St George's Cathedral (also referred to as The Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr) is the Anglican cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, and the seat of the Archbishop of Cape Town. St. George's Cathedral is both the metropolitical church of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and a congregation in the Diocese of Cape Town.
The cathedral was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and the first stones of the foundation were laid in 1901. The cathedral replaced an incomplete church that was originally built at that site.
History
In October 1827, the Bishop of Calcutta, on a visit to Cape Town, which was at the time a distant outpost of his diocese, discussed building an Anglican church. Until that time, the Anglican community used the Cape Town Castle for services, later being offered hospitality by the Groote Kerk. (In December 1819 missionaries Robert and Mary Moffat were married at "St Georges Church, Cape Town".)
The colonial government donated a site at the lower end of the Dutch East India Company's gardens at the corner of Government Avenue and Wale Street and the bishop consecrated the land. The foundation stone was laid by Governor Sir Lowry Cole on St. George's day 23 April 1830 and at the same time Erste Berg Dwars Street was renamed St. George's Street. The church was built from drawings by the architect John Skirrow based on W & H Inwood's Neo-Greek St. Pancras' Church in London. Losing heavily on the deal, Hermann Schutte was the building contractor. The cathedral cost an estimated £16,000 to build. On 21 December 1834 that St. George's Church opened for services. At the time of diplomat Edmund Roberts' visit in 1834, George Hough was chaplain and the church had a capacity of 1,000 people with 300 seats for the poor.
In 1847, Robert Gray was ordained bishop of the newly created Diocese of Cape Town and he installed his cathedra (throne) in the church, by which act it became a cathedral even though it was only a modest parish church. His dream was to build a more worthy building on the site but his wishes never materialised during his episcopate which lasted until his death in 1872.
On 17 May 1874, William West Jones was ordained second bishop and metropolitan of Cape Town (almost 25 years later he was elevated to archbishop) and by 1887 the diocesan synod had appointed a committee to collect money for a new cathedral but it was not until 22 August 1901 that the Duke of Cornwall and York (later to become King George V) laid the foundation stone bearing the letters AMDG . Paradoxically, this is the only visible instance of these letters which are chiselled on the inward-facing surface of each and every stone in the cathedral, a custom dating from ancient times.Rev. John Charles Venus, Chaplain to St. George's Grammar School (1959-1965) The South-African War was still in progress at the time and as a result it was not until 1904 that work was resumed and the foundations were laid.
In 1908 West Jones returned to England. By the time of his departure, the eastern end of the cathedral was well under way but he died two months later. It was decided that the new chapel on the north side should be built in his memory and it was completed and dedicated on 28 October 1909 in honour of St John the Baptist, the patron saint of St John's College, Oxford, where he had been a fellow.
Work continued slowly but it was not until 1930 that the memorial stone for the north transept was laid by the Earl of Athlone, then Governor-General of the Union of South Africa. The transept was completed in 1936 which finally made Sir Herbert Baker's design a reality.
Provincial heritage site St George's Cathedral was declared a provincial heritage site by Heritage Western Cape on 23 September 2014 in the terms of Section 27 of the National Heritage Resources Act. This gives the site Grade II status and provides the site with protection under South African heritage law.
The cathedral is renowned for the political stance it took during apartheid and is recognised as a strong symbol for democracy in South Africa. The heritage significance the building lies not just with the building itself but also the intangible heritage associated with the actions of different clergymen involved in the church which led to the church (as of 26 August 2001) being known as the "people's cathedral". Desmond Tutu, the first black archbishop of South Africa, led numerous marches and campaigns for the formal end of apartheid from the front steps of the cathedral. It was a common meeting point for all activists of all races as well as woman's rights groups who were part the resistance to apartheid laws and the struggle for social justice, equality and human rights.
Burials The remains of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu are interred in front of the high altar. The remains of Edward Laurie King, Dean of Cape Town from 1958 until 1988, were re-interred in the chancel on the 20th of July 2025, during the 09:30am Cathedral Mass.
Architecture
Bell tower and bells The original cathedral had a tower containing eight bells cast in 1834 by the firm Mears & Stainbank of Whitechapel in London. They were rung by "chiming", whereby the clappers were pulled by rope to strike against the lip of the hanging bell. Two old brass plaques on the walls in the bell tower indicate the existence of an active guild of bellringers in the early 1900s.Two old brass plaques on the walls in the bell tower
When the original cathedral was demolished in the 1950s (see History) the bells were stored until a generous bequest by Mrs S K M Smith allowed them to be sent back to Mears & Stainbank where they were recast in 1963 into the ring of ten bells that we have today.
The bells made the return journey to Cape Town only to languish in the cathedral car park for some time. Eventually they were hung in a new steel frame - still on the ground outside the cathedral. In this position they were manually chimed until the new belltower structure was completed. Finally, in 1979 they were installed properly and hung for change ringing in the traditional English way with ropes and wheels.
The tower frame is built of reinforced concrete with a cladding of Table Mountain Sandstone.
The smallest of the ten bells, referred to as the treble, weighs and the tenor, which is the largest, weighs in at a respectable . Its name, appropriate to its location on the southern tip of Africa, is "Good Hope". The bells were named by Joost de Blank, a former archbishop of Cape Town: Joy, Love, Peace, Faith, Charity, Service, Patience, Sacrifice, Redemption, and Good Hope.
Stained glass The central panel of the great west window is dominated by the figure of the triumphant black Christ. The right-hand panel of this work includes the figure of Mahatma Gandhi.
The cathedral has stained glass windows, including fine Gabriel Loire windows. The most recent glass is his Christ in Triumph over Darkness and Evil in the great west window in memory of Earl Mountbatten. The centre light was erected in 1982; the two side panels on the left and right were added in 2001.
On either side of the nave are eight Gabriel Loire windows on the theme of the creation. Over the south transept is the rose window and in the centre, Christ in Majesty, clothed in purple, the colour of the passion and, radiating outwards, cherubim and seraphim, the angels, and the apostles, prophets, martyrs and saints.
Crypt The cathedral's crypt houses a jazz restaurant and is known as The Crypt.
Link
The Link is an addition to the cathedral. The two stained glass windows set at the west end of the Link are from the old cathedral and this is the earliest glass in the cathedral. Two sets of eight windows were done by Mayer of Munich for the old cathedral in 1886. On the right is depicted the Ascension, this is a memorial to Robert Gray, first Bishop of Cape Town. The window on the left shows the Last Supper and is a memorial to a former churchwarden and trustee of the cathedral, Felton Matthew. There are only 11 disciples, the missing disciple is Judas Iscariot who can be seen clutching his bag of silver.
North aisle
Before entering the aisle you will see a plaque, commemorating the visit to the cathedral of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in March 1995. Pass the verger's office you will see four windows by Frank Spears. The first two above the office is dedicated to Michael Gibbs a former dean of Cape Town and shows the Nativity of Jesus. The other three are of the Crucifixion, Resurrection of Jesus and Ascension of Jesus and commemorate the Rackstraw family. Another memorial is in the form of a Latin inscription on the stonework at the end of the aisle. This is for the skilled master-mason, Neil Black, who was responsible for the north transept and aisle. He was a fine craftsman and modestly wished for no memorial. it is good to remember the man whose skill brought to reality Baker's design. In deference to his wishes and his fellow masons wanted a simple tribute, the inscription is not outlined and mellows with the stonework.
North transept
From the north aisle you come into the north transept, to your right is a carpeted platform on which the parish mass is celebrated on Sundays. The celebrant is in the body of the church not a distance at the high altar with his back to the congregation. Stand on the platform to view the great north window dedicated to the saints and the pioneers of the church in Africa. Executed by Francis Skeat, it was given by a Cape Town family in memory of their father. It was dedicated by Geoffrey Clayton in 1951. , it is the largest stained glass window in the Southern Hemisphere. The uppermost lights are taken by the arms of the diocese of the province. the top glass of the main glass shows from left to right St Augustine of Hippo, St Monica his mother, St Mark, Our Lord learning to walk in Egypt, Athanasius of Alexandria, St Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Cyprian of Carthage. Below are the modern pioneers and heroes of the continent from right to left, Charles Mackenzie, bishop of Nyasaland, Angela Burdett-Coutts who endowed the bishopric of Cape Town. Above is master mason Neil Black; the martyr, Bernard Mizeki who was confirmed in Cape Town, Sophy Gray, wife of the first bishop Of Cape Town. The three centre panels depict the Flight into Egypt.
More stained glass is to be seen in the north transept, in the west wall are St Cyril of Jerusalem and St Antony of Egypt, the work of C.L. Grove a lecturer at the Michaelis School of Fine Art. Facing them are three windows. The first two on the left are by Edward Woore and show Robert Gray and Mother Cecile of Grahamstown, founder of the Community of the Resurrection of our Lord in Grahamstown. The third window is another by Gabriel Loire, it is said that Loire had the inspiration for the window when he looked across the Cape Flats at six o'clock one morning while visiting South Africa from his native France. The whole window is called Our Lady of Good Hope, the right light shows Saint Anne, mother of Mary, below her is Mary, mother of Jesus and then Christ in a shape of a chalice. the left light depicts the outline of the Cape Peninsula with its flora and fauna. At the top left is the Star of Good Hope and sweeping across the base of the window is an anchor. Loire put his patron saint, St Gabriel, in the tracery at the top.
Rose window and south transept