ page |
| Bells | 10 bells (recast 1963 from 8 bells of 1834, hung 1979) | Wikipedia |
| Unbuilt section | Chapter house | Cathedral website, Cape Town Etc |
IVLandform and Orientation
This section offers a comparative reading from the library and should be read with that perspective in mind. Anglicanism does not practice feng shui. Western Gothic cathedrals follow liturgical orientation, placing the high altar at the eastern end, and Herbert Baker's decision to begin construction at the east end in 1906 reflects the primacy given to the sanctuary. The site itself was determined by the city's early history right beside the 1834 church. The observations below read the setting through traditional Vietnamese geomancy for comparative interest and were never part of the builders' intentions.
The first feature a Vietnamese observer notices is the flat-topped mountain behind the city. Table Mountain rises behind central Cape Town with a level crest like a long table. Traditional Vietnamese landform classification groups mountains by the Five Planets (Five Phases), where a broad flat-topped peak belongs to the Earth star, prized as a steady, grounded backing. Having such a massive Earth-shaped mountain backing the historic city center forms an unmistakable rear anchor.
The second feature is water in front. The terrain slopes gently down from the foot of Table Mountain toward Table Bay, placing the historic city in a natural bowl opening to the sea. In traditional Vietnamese terms, this matches the classical pattern of backing onto mountain and facing water, while the tree-lined avenue of the Company's Garden beside the cathedral forms a green corridor through the urban grid.
The third point is a geographic reversal easy to overlook: Cape Town lies in the Southern Hemisphere. In Vietnam, traditional builders favored a southward orientation because the midday sun passes to the south. At Cape Town's latitude, the midday sun passes to the north, so solar orientation works in reverse. The library notes this to show how traditional directional rules are tied to northern latitudes and cannot be mechanically applied to the Southern Hemisphere.
Finally, there is the unfinished form. Domestic feng shui often warns against leaving a house incomplete lest its vital energy scatter. A cathedral built across generations follows a different logic altogether, where each era adds its part to a living community's house of prayer.
VThe Anglican Liturgical Year and Cathedral Music
The cathedral follows the Anglican liturgical calendar of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, with fixed feasts on the Gregorian calendar and movable feasts calculated around Easter. Its patronal feast is St George's Day on 23 April. The table below lists dates without clock times.
| Date | Calendar | Observance | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 April | Gregorian / Anglican calendar | Feast of Saint George the Martyr | Patronal festival of the cathedral, and the date on which the first foundation stone was laid in 1830. |
| Movable date each year | Anglican calendar, tied to Easter | Holy Week and Easter | Principal feast of the Christian year, with cathedral liturgies presided over by the Archbishop. |
| Fifty days after Easter | Anglican calendar, tied to Easter | Pentecost | Celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit, concluding the Easter season. |
| Four weeks before 25 December | Anglican calendar | Advent and Christmas | Season of lessons and carols leading to Christmas, which falls in midsummer in Cape Town. |
| Year-round weekly cycle | Anglican calendar | Choral Evensong | Sung evening prayer with psalms and canticles, a hallmark of Anglican cathedral worship. |
Music lies at the heart of the cathedral's life. The cathedral website devotes a dedicated section to the Hill pipe organ alongside its choir and guild of bell ringers. The ten bells hung in 1979 are rigged for English change ringing, in which each ringer controls a rope and wheel to sound mathematical permutations of bell sequences, quite unlike single-bell striking in East Asian temples or parish churches. The names of the ten bells, from Joy to Good Hope, express the virtues and hope the congregation wishes to ring out across the city.
VILocation And How To Get There
- Address
- 5 Wale Street, góc Government Avenue, Cape Town 8001
- Getting there
- The cathedral stands at 5 Wale Street at the corner of Government Avenue, right at the lower entrance to the Company's Garden in central Cape Town, within easy walking distance of the city center.
- Coordinates
- -33.925, 18.4194
St. George's is a working cathedral where daily services are celebrated. Visitors should dress respectfully, keep silence inside the nave, refrain from entering the sanctuary, and sit quietly or wait outside when a service or choral evensong is underway. The courtyard labyrinth is used for prayerful walking, so please walk slowly and quietly around those using it.
Nearby places in the library
VIIContribute To This Page
Contribute photos, information or video for St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town
Contribute photos, historical notes, or videos for St. George's Cathedral, Cape TownEveryone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.
Master Ưng Khiêm invites the community to enrich this page. On-site photographs, historical details not yet mentioned, or short video clips: every contribution is personally reviewed and answered.
No community contribution yet. You could be the first. No community contributions yet. Be the first to contribute.
?Quick Questions
What denomination does St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town belong to?
It is an Anglican cathedral, serving as the mother church of the Diocese of Cape Town and the metropolitical seat of the Archbishop of Cape Town within the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. Dedicated to Saint George the Martyr, it celebrates its patronal feast on 23 April.
When was St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town built?
The first St George's Church opened on 21 December 1834. The present Gothic Revival cathedral designed by Herbert Baker had its foundation stone laid on 22 August 1901, began construction at the east end in 1906, and continued in stages up to the completion of the bell tower in 1978. Its planned chapter house remains unbuilt.
Why is St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town still unfinished?
Herbert Baker's design was built piece by piece across the twentieth century: the eastern sanctuary from 1906, the north transept in 1936, the Lady Chapel in 1962 or 1963 depending on the source, and the bell tower in 1978. The planned chapter house at the end of the Link was never erected, so the cathedral describes itself as a work in progress.
What is the Gabriel Loire stained-glass window in Cape Town?
It is the cathedral's great west window created by French stained-glass artist Gabriel Loire on the theme of Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil, with the central panel installed in 1982 and the two side panels in 2001. The cathedral also holds eight Gabriel Loire Creation windows along the nave, his Our Lady of Good Hope window in the north transept, and glass by Frank Spears, Francis Skeat, Edward Woore, Mayer of Munich, and Kempe.
What is special about the Hill organ at St. George's Cathedral?
According to the cathedral website, its core dates back to a 1675 instrument built by Bernhard Schmidt (Father Smith) for St Margaret's Church, Westminster, in London. After several rebuilds, it was expanded by W. Hill & Son to four manuals and 61 stops, installed in Cape Town between 1902 and 1909, and overhauled in 1998.